Christ the Avenger of Blood

This Sunday, across the Southern Baptist Convention, is the Sanctity of Life Sunday. We affirm our conviction that life is sacred, and only God has the right to say when it should begin and when it should end. Job had it correct when he stated, "The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Furthermore, we affirm our belief in the Scriptures which state that the Lord gives conception (Ruth 4:13). This means that abortion is not just an act against the individual or the baby, it is a sin against a Holy God. Thirty-eight years ago on January 22, the Supreme Court handed down its ruling on Roe vs. Wade. In an egregious act of legislating from the bench, it sealed the fate of millions of Americans yet to be born, wiped out an entire generation, and brought the Heavy Hand of God's Judgment down upon us. It is seen and has been clearly stated throughout Scripture that blood is sacred.

• Blood has a voice; Abel's cried out to God. Gen. 4:10
• The life is in the blood. Leviticus 17:11
• Blood must be shed to cover sins. Hebrews 9:22 And
• God hates the hands that shed innocent blood.

We are also told that God will avenge the blood of the innocent. He laid this down as a statute in the Old Testament, when he said there would be an eye required for an eye taken. He instituted human government to be His hands in bringing about justice for the innocent blood that has been shed. And when human government shed innocent blood, He has reserved a day, in which he will avenge that blood against those governments as well.

In Isaiah 61:1-2 we have a prophecy about Jesus/Messiah. He told us when speaking in the synagogue in Nazareth that part of it had been fulfilled, but he purposefully leaves out the second part of verse 2 which says he will proclaim "the Day of Vengeance of our God." That Day has yet to be declared, but soon shall be. This Day is referred to as "The Day of the Lord," "The Hour of Temptation," "The Time of Jacob's Trouble," "The Day of the Lord's Anger," and "The Great Tribulation." The Great Tribulation is the Day, when the Wrath of the Lamb will be poured out upon an unbelieving world, and the blood of the innocent will be avenged by Christ Himself.

In Revelation 5 and 6, we have an interesting passage in which Christ, the Lamb, is found worthy to take the scroll, which I believe as does J. Vernon McGee, Chuck Missler and others, is the title deed of the earth. He then breaks the seals and according to chapter 6, judgment and peril begin to take place on the earth. You may go here and read those chapters for clarity.

Revelation 6 begins with 4 horsemen (The 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse) riding. The first rides a White Horse and has a bow in his hands without arrows. While listening to Chuck Missler recently, he brought out that the first time a bow is mentioned in Scripture is where God puts his bow in the sky as a sign of His Covenant with Noah not to destroy the earth again with water. This can show that the Antichrist is coming and will be armed with diplomacy in which he will make a covenant with Israel for 7 years (Daniel 9). The next horse is red symbolizing war, the next black showing famine among the poor brought about by mass inflation; and the final horse is pale (greenish gray) symbolizing death. The beasts Scripture says will destroy mankind. The word beast doesn't necessarily mean a huge animal but just a living organism. It could easily be describing a virus or chemical/biological warfare that causes death. The souls of those slain are then seen crying out for vengeance, after which the Wrath of the Lamb is unleashed with great and fearful signs and wonders.

Now, there are 2 primary purposes for the Great Tribulation. First is that Israel might be purified to receive her Messiah, and second, that the blood of the innocent might be avenged.

First, it is a time of Jacob's Trouble. It is for Israel and not the Church. Zechariah makes it clear in chapters 11-13 that Israel will be turned over to an idol shepherd (the Antichrist). He will turn on her and persecuted her. By the end, those who survive will be crying for Christ to return, and they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and weep and mourn as for a firstborn son (Zechariah 12:10). Now, all this is necessary for Christ to return and be revealed as Messiah. Hosea 5:15 states, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." Peter alluded to this in Acts 3:19-21, when he told the crowd of Jewish people to repent and be converted so that the times of refreshing could come from the presence of the Lord and Jesus Christ be sent. He went on to tell them that the Heavens were receiving [literally holding back] Jesus until the restitution of all things. In other words, Jesus is being held back from returning until the Jewish people acknowledge the offence of rejecting Him as Messiah and ask Him to come. At the end of "Jacob's Trouble" they will do this!

The second aspect is to avenge the blood of the martyred innocent. It will be a time of trouble Daniel said (12:1) such as there has not been since there was a nation. There will be wars, famine and diseases. There will be evil abounding with murders, thefts, sorcery and sexual immorality (Revelation 9:21). There will be 7 seal judgments, 7 trumpet judgments, and 7 bowl judgments. The political/economic systems of the world will be turned upside down, and there will be cataclysmic upheavals in nature. The Kings of the Earth will be hiding and seeking to die, but will not repent nor have their desires granted. And the saddest part of it all is that those who have understood in this age how to be saved and rejected will believe the lie of Antichrist and be damned for eternity (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

I do have good news though friends! God has promised to keep the meek hidden in the Day of His Anger. Zephaniah 2:3 states: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be that ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." Jesus stated in Luke 21:36, "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be counted worthy to escape those things which are coming upon the earth." And finally, the Church at Philadelphia is promised in Revelation 3:10, "Because thou has kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." You can escape this horrible time by believing on Jesus today. And if you are already a believer, BE A PHILADELPHIA CHRISTIAN! Be on-fire, sold-out, witnessing and praising until he returns. And lift up your head, OUR REDEMPTION IS DRAWING NIGH! MARANATHA!!!