A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers  

1 John 1:7, “. . . the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.”  In his book Written in Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. The doctor explained that she had the same disease the boy had recovered from two years earlier. Her only chance for recovery was a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease. Since the two children had the same rare blood type, the boy was the ideal donor.  “Would you give your blood to Mary?” the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip started to tremble. Then he smiled and said, “Sure, for my sister.”Soon the two children were wheeled into the hospital room—Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. Neither spoke, but when their eyes met, Johnny grinned. As the nurse inserted the needle into his arm, Johnny’s smile faded. He watched the blood flow through the tube.  With the ordeal almost over, his little voice, slightly shaky, broke the silence. “Doctor, when do I die?” Only then did the doctor realize why Johnny had hesitated, why his lip had trembled when he’d agreed to donate his blood. He thought giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. In that brief moment, he’d made his great decision. Johnny, fortunately, didn’t have to die to save his sister. Each of us, however, has a condition more serious than Mary’s.  Itrequired Jesus to give not just His blood but His life.  Like Mary in our story today, we each had an incurable disease.  But our disease was far greater; and that disease was sin.  It was inherited from the first Adam due to his disobedience in the Garden of Eden.  But there was an ideal donor who had conquered the disease; the last Adam, Jesus Christ.  By His substitutionary death on the cross, we can experience a blood transfusion, thereby forever curing us of the deadly disease of sin.  His blood is the permanent cure;and where once sin reigned unto death, now His righteousness reigns unto life.  No matter how egregiousour sin, His blood is the remedy.  Now and forever, we can be made whole and set free by receiving His transfusion of righteousness for each new day.