“Through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood,
through faith”
(Romans 3:24-25).
Known as “the man with the golden arm,” James Harrison was born in 1936 in Australia. When he was fourteen years old, he lost a lung, and survived thanks to the multiple blood transfusions he received. When he left the clinic, he promised that when he became old enough, he would become a blood donor.
Not only did he keep that promise, he has 1,173 blood donations recorded over more than sixty years. James has received multiple awards, including the Medal of the Order of Australia, one of the greatest distinctions in his country. Also, he is a Guinness World Record holder as the greatest blood donor in history.
It is moving to think about someone willing to help and save so many people by donating that vital fluid that circulates throughout the body to bring nutrients and oxigen to every system, and at the same time, carry out wastes so they can be eliminated.
However, it is even more moving to think about the One whose blood was spilled to eliminate the waste of our sins and carry the life-saving nutrition and oxygen, and, assuming the cost of our sins, die in our place.
“Blood” is a key word in helping us understand the redemptive message of the Bible, starting with the sacrifices of the Old Testament, which prefigured the Lamb of God who would carry the sins of the world (see John 1:29). More importantly, blood is undoubtedly fundamental for us to understand Christ’s work and ministry (Eph. 1:17; Col. 1:14; Heb. 9:7, 12, 18).
Blood is a symbol of a life voluntarily given to rescue the sinner, and blood as the spilling of life itself. Like the word “cross,” the phrase “Christ’s blood” express Christ’s redemptive sacrifice and death. Thanks be to our Lord Christ Jesus, who was the true golden arm and is the greatest donor in the universe, we can be born again.
How can we not appreciate and make a commitment to Him?
May Spurgeon’s decision be ours also:
“If we are not willing to die for Christ,
we will find no joy in the fact that Christ died for us.”
God bless you, my dear brethren…