In that marvelous description of Christ and His work, in the first chapter of Colossians, we find that: "It pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him reconciled all things unto himself." (Colossians 1:19-20)
Two things are here spoken of as being the good pleasure of God:
1. In Christ all fullness could dwell; and
2. In Christ all things, both on earth and in heaven, should be reconciled to himself.
And one thing is spoken of as having been done, namely, the making of peace through the blood of His cross. No expression is more familiar to the Christian, or to anyone who is accustomed to Gospel preaching, than: "The blood of Christ." (Ephesians 2:13; Hebrews 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19)
Never is there a revival sermon about an invitation to sinners to come to the cross for cleansing in the blood of Christ, and the assurance that they may cleanse themselves from every defilement in His powerful, precious blood.
And yet, for all this, it is a fact that to most people the blood of Christ is mythical and unreal. Many professed Christians, even ministers, now object to all reference to "the blood," as being gross and repulsive, so that we hear much less about it than formerly. A minister in a sermon on "Christ in Creation and Redemption" feels it necessary to apologize for using the objectionable term, by saying, "I cling to that figurative word, despite its painful suggestions, because there is no other word that stands with me for all which that word covers."
It is a "figurative word"? Is it so that there is no real blood of Christ, in which we can be actually cleansed? Sin is a terribly real thing; we all know its power in our bodies; and we know that whatever cleanses it away must be real. We want no "figurative" cleansing; but if the term "blood" in the Bible were only a "figurative word," then our cleansing would be only figurative, and we should be yet in our sins.
Thank God, the Bible still says just as much about the blood as it used to, and makes no apology for it, and we can cling to it without apology. "The blood is the life;" (Deuteronomy 12:23) and, "The life was manifested, and we have seen it." (1 John 1:2)
This life is the light of men; and: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin." (1 John 1:7)
There is real cleansing in real blood. Silver and gold are counted real things by the inhabitants of this earth; yet they are nothing in comparison with the blood of Christ; for we read: "You were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." (1 Peter 1:18)
Silver and gold are corruptible, and, as they cannot purchase any real blessing, they are unreal; but the blood of Christ is incorruptible; it is eternal substance, and eternal blessing. By it, and in it, "The Lord [has] commanded the blessing, even life for evermore." (Psalm 133:3)
How may we know the reality of this priceless blood? Simply by opening our eyes; for "the life was manifested." "The entrance of God's word gives light and understanding." (Psalm 119:130)
It is a lamp, enabling us to see realities that to our unassisted vision seem only shadows. "Your word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path." (Psalm 119:105)
So we read this testimony concerning Christ as He hung on the cross: "One of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. And he that saw it bore record, and his record is true: and he knows that what he says true, that you might believe." (John 19:34-35)
There is no question but that the blood that came from Christ's smitten side was real. Usually, it could not be seen; but it was visibly manifest in that time only to help us to recognize its reality when it is invisible; for the most real and enduring things are usually invisible to mortal eyes.
But let us consider another instance where the evidence is clear and conclusive that Christ's real blood was present, although it was invisible. Jesus was on His way to the house of Jairus, in answer to a call for help, and: "As He went the people thronged Him. And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, Came behind Him, and touched the border of His garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with Him said, Master, the multitude throng you and press You, and You say, Who touched me? And Jesus said, Somebody has touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me." (Luke 8:42-46)
Here was a case of real need. The woman's disease was real, and she was really healed. Moreover, she received healing from the person of the real Christ. His fullness supplied her lack. What was her lack? She lacked blood. Then what did she get from Jesus? She got a fresh supply of blood; for not only did she cease to lose blood as soon as she touched Him, but she was "made whole," (Matthew 9:22) and, "she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague." (Mark 5:29)
The fresh blood filled her whole body with the warm glow of life. That which the woman received came from Christ. She felt a supply of power come into her, and He felt power go from Him. Therefore, although nothing could be seen, we know that from the body of Christ there went real blood to the body of the woman.
The invisible blood that passed from the side of Jesus for the healing of that poor woman was as real as the visible blood that flowed from His side on the cross. Now we may go a step further. Jesus said, "My blood is drink indeed," (John 6:55)
Or as rendered in the German, "My blood is the true drink."
