With the Precious Blood of Christ 1 Peter 1:19

Peter the apostle of Jesus Christ, told the “scattered” Christians they were “not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold” from their “vain conversation received by tradition from” their “fathers”, and in chapter one and verse nineteen of his letter, he shared how they were redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ” where we read:

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

The verse begins, “But with the precious blood of Christ,...” Peter began with the word, “But” which is a disassociation conjunction that means what is about to be stated takes precedence over what was previously stated, “nevertheless, notwithstanding, in exception and moreover” “with the precious” which means “of great price, held in honor, esteemed and especially dear” “blood” or “bloodshed” “of Christ” which means “anointed One, the Messiah and Son of God”. Christians are “redeemed” or “bought back, released of receipt of ransom, liberated by payment of ransom and delivered” by temporary, corruptible things such as precious metals, but were rather “liberated” by the “bloodshed” of Jesus Christ upon the cross.

The verse goes on to say, “...as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:” Peter continued with the phrase, “as of a lamb” or “sacrificial lamb which was used for worship of God” “without blemish” which means “without fault and blame morally” “and without spot” or “free from censure, irreproachable, free from vice and unsullied”. Jesus Christ had neither “blemish” nor “spot” in Himself when He gave His life on the cross for the redemption of lost man.

When we consider Peter's words, we begin to understand his emphasis upon how valuable the “blood of Jesus Christ” was. The world tends to value precious metals such as “silver and gold”, however, these have no comparison to the “value” of Jesus' blood. It was God the Father who set up the idea of a “sacrificial lamb” that was to be without “spot” which was a “genetic flaw” and without “blemish” which was an acquired flaw. In other words, the sacrificial lamb had to be pure or free from any flaw not only from birth, but also throughout its life. Jesus was without sin from birth to His death, and His “precious” and valuable life became the sacrifice for our sins. As we think this through, let us begin to realize how “valuable” “the blood of Jesus” is, and remember, He gave it in exchange for us to live with Him eternally.

Next time Peter tells the Christians how Jesus was “foreordained before the foundation of the world”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, and the new devotional “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore.