The Precious Blood

Instead of any original thoughts, I’d like to simply post a prayer from the Valley of Vision that I read this morning, along with a few short reflections. The prayer is entitled, “The Precious Blood.”

The Precious Blood

(Valley of Vision, pg 41, Banner of Truth)

Blessed Lord Jesus,
Before thy cross I kneel and see
the heinousness of my sin,
my iniquity that caused thee to be ‘made a curse’,
the evil that excites the severity of divine wrath.

Show me the enormity of my guilt by
the crown of thorns,
the pierced hands and feet,
the bruised body,
the dying cries.

Thy blood is the blood of incarnate God,
its worth infinite, its value beyond all thought.

Infinite must be the evil and guilt that demands such a price.
Sin is my malady, my monster, my foe, my viper,
born in my birth,
alive in my life,
strong in my character,
dominating my faculties,
following me as a shadow,
intermingling with my every thought,
my chain that holds me captive in the empire of my soul,
Sinner that I am, why should the sun give me light?
the air supply breath,
the earth bear my tread
its fruits nourish me,
its creatures subserve my ends?

Yet thy compassions yearn over me,
thy heart hastens to my rescue,
thy love endured my curse,
thy mercy bore my deserved stripes.

Let me walk humbly in the lowest depths of humiliation,
bathed in thy blood,
tender of conscience,
triumphing gloriously as an heir of salvation.

Two thoughts:

1) The cross shows us the enormity of our sin.

Sin is no trifling matter, like losing a sporting event or a card game. Sin is the thing that causes us all of our sorrow. If there were no sin, there would be no sorrow or suffering. And yet we look around the world and we see suffering and sorrow everywhere.

What’s more is that our sin is everywhere. As the prayer above says, the sin of a man “intermingles his every thought.” Our sin is so heinous that it drove the God-man to die upon the cross in shame.

Let us not entertain light thoughts of sin, lest we think light thoughts of the Savior.

This leads to a second thought

2) The cross shows us the exceeding greatness of God’s love for sinners.

Jesus did not go to the cross because we were lovely and he wanted to make us lovelier. He went to the cross because we were forsaken and he wanted to save us. The blood of Christ is the blood of God, infinite in its worth. Consider that your sin caused Jesus to spill his precious blood. More precious than the finest gold is the blood of the Lamb without spot or blemish.

And yet Jesus took your curse. He took your stripes. He took your shame. It was all laid upon him at Calvary’s cross.

So let us be humble. Hating our sin. Loving God’s forgiveness. Enamored with the truth of the gospel.

“Amazing Love, How can it be?
That thou, my God, should die for me?”