7 Places the Blood Was Shed and What Each One Bought

Sermon outline

Jesus shed His blood in seven places, and at each one He bought something for us, so that through the divine exchange at the cross He took the punishment and we received a whole new life.

1. Gethsemane: the blood of faithfulness

   In His anguish His sweat became like great drops of blood, the greatest distress a person can experience. Three times He prayed, not My will but Yours, and there He decided to pay the price and carry all betrayal, anguish, despair and hopelessness, so that the pain of our betrayals is taken away and we can live in the peace of God.

   “In that garden, he made the decision to pay the price.”

   • Luke 22:44
   • Matthew 26:39-44

2. The crown of thorns: the blood of conquest

   Thorns were forced onto His head and the soldiers kept striking Him with a staff. That blood redeems us from the curse that came on the earth through Adam's sin and lets us live in the blessing and prosperity of God, which he defines not as money but as the richness, clarity and power God brings that nothing else can.

   Illustration: In South Africa, the soldiers' stick would be a kierie.

   “When you think about prosperity, don't think about money. Think about the richness that God brings into your life.”

   • Matthew 27:29-30

3. The beard: the blood of identity

   Isaiah foretold that He would give His cheeks to those who plucked out the beard. His face was so disfigured that there was nothing beautiful about His appearance. His face was made unrecognisable so that we could recover our identity.

   “He lost that identity that we found that identity.”

   • Isaiah 50:6
   • Isaiah 53:2

4. The back: the blood of redemption and healing

   He was whipped thirty-nine times with a Roman scourge weighted with metal and bone. He was pierced for our transgressions, and by His wounds we are healed. Only God takes away eczema, sinus, asthma, cancer, high blood pressure and diabetes; healing is the children's bread, and we forget how many calamities we never experienced because of His grace.

   Illustration: The scourging as depicted in the film The Passion of the Christ.

   “It is only God that can take away the cancer.”

   • Isaiah 53:4-5

5. The hands: the blood of productivity

   The hands that worked innumerable miracles were nailed to the cross, so that His blood could redeem the hands of every evil act and release the same power into the hands of His children. Nothing you have done is beyond God's forgiveness, and only Jesus can forgive sin. Do not let anger or pride take your salvation lightly.

   “There is nothing that you've done in your life that God cannot forgive.”

6. The feet: the blood of purpose

   One long nail pierced both feet below the ankle bone, and every breath meant pushing His weight against it. He suffered this so that our steps could be redeemed, ordered by the Lord and kept in holiness, as we walk by God's guidance rather than human intellect.

   Illustration: Some of us step on a thorn in the garden and feel as if the world has ended.

   “My steps are ordered of the Lord.”

   • Psalm 37:23

7. The heart: the blood of restoration

   When the soldier pierced His side, blood and water flowed, which he describes as the sign of a heart that had burst under the anguish. Because of His broken heart, our hearts are restored: there is no betrayal, pain or suffering Christ has not already paid for. At the cross a divine exchange takes place: we leave the past and the old nature there and rise as a new creation, free from low self-esteem, poverty, hurt and sickness.

   Illustration: Even at the point of death, with a broken heart, a torn back and no breath, the sun was darkened, the earth shook and the dead were raised.

   “Jesus took the punishment, but the divine exchange was that we received a whole new life.”

   • John 19:34
   • 2 Corinthians 5:17
   • Romans 8:39

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