Ephesians 2:13, “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”
The Bible teaches such staggering truths….There are passages – like this one – that should just cause us to wonder at the reality in which God has placed us….a reality in which the blood of God the eternal Son would be the means by which dust-born rebellious humanity might be drawn into communion with their creator.
We….the hopeless….the far off….the sin-dead….the severed…..we have now been brought near – near to God, near to hope, near to promise, near to the community of God’s people – we have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Blood. The blood – the outpoured life – of the Eternally Beloved One. Consider it, not by the working of an angel, not by the heroics of a righteous man, not by an onslaught of heaven’s armies, but by blood…by God‘s blood, we are brought near (Acts 20:28).
Could God be more zealous? Could God me more vicious in His mercy? Could He be more whole-heartedly committed to making His chosen ones into His people and He Himself being their God? Could God Almighty be more passionately involved in this cause? He has torn open His own veins, He has poured out His own life’s blood, he has taken a body to Himself just so that it could be split open like the rock in the wilderness and pour out living water to His desert-bound people.
This is His chosen means, His sovereignly desired manner of saving us. And in doing so, it is as if the Lord says:
“By my blood, by my blood, I bring you to myself! By my BLOOD I bring you to myself, O my people. You have heard that I am a God merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love, you have heard that I will make you my people and I will be your God, you have heard that I will get glory for myself through those whom I formed to be my own – but who among you could have known – who among all the angelic host could have imagined what I would do. That by my blood I would save you, O my people….by my blood I would draw you to myself. By my blood I would drowned all who would oppose me, by my blood I would shatter Satan and his schemes, by my blood I would splinter every weapon of the enemy, by my blood I would wash your sins from your soul and bear them myself, by my blood I would overcome every last vestige of your rebellion and make you my own, by my blood I would sweep you off your feet and draw you inexorably into communion and fellowship with myself, by my blood I would declare myself to be YHWH, the I AM, the God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with His people, who swears to His own hurt, who lifts the needy from the ash heap and throws the proud to the ground….by my blood I have done this, who will gainsay me?”
Praise be to our God – Father, Son, and Spirit – who, by the blood of the Beloved, the Son, our Lord and God, has drawn us out of rebellion and into soul-satisfied communion with Himself. Oh that we might know the full joy purchased by the precious blood of Christ!
