What does it take to save the World?

At Every Nation Tallahassee we have started a three week series based on the TV show "24". The title of the series is, "What does it take to save the World?" On Easter sunday, I started the series with a message titled "The Right Man." I believe it takes the right man to save the world.

If you are looking to deactivate a nuclear bomb on US soil, you better call on Jack Bauer. If you are looking to save yourself from sin and death, you better call on Jesus Christ. Both Jack and Jesus are highly qualified for the jobs they do. Jack's experience in CTU, his education and military training have more than prepared him for his job. Jesus' Godly pedigree makes him the only one capable of saving us from sin and death.

Hebrews 1:3 describes Jesus in this way, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word." Colossians 1:15 says this about Jesus, "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation." As God's son, Jesus has the most unique blood type in the history of the world. Blood identifies, as much as anything else, who a person really is.

Hebrews 9:22 says, "The law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." God taught his people in the Old Testament that in order to be temporarily cleansed of their sins, it would require the sacrifice of their best livestock. Year after year they had to continually offer sacrifices to God for their sins.

John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus, described him as the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). Jesus came as a man to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins once and for all. Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:18-19, For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, (19) but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish and defect."

While at FSU on a basketball scholarship, I had a teammate contract a rare virus. This guy was a physical specimen. He was 6'8", weighed 260 lbs and had only 5% body fat. He could run like a deer and jump out of the gym. It was quite shocking to watch him barely walk with the assistance of a cane. This virus had made him very frail. As his body would weaken throughout the month, he would have to go to the hospital for a blood transfusion. After the transfusion, he would have a new source of energy. It was like he got new life once a month. He eventually recovered from the virus.

In a more permanent way, Jesus' blood gives us new life. When we are filled with His Spirit and washed in his blood, we are clean, free and empowered to love and serve him the way Jesus intended. His blood changes us because it has eternal power and his divine nature in it.

Hebrews 9:12-14 says this, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. (13) The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. (14) How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"

I agree with Edward Mote who once said, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. Jesus is the only man to walk on planet earth with a Godly pedigree and it is his blood that is heaven's key. Jesus' blood proves he is the right man to save the world from sin and death. I pray that Jesus would give his people a fresh transfusion.