Leviticus 7:26-27 – “Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. 27 Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'”  NKJV

The Bible is a book of blood and those who seek to eliminate the Cross, suffering, and the blood from the gospel message do harm to the truth of God’s word.  The Bible clearly declares that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission”.  (Hebrews 9:22).  We used to sing, “There is Power in the Blood” and there is for in it is the very life and power of the Gospel.  The Bible is a “living” book and it lives because of the Blood of the Lamb. 

Hebrews 4:12declares, “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”  The Word of God is Alive!  In the KJV the translation is “quick” which means “alive” or “living”.  When we read the Bible, we are not just reading words on a page but that which we read is ALIVE!

Leviticus 17:11declares, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood…”  Life is that mysterious thing that scientists have never been able to fully and completely explain, define or fathom.  While scientists seek to define it, God declares it is “in the blood” and flesh is alive because of “the blood”.  I am not a scientist, chemist, or medical doctor so what I say is strictly from a layman’s understanding and research. 

The human body is nothing short of amazing and we are told that it is made up of many different types of tissues.  Some of those are defined as muscle, nerve, fat, gland, bone, connective tissue, etc.  All tissues have a common denominator, they are fixed cells and microscopically small having specific and limited function.  The Blood on the other hand is not fixed but mobile and is not restricted to one part of the body but is free to move throughout the body and if it ceases to flow to various parts those parts die.

The blood is incredibly mysterious for it is composed of many different elements, compounds, and strange chemical bodies many of which are still not understood, and their function not truly understood.  The Blood of Jesus is also essential to the Body of Christ.  The life of each member depends on His blood and is dependent upon it for life.  His blood brings nourishment, carries off waste (cleansing), and enables the body or cells within the Body of Christ (people) to grow and develop.  We are all one by the Blood of Jesus!  We are all related by the blood of Adam, but that blood was poisoned by disobedience and now we need a complete “exchange transfusion” removing the poison of Adams’ blood and replacing it with the life of the blood of Jesus.

The virgin birth was necessary because of the pollution of man’s blood through Adam’s disobedience.  If Jesus were to be a son of Adam and yet a sinless man, he had to be born of a virgin.  Jesus was “born of a woman” (not man) and as a result, could be a perfect human being because he did not have one drop of Adam’s blood flowing in his veins. 

The entire plan of redemption rests upon the power and authority of the Blood of the Lamb.  The blood is unlimited in its movement within the body and is the only tissue that is not fixed.  There are other fluids in the body, but they are not tissue, they are secretions. The blood is the only liquid tissue that can reach every single cell in the body and all the members of the body are united through the blood.  That is true in the natural and in the spiritual.

I mentioned something earlier about Adam’s blood and Christ and desire to expand on that briefly.  Medical science teaches that the blood that flows in an unborn babe’s arteries and veins is not derived from the mother but is produced within the body of the fetus (baby).  After the sperm enters the ovum and a fetus begins to develop does the blood appear! 

It is completely unnecessary that a single drop of blood be given to the developing embryo in the womb of the mother.  The mother provides all the nutrients required for the baby to develop and produce its own blood and as a result, not one single drop of blood passes from the mother to the child.  If you doubt this it can be researched and in Howell’s Textbook of Physiology, Second Edition, pages 885 and 886 we read:

“For the purpose of understanding its general functions, it is sufficient to recall that the placenta consists essentially of vascular chorionic papillae and from the fetus (the unborn child) bathed in the large blood spaces of the decidual membrane of the mother.  The fetal and maternal blood DO NOT COME INTO ACTUAL CONTACT.  THEY ARE SEPARATED FROM EACH OTHER by the walls of the fetal blood vessels and epithelial layers of the chorionic villae.”   The words in capitals should sufficiently explain.

When God created woman, He made her so that no blood would be able to pass from her to her offspring.  In the initial creation, God was looking forward in time to the birth of Jesus and providing a “sinless savior” for mankind.  Born of a woman and yet without blood contaminated by the sin of Adam.  That does not fully explain His sinlessness but hopefully will inspire you in your appreciation of the Blood and its power!

We will address this more in the next devotional.  But for now, we pause and say, “God bless you richly as you go through this day”. 

Blessings the day after Christmas!