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11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it
to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the soul. (Lev 17:11)
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh
of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso
eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him
up at the last day. 55 For my
flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth
in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)
This cup
is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. (Luke 22:20)
The topic of blood is offensive and unnerving to many. The sight of it causes
some to repel in horror. But there are different forms and types of blood. Each
human being has a blood type, and those types all differ from the blood of
animals. But the blood of all living creatures is endowed with certain
necessary qualities, imparted by their Maker, that causes life to be possible.
The blood of each is essential and indispensable. Such a supreme role of blood
marks the fluid as an almost sacred commodity since life, itself, is sacred.
All life comes from God, and the blood of life provides fuel, nutrients, and
movement to all life. The red blood of life runs as a Scarlet Thread from
Genesis all the way to Revelations in Holy Scripture. Blood in the Bible is
polysemantic in that it can mean the physical blood of creatures, but also that
divine Blood of Jesus Christ which is both spiritual and physical.
There are some great works dealing with blood from a combined spiritual and
medical point of view. Two exceptional books written on the subject by medical
doctors who love the Lord are: Balm of Gilead, by Dr. Lillian B.
Yeomans; and the Chemistry of the Blood, by Dr. M.R. DeHaan. I have both
someplace in my library but, owing to my meticulously organized book banks, I
could find neither one after a 30 minute search.
There are properties of blood which make it unique in the biological sciences.
Let us exam the constituent properties of human blood:
Blood is composed of red blood cells, or corpuscles (erythrocytes) whose
function is completely dedicated to the exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide
in every cell of the body, and to deliver life-giving nutrients to every cell;
White blood cells, or white corpuscles, whose role is to defend against the
invasion and progress of disease; and, Platelets that empower the blood to
stanch loss of blood from injury or hemorrhage of every type. There are other
components of blood that exceed the scope of a simple devotion. Be it
sufficient for us to consider only these three since they define the major
purpose and function of our circulatory system. Human life would not be
possible if a single of these three components were missing from our blood. In
the same sense, the Triune God does not exist as a single entity, but are
forever Three in One. Just as three dimensions are required to describe a
physical object, so must Three Persons be required to describe God. Only two
dimensions, and only two Persons, would define no object or Being of Divinity
at all. Though the dimensions of three are separate and apart from one another,
all three must be used to define space. So with God.
Red Blood Cells
The color, red, is a
spiritual symbol of sacrifice. A sacrifice was made for us in the Lord Jesus
Christ to sustain our lives, and we feed on His Body and Blood just as the red
blood cells provide sustenance to the soul that belongs to Christ. Our leading
text reveals this purpose: Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink
his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my
blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh
is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and
drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56) Just as every cell of the physical body is fed and sustained by the
red cells, so every fiber of our spiritual being is fed upon the Body and Blood
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The blood of Christ is different from that of mortal
man being uninfected by the sin of Adam. The blood properties are inherited
through the father, and the Blood of Christ bore the purity of His Father in
Heaven. The Blood of Christ was shed for us according to the Scriptures. That
Blood was the ONLY Blood that could avail for our salvation.
White Blood Cell:
The white blood cells perform the essential mission of fighting disease
organisms that invade the body. The amazingly miraculous genius of our Maker
gave the white cells the ability to immediately sense the invasion of disease
organisms into the body with immediate dispatch. The very moment that bacteria
enter the body through a puncture wound or cut, the white blood cells rush to the
site of invasion. How they have the instinct to be aware of this intelligence
boggles the human mind for mystery. Once the invading organism is encountered,
the white cells embrace the organism thus surrounding it and starving it of the
oxygen and nutrients it attempts to steal from the human body cells. This
results in the white pus that forms at the site of infection of any wound. The
color of these cells represents the purity and power of God to keep our souls
pure despite those organisms of sin that invade our soul through hurt or
temptation. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and
I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. (Psalm 51:7) It is important to recognize
the significance of this cleansing! We are purged on the inside first as the
alimentary canal is purged with the hyssop – a plant with laxative properties.
Next, once our hearts are spiritually cleansed by the imputed righteousness of
Christ, our outward behavior is cleansed so that our inward grace is
represented by our outward appearance – the crude definition of the Sacraments.
This is the cleansing of God the Father through the gift of salvation through
His only Begotten Son’s sacrifice. I will save them out of all their
dwellingplaces, wherein they have sinned, and will cleanse them: so shall they
be my people, and I will be their God. (Ezek
37:23) Our present dwelling place is a body of clay, in
which sin has abode, from which we shall be saved and given an immortal body.
Platelets
What critical function do the platelets perform? In the true and faithful
church, the loss of a single soul is not acceptable. Just as our Lord Jesus
Christ lost no soul placed in His possession by the Father (except that son of
perdition who was a devil), neither should we be satisfied with the loss of a
single soul. The Church, being a monolithic family, cannot brood the loss of a
beloved brother or sister. No true man or woman of red blood would allow their
brother or sister to be kidnapped from under their roof. So, no true Christian
can abuse or expel a single soul from the care of the Church into which God has
placed them (for safe keeping, if you will). Well, in this same sense, the
blood platelets, very like the white cells in the case of infection, rush
immediately to the site of any loss of blood – either through internal rupture
of a vessel, or to a site of trauma to the body. It sets to work within seconds
to clot the blood and stanch the loss of it. If our blood supply lacked this
function, we would perish soon after birth through the loss of blood though
capillaries in the brain and body. So the platelets preserve, intact, our blood
supply of life just as the Holy Ghost preserves our spiritual blood supply of
faith from heresies and false doctrine. Knowing the truth makes the lie more
obvious. So the Holy Spirit teaches and reminds us of all that is contained in
Holy Writ concerning Christ. This stanches the possibility of apostasy and
reprobation.
Can we see, in this comparative devotion, the absolute necessity of the Blood
of Christ in giving life eternal to every believer who is covered under that
Blood He shed at Calvary. It is symbolized fully in that first blood of an
innocent lamb that was sacrificed on the first Passover for the Children of
Israel. When God’s Angel of Death passed over Egypt that terrible night, if He
saw the blood of the lamb on the lentils and doorposts, He passed over that
house. So, at the last trump, shall death pass over all who are covered under
that shed blood of the Lamb of God on the cross.
If this devotion has stimulated your curiosity to know more, I hope you will
acquire and read the two books referenced earlier on the Blood. They are both
ably written by good doctors of superior knowledge and understanding to of my
own. God bless you.
