“You have come… to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel” (Heb. 12:22-24, ESV).
What did the blood of Abel speak? It cried out in condemnation of Cain. Cain lived out the rest of his days under the dark, heavy cloud of condemnation.
Have you every struggled under the suffocating weight of condemnation? I know I have! You and I may not have shed innocent blood. Regardless, inside our souls, every one of us has heard the voice of condemnation crying out against us. Within our minds, within our hearts, that menacing voice has trumpeted the message of our failures. That voice has sat down oppressively upon our emotions and eaten mercilessly away at our joy.
But you have come. Oh, what glorious news! You have come… to the new covenant Jesus mediated for you. You have come… to the sprinkled blood that speaks an immeasurably better word than the hostile voice of accusation.
The blood of Jesus has its own breathtaking voice. Continue reading The Better Word Spoken