Ephesians 2:13: But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ.
We live in a day and age of instant communication. My parents often talked about their amazement when, in their youth, electric light arrived in rural Northern Ireland, where they lived.. Instant light at the flick of a switch .. astonishing! Then came the telephones that instantly connected them to far away loved ones. It was astounding stuff. However, that all seems quite primitive now. We live in the age of the high speed, instant everything … what will human genius come up with next?
One thing, however, that human genius can never discover is how to connect man with God. Sin filled man is separated from God by an infinite distance. The cause of this separation is that God is holy, and man is not: God possesses life, but man possesses death! The divide between them is so great that no work or religious sacrifice offered or performed by man can bring God near to him or bring him near to God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
When we consider the depths of this separation we conclude that, without God’s intervention, we would have been entirely lost. But, instead of us being lost, abundant grace and mercy is now ours in Christ (Hebrews 4:16). The blood of the Lord Jesus has brought us instantly into the presence of the all holy and eternal One (Hebrews 9:12). The gulf that separated us from God has been bridged by the blood and it is this same precious blood that establishes instant union between us and the Father.
If, in the Old Testament, the sinner could come to the Lord by presenting the blood of bulls and goats, think of how we can now come into the immediate presence of the Father by that divine blood which flowed from the Lamb of God. Moment we can come to the Father, confident that the blood has cleansed us and brought us to the very presence of the Father.
That which makes the blood so effective and powerful in bringing us to the Father is that, not only was it the blood of a sinlessly perfect man, a man who had perfectly fulfilled the just demands of God’s holy law, but this man was also God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16). He was God in human form. It’s important to remember that we are not redeemed by the blood of a super angel, but by the blood of the God/Man! He had life in himself (John 5:26) yet He willingly laid down His life for the sheep(John 10:11). It was God himself who purchased the church with His own blood (Acts 20:28). In Christ, the divine and human natures are joined in one person. This being the case, His blood is able to cleanse from sin, redeem, justify, sanctify, reconcile and bring us near to God. It is powerful blood!
We are not made near to God by converting to the Jewish religion, but by the blood!
We are not made near to God by the sincerity of our repentance, but by the blood.
We are not made near to God by the strength of our faith, but by the blood.
We are not made near to God by the intensity of our devotion, but by the blood.
“But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).
And that’s the Gospel Truth!