Why the Blood of Jesus Still Leaves Me in Awe

Wow… just wow!

My Bible study group is going through Jen Wilkin’s Better, A Study of Hebrews this fall. I’ve read Hebrews before, but there is just something powerful going through a study like this with other women. It’s so cool to hear different perspectives and talk through what we think or get out of the Word. Such a beautiful testimony to how different God creates each one of us. How different our journeys are.

Hebrews 13:5 was the first verse I ever memorized.

Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.

This verse became my lifeline. I can’t tell you how often I reminded myself: Kim, HE will not leave you. HE will not forsake you. Even if everyone else does, HE will not.

It was during such a dark, painful season. A season I wasn’t sure I would get through.

He didn’t. Leave me.

Still, to this day, the scripture lands exactly how I need it. His promise. My truth.

But girl, back to chapter nine of Hebrews! The blood and what Jesus did for us.

It leaves me undone.

And I’ve been studying Jesus now for well over 20 years. His Word NEVER gets old. It never ceases to amaze me or teach me something new. It really is alive and active. (Hebrews 4:12)

We’ve been discussing in our women’s study group how Christ is better—the better hope, the better high priest, the better sacrifice.

Do you ever watch The Chosen?

I know, I know. Lots of people have lots to say about watching it. Personally, I love it. I love imagining what it was like in the days when Jesus walked the earth, especially how the disciples and those who believed Him must have felt. It’s not where I get my theology, but it endears me even more to Jesus and His followers.

Have you ever thought about the blood in the Old Testament? Not just what was required, but what it must have been like?

In Hebrews 9:14, the author talks about the tabernacle and the blood. Girls, there was a LOT of blood. When Moses read the law to the people in Exodus, explaining what they had to do and what they couldn’t do, they optimistically (or naively) said, “Yes! We will obey. We will keep all these laws.” 🙋‍♀️

And what did Moses do?

He immediately sprinkled blood all over them. (Exodus 24) All over everything, actually. Because he knew they wouldn’t obey. He knew their hearts would wander.

We’re not all that different, are we? Prone to wander. How often do we commit to something for God and fail within a few days. I mean, I spend a good part of my day confessing my thought life. Oh, where this mind goes. Doubt, unbelief, judgment, envy, pride...

I cannot tell you the times I apologize for a thought and ask Him to give me His thoughts, to transform my mind. I am beyond thankful. He has been so long-suffering.

I’ve read the Old Testament several times, sometimes skimming through the details. It’s hard to read about the building details of the Tabernacle—the materials and measurements. I find the same with the genealogy lists. It’s easy to pass through quickly.

Jen Wilkin reminds us in her study to really stop and think about the blood. God’s people built a beautiful tabernacle—a place for God and His holiness. It was made out of the finest, most expensive material of that day. There was beautiful, expensive fabric. My mind goes to beautiful, luxurious jewel-toned silk or velvet.

Fabric that, year after year, had animal blood sprinkled on it. Can you imagine the stains? The smell? I’ve never actually thought about what the Israelites must have heard or seen or smelled during Passover.

ALL of the animals sacrificed. All the blood. So much blood.

The hearers of this letter, Hebrews, would have been more than familiar with the blood at Passover. The author is reminding them of all the sacrifices. He is pointing them to the better – and final sacrifice. Jesus.

How could so many miss the Messiah?

Not just the better sacrifice and blood, but the perfect and final sacrifice. It makes sense to us so many years later, but I imagine for them, facing horrific persecution and death, they might want to go back to the old ways. Hebrews is such a beautiful encouragement and admonishment to stay the course. He is better.

I didn’t realize until this week that the hearers of this letter were only about 50 years from the final destruction of the temple. So like God, right? In His compassion and goodness, HE made a way for them. A way that was final and perfect and forever. I can’t imagine how His heart broke for those who missed it. For those who still miss it.

Have you met Jesus? I mean, truly encountered Christ?

All my life, I prioritized performance, perfection, and seeking acceptance. Certain that was how I would gain love. I was saved in 7th grade but didn’t begin walking with the Lord until my 30s, and even after nearly 30 years of knowing God intimately, I still struggle with the fear of man.  

If you’ve read other blogs, you know I LOVE worship. It’s just how God gets to my heart fast. One of my favorites is The Blood by Bethel and David Funk. (And yes, just like mentioning The Chosen, I winced, wondering about those who might also be offended by Bethel.) Fear.of.man.

Anywho! I love the line in the song: “When my shame hit the wayside and my sin met the Most High.”

I don’t know about you, but it took me a while to work through letting go of my shame. For years, I understood intellectually that God forgave my sin—but I couldn’t get it at a heart level. My sin seemed so much worse than that of other people. Somehow, I believed mine was less forgivable - so I worked and hoped to earn God’s forgiveness and love.

I kept seeking. I kept studying. I desperately wanted to know, truly know, this God that could love me and forgive me. Fully forgive – from as far as the east is to the west. (Psalm 103:12) Forgiveness that means He sees us as pure and unblemished.

It seemed impossible. But He does forgive us fully. Because of the blood.

The more time I spent with Him, the deeper I understood and accepted grace and forgiveness. It still leaves me completely undone when I think about God’s love for us. The sacrifice of Jesus to live in a relationship with us.

I did—and do—walk and talk very differently now. NOT perfectly by any means. But nothing is more real to me than Jesus. Nothing is more important to me than my relationship with Him. He is the truth I base my life and hope on. He has been faithful and present in every season of my life. He is IT for me.

In the study, Jen shared her three P’s of the Gospel, which I loved:

1. Penalty – Jesus became the final sacrifice required to pay the penalty for the sins we can’t. (Isaiah 53:5-6, 1 Peter 2:24)

2. Power – Jesus ascended to the right hand of God in the heavenly place, where He intercedes (in Greek, it means intervenes) for us, asking for us to have the power we need to overcome sin while we’re here on this planet. (Hebrews 1:3, 7:25, 8:1)

3. The third “P” is Presence—our promise that we will one day be in His presence forever, where there will be no more sin. No more evil or hate or disease or death. (Revelation 21:4)

Beloved, do you know the power that is in HIS blood?

We haven’t done anything to deserve it. To be purified and righteous. Yet, He loved us so much that He came to give His life so we could know Him and be close to Him – forever.

I don’t know about you, but there is nothing like sitting in God’s presence. Nothing. 

I hope you have time to do that today. I hope you make time to do that today.

Sit with this song. Turn off every distraction. Imagine releasing all the things you believe make you valuable to the world. You are already all you need to be. He couldn’t love you more than He does today.