In Adam all sinned, and the penalty for sin is death, which culminates in eternal separation from God.  To redeem sinful man, blood must be shed because without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sin. Since life is in the blood, the only way to mitigate the death penalty already passed on humanity is to ransom the life in the blood of an Innocent Person whose blood has the ability to remit sin.  Jesus is the only Person who is qualified to make the sacrifice. “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Lev 17:11).

Here the Bible is instructing on the Old Covenant type of offering the blood of bulls and goats for the covering for a time of the sins of the people.  That was the only way a Holy God could have dealings with His people until the New Covenant became operative to deal with the sin question once and for all.  Thus, the life of Jesus was given in exchange for the life of all the posterity of Adam and Eve through shedding of His blood on Calvary’s Cross.  The blood of Jesus made a once-for-all atonement for the remission of the sins of the world because Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary unaffected by the original sin committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.  Not with the blood of goats and valves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption  … so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.  To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation” (Heb 9:11-28).

By shedding His blood on Calvary’s Cross, Christ became our substitute, exchanging our sinfulness for His righteousness.  Whoever accepts Christ therefore has His righteousness imputed or accounted to him.  The Bible declares, “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us” (Gal 3:13).  In other words, our redemption from sin, which includes the removal of the curse of the law, is complete in Him.  Furthermore, the ways Jesus shed His blood mirror the particular aspects of the curse that Adam’s transgression activated.  Let us consider seven of such applications.

1. Sweat As Blood In The Garden Of Gethsemane. Lk 22:44 – And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly.  Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Sweat is a symbol of hard labor.  It typifies struggling for existence and survival.  This curse, “in the sweat of your face you shall eat bread” contracts with life of comfort Adam enjoyed in the Garden of Eden before he sinned when he had dominion over God’s creation.  So, the blood that dropped as sweat from Jesus in the Garden redeemed man from struggling for existence.

2. Crown Of Thorns. Mt 27:29 – When they had twisted a crown of thorns, they put it on His head. A thorn is a plant or brier that abounds with pricks. It is not cultivated, but grows on its own to inhibit, choke or destroy life-sustaining crops.  God cursed the ground for the sake of Adam and commanded it to bring forth thorns and thistles. When Roman soldiers planted a thorn on the head of Jesus, blood dripped from the points where the pricks on the thorns tore into His flesh.  The effect on man of the blood that dripped to the ground was the removal of inherited or generational curses, such as barrenness, poverty and oppression.

3. Beard Plucked Off. In Bible times, the tradition of keeping the beard signified beauty, favor and dignity. The beard of Jesus Christ was yanked off His face in a brutal manner.  The hair was not shaved off; it was pulled with the skin mercilessly with blood oozing out (Isa 50:6; 53:3).  That judgment restored beauty and favor to redeemed man.

4. Jesus Gave His Back To The Smitters. Jn 19:1 – So then Pilate took Jesus and scourged Him. Jesus received thirty-nine strokes of the Roman cane. The scourging was in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.  But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed (Isa 53:4-5). Jesus willingly gave His back to the ‘smiters’ and by reason of the bleeding and laceration of His back He purchased our healing.  Thus the believer has been redeemed, inured against sickness and disease and protected from all forms of bodily infirmities.

5. Hands Nailed To The Cross. The hands of fallen humanity shed innocent blood. That was why Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.  By nailing His hands to the Cross, Jesus re-established the works of our hands to glorify our Maker. Ps 90:17 – And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.

6. Feet Nailed Together. The feet symbolize dominion. God’s standard for His people is that ‘every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you.’  Also, ‘the land where your foot has trodden shall be your inheritance and your children’s forever.’ Sin and iniquity mortgaged that provision to the extent that the feet of men are swift in running to mischief.  The judgment on the feet of Jesus restored dominion to the redeemed of the Lord.

7. Blood And Water From His Side. Jn 19:34 – But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. The shedding of the Blood of Jesus was completed with the blood and water that flowed from His side. It is the seal of the New Testament.  The blood of Jesus sprinkled the whole world, bringing salvation to whosoever believes in Him. “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels … to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel” (Heb 12:22-24).

Therefore the Blood of Jesus saves from eternal death; restores beauty and favor; confers dominion; prospers the works of our hands; removes sickness and heals bodily infirmities;  redeems from inherited and generational curses; and removes human struggle.

This is the revelation I received on September 12, 2010. Jesus is still at the right hand of God in heaven but He is no longer sitting down. Right now, He is standing on His feet ready to step out of the third heaven and descend to the atmospheric region of the earth to receive the church to Himself.

As soon as He steps out of heaven two trumpet sounds will issue in quick succession. Only the righteous dead will hear the first trumpet sound. As they begin to descend to the earth the second trumpet sound will issue and only those alive in Christ at that moment will hear this second sound. Both sleeping and living qualified saints will be transformed with glorified bodies and rise together to meet the Lord in the air. How long it will take before the Lord steps out of God’s throne room was not disclosed, neither was I told how long it would take Him to walk down to the atmospheric part of the first heaven.

The import of the revelation I received is that time is short. “But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on even those who have wives should be as though they had none, those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not possess, and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away” (1 Cor 7:29-31).  In the first place a state of expectancy will prevail.  Those eligible to be partakers of the rapture will be in a state of expectancy. They will not be taken by surprise. They will know the times and season. There must be a looking and hasting for the coming of the Lord.

Secondly, God always has a witness to whatever He wants to do. The antediluvian were warned of Noah’s flood. Even sinful Sodom and Gomorrah had angelic visitation. Israel was warned of the disaster for rejecting Christ. Right now, nobody knows the day or hour of the rapture but many members of the eschatological community all over the world know the end-times are here and that the season is on the brink. As rapture time draws nearer and nearer, those who made themselves ready by watching, expecting and anticipating the rapture while busy doing their allotted tasks faithfully will sense in their spirit that the hour has come for the trumpet to sound.  They will have and know the mind of Christ.

This is the terminal generation.  God told Simeon that he would not see death until the birth of Christ. If you were born on or before May 14, 1948 and God has purposed for you not to experience death, the probability is one hundred per cent sure that you will be alive when the rapture of the church of Jesus Christ takes place.

Let those with hearing ears hear what the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church! The choice is yours; choose zoe, the life of God and live forever with Him.