Therefore He said, "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life;and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:53-54)
On the night of His the trial, He took the cup filled with "the fruit of the vine," (Mark 14:25) and said, "This is my blood; ... drink you all of it." (Matthew 26:28,27)
He is the true vine, the life of everything that grows, and so in the blood of the grape we get His life blood.
Drinking from the Rock
Now we read further, that the children of Israel in the wilderness "did all drink the same spiritual drink; for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ." (1 Corinthians 10:4)
This brings us to the rock in Horeb, upon which the Lord stood, and which, when Moses smote it at His command, sent forth living water for the people. "Behold, I will stand before you there upon the rock in Horeb; and you shall smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel." (Exodus 17:6)
They had "tempted the Lord, saying, Is the Lord among us are not?" (Exodus 17:7)
And the stream of water gushing from the rock showed that He was among them. There can be no question but that the water which the people drank that day, and for many days and months thereafter, came from Christ. It was life to them, and it was the life of Christ; for the Spirit and the water and the blood agree in one113 as seen at Calvary. "And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one." (1 John 5:8) Moreover, "the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, [proceeds] out of the throne of God, and of the Lamb." (Revelation 22:1)
And in the midst of that throne is the slain Lamb. "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth." (Revelation 5:6)
The water of life, therefore comes from the side of the slain Lamb, and is His precious blood. So the water of life which quenched the thirst of the children of Israel, and brought new life to them, was the blood of Christ; and it is by that same blood that all men get whatever life they possess. It is our life, for His blood literally flows in our veins.
Does this seem too strong a statement? Any reader can see the reality of it for himself, and know that the miracle performed for the poor woman in Capernaum, and for the multitudes in the wilderness, was to teach us that we get life only as the blood of Christ flows from Him to us.
Why do you eat and drink? It is to get life. You know that you get life by that means. If you are weak and pale, you eat the best food you can get in order that you may have good fresh blood, and thereby strength. You know that your blood comes from what you eat and drink. You do not create life; you do not make life, you simply take it in from without.
There is not an element in your body except that which comes in your food and drink. He simply transfers the elements of life into your own system. Thus your blood, along with the other tissues of your body is continually wasting away, is replenished.
Can you not see that there is a continual stream of blood flowing into and through you from without? We are each one but side channels for the river of life which flows from the throne of God. The account of the water flowing from the Rock in Horeb was written for our learning that we might see the water of life, the blood of Christ, flowing from every fountain. It is that we may see the cross of Christ reflected in every water spring, and know that: "Through all created things thrills one pulse of life from the great heart of God."--Ellen G. White, Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 96.
The picture shows a beautiful scene. The moss-covered rocks are as it were pierced in dozens of places, and from each opening leaps forth a jet of sparkling water. It is the exact counterpart of the scene in the desert of Sinai. The flowing water from the rock, as well as from other places on earth where it bursts forth, is to make us see and know that the Lord is among us.
All fullness dwells in Him, therefore the fullness of the earth comes from Him. The water, which represents the fullness, the fertility of the earth, comes from the smitten Rock, that is even with us, and that Rock is Christ.
There is more of Christ than the eyes of man can see, or the mind of man can comprehend. Only "parts of His ways" (Job 26:14) are revealed in His works that we see. Christ comes that we may have life, and that we may have it more abundantly; and that abundant life bursting forth from the earth, shining in the light, and breathing in the air, is intended to make real to us, and to enable us to appropriate the more abundant life that even the heaven of heavens cannot contain.
Water is the universal solvent. It cleanses everything that it comes in contact with. In its visible form it cleanses our bodies: but there are impurities so deeply seated and so firmly fixed that it cannot reach them. But the knowledge of the cleansing, reviving effect of the water that we see, enables us to grasp the reality of the cleansing life-giving power of the water that we cannot see which is able to permeate even the inner chambers of the body and the secret places of the soul, thus cleansing us from sin. "We have redemption through His blood." (Ephesians 1:7) "[God has] made peace through the blood of His cross." (Colossians 1:20) "We [are] saved by His life." (Romans 5:10)
Thus, all creation is God's power to speak peace to us. All the power comes from His hand, all the water flows to refresh and cheer us gives of His love, the assurance of washing all our sins. "Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the lovingkindness of the Lord." (Psalm 107:43) "Now the Lord of Peace himself give you peace always by all means." (2 Thessalonians 3:16)--Present Truth, April 24, 1902--Timeline: IV-30 (The Invalid Woman; Jairus' Daughter)--Luke 8:42-46.