#11: One of the Great Metaphors
The Blood of Life
This is the eleventh in a series of the 12 greatest metaphors for life. Note that the reality is stated next to each item in the list. If you'd like learn about the metaphor, click on the post.
The breath of life: a person can live three minutes without air.
The shelter of life: in harsh climes a person can live 3 hours without shelter.
The water of life: a normal person can live three days without water.
The bread of life: the average person can live about three weeks without food.
The light of life: if the sun were to stop giving its light, global temperatures would drop, plants would die, trees would vanish, and all life would cease to exist.
The tree of life: without trees, we would have little fruit to provide our bodies with the antioxidants we so desperately need. In addition, trees provide beauty and shade, as well as leaves which provide healing substances.
The True Vine of life: up to this time, we have looked at the necessities of physical life. The vine of life represents something deeper: abundant life.
The oil of life: the olive tree was once a primary source of oil for food and light.
The spice of life: spice provides flavor for bland food, healing for sick bodies, and fragrance for perfumes.
The rest of life: after three days of no sleep, the average person begins to hallucinate. Sleep is such a fundamental part of life that we just cannot live without it. We need downtime to regenerate, recuperate, and revitalize.
The blood of life: blood is so necessary for life that blood-loss from a severed artery can cause death in less than a minute. This process is called exsanguination.
The Blood of Life
Blood should have been the first item in this list of metaphors, for a person cannot live one minute without blood. It is the foundational building block for life. The Scripture agrees. Leviticus 17:11 says, "The life of the flesh is in the blood."
Blood is made up of all kinds of life-giving substances. It nourishes our bodies at the cellular level. Read more about blood below:
Blood is so important to life that Reformed Health has been doing a series on healthy blood called, "Living Under God's Design: 7 Biblical Principles." There we discuss 7 principles for living in God's world that will help improve the quality, circulation, and cleansing properties of our blood so we can live healthier lives.
The Greater Blood.
Once again we find that blood represents something greater than physical life. Under the Old Covenant, the blood of an animal was required to atone for the sin of man and his kind. Hebrews 9:22 reads, "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."
But the sacrifice of animals only looked forward to a greater sacrifice that would come, namely Jesus Christ. He began shedding His blood in the Garden of Gethsemane while His sleeping disciples were to keep watch. And then, the Perfect One shed more blood as he was whipped with a cat o' nine tails and a crown of thorns pressed onto to His sacred head. And His hands and feet that were pierced for our transgressions slowly bled out and down the cruel cross of crucifixion until He breathed His last.
And whatever blood was left in His sinless body, spilled out with water when the soldier pierced His side to see if the King of the Jews was indeed dead.
This blood that was spilled, the exsanguination of our Great God in flesh, paid the penalty for the sins of those who would believe in His great sacrifice. "His blood atones for every race and sprinkles now the throne of grace."
The spotless lamb took sin upon Himself, so we could live. If this does not move you to worship, nothing will.
And God raised this same Jesus Christ from the dead so we could all live in newness of life.
Further Application.
God uses the blood of Jesus as a picture of cleansing from sin and as a means to eternal life. Spiritual pictures are based on physical realities.
Physical blood is a cleansing agent and our life source according to science and the Scriptures. We should seek to apply the biblical principles of wellness to our lives so we can have the healthiest blood possible.
Learn more:
What a lovely God we serve.
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