Exodus 12:13

New International Version (NIV)

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.

For Meditation

Our peace with God is settled on nothing apart from the shed blood of Jesus (Rom. 5:1; Col. 1:20).

The sacrifice of Christ, offered on the cross by shedding His precious blood, provided a perfect and complete atonement for our sins that leaves nothing undone or anything to add (Jn. 19:30). Christ, having taken His shed blood into the perfect Tabernacle in heaven and the Most Holy Place once and for all time, has secured our redemption forever (Heb. 9:11-14). We can, therefore, confidently enter God’s presence by the shed blood of Jesus (10:19-23; 4:14-16)  

Does it matter then how feebly you feel about the blood of Jesus or the value you put to it apart from the value God the Father puts to it (Exod. 12:21-23; 1 Cor. 5:7; 1 Pt. 1:19)? Does it matter what human intelligence professes about it or what the world wants you to believe?

The estimation and value God puts on the shed blood of Jesus Christ is the only thing that matters in your redemption and must be your only consideration in any narrative everywhere. It is the only basis upon which God in Christ has forgiven and accepted you as perfectly righteous. It is the perfect exchange you should always rejoice about: “God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him, we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21).

There lies the basis of your peace with God. You cannot bring anything along with it to ensure you enjoy a settled peace in Him. Nothing!   

As we approach Easter, it is helpful to reflect on the shed blood of Jesus on the cross that atoned for our sins, propitiating our Holy God, making peace with Him for us, and reconciling us to Him in Christ (Rom. 3:25; 5:1; 2 Cor. 5:18). Now, that is the importance of Calvary in our lives.

Yes, we celebrate the resurrection as the most important event on our Christian calendar, but we should never forget that there would be no resurrection without the cross of Calvary. So, without diminishing the resurrection of Christ, I suggest we hold as precious in our hearts the perfect sacrifice of atonement on Calvary as the basis of our peace now and enjoy Christ, our perfect Redeemer.

May a renewed assurance of complete forgiveness refresh you in Christ because of Calvary, and may that assurance deliver you from any lie from the pit of hell that suggests you can bring anything along by works! As C. H. Mackintosh has rightly posited, “Either Christ’s atoning sacrifice is sufficient [for your redemption] or it is not.” I pray it is for you!

Pray with Me

We give glory to you, our heavenly Father and God, for demonstrating your love to us in that Christ died for us while we wallowed in our sins. Calvary will forever burn in our hearts as the greatest testament to the outpouring of your love and the outflow of your mercy and grace, which we can only appropriate by faith in Christ Jesus, the work of your Spirit in our hearts. How can we not proclaim you to the world through the testimony of our lives and our intentional witness in response to your Great Commission? So, receive your praise, O Lord, for you deserve all of it. Amen!