ANOTHER COFFEE BREAK: THE TABLE OF THE LORD XI

[Regner A Capener]

THE TABLE OF THE LORD XI

Power in the Blood

And a Fabulous, Prosperous Happy New Year, folks!

The other day Della went to pray for her aunt, Nita, who had just been released from the hospital following knee-replacement surgery. There were other cousins, nieces, nephews and some grand-nieces (is that what you call them, or do they become "cousins" instead?). Savannah is Nita's great-granddaughter. (We seem to have a bunch of Savannahs in our family -- a granddaughter, a niece, and this "grand-niece," or however she is classified.) Anyway, Savannah is not yet three years old. She was quite taken with Della and the presence of the Lord in her.

When Della went to lay hands on Nita and began to pray, Savannah came over to began to stare at Della's hand. She somehow sensed the power of God flowing but didn't understand what was taking place. Finally, she began picking up Della's hand and looking underneath to see what was there. It was both funny and revelatory at the same time. Della stopped and asked Savannah if she'd like to pray for Grandma Nita too. She nodded her head vigorously and put her hand on Nita's leg right next to Della's hand. Della placed her hand over Savannah's and began to pray in the Spirit.

The prayer became rather strong -- and long -- lasting between five and ten minutes. (Grin) Savannah didn't wriggle or move her hand even once during the prayer like most two-year-olds would do. When Della finally lifted her hand, Savannah looked up at her and seemed to reluctantly withdraw her hand. She liked what she felt and experienced. It was both humorous and refreshing to see her reaction. When young children experience the power of God flowing like that and see the visible results of healing (Nita has astounded the doctors with her rapid recovery and full mobility without pain or after-effects.) it builds faith in them to do the same.

We've shared in the past how our granddaughter, Jessica, experienced the same thing when she was three years old and went around praying for her brothers and sisters whenever they experienced pain or the onset of a cold or flu or whatever. The manifestation of healing was instant -- so much so that whenever they have gotten hurt or felt bad for one reason or the other the automatic response has become, "get Jessie to pray for you!" That, my friends, is the way it ought to be! We're bringing up a new generation of young people. They need to be brought up in an environment of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It'll multiply over and over and over again -- just like the loaves and fishes -- and the power of God to heal, save, deliver and make whole will spread like fire!

Well, Good Morning, folks! This Coffee Break begins our seventh year of publication and sharing the things God has been speaking and doing in our lives. At the same time, here at River Worship Center, we've been sharing around the Table of the Lord and a continually unfolding revelation concerning the bread and the cup for the past year and a half. I remember hearing Juan Carlos Ortiz share a number of years ago how the Holy Spirit wouldn't let him off the subject of God's Love in his church in Argentina for more than a year; and wondering how in the world one could stay on the same topic without saying the same thing over and over and over again to extreme boredom. Now I know! There's nothing boring about it, and the continual flow of revelation and impartation is nothing less than life-changing!

Let's begin by laying a few foundations.

We know by virtue of God's statement to Moses "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul." (Leviticus 17:11)

Then God goes on to say the following: "Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood. And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust. For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off." (Leviticus 17: 12-14)

This is a critically important principle for us to get hold of. If the life of all flesh is in the blood, then the blood has both the power of life and death as it flows through our bodies. So long as the blood renews itself and is renewed by breath (breathing) [We'll come back to this momentarily] it carries the power of life throughout our bodies, bringing health to our minds -- or more specifically, our brains -- and keeping our bones, our organs, our muscles and our tissue continually renewed. If the blood, however, is not renewed and reoxygenated, it loses its life-giving power and our bodies begin to suffer the consequences with disease, infirmity and weakness as the immediate results, and -- given enough time -- death as the final result.

Blood becomes diseased when its cells begin to die or to replicate in unbalanced fashion. Anemia, leukemia and hemophilia are good examples.

Encarta Encyclopedia gives us the following description: Blood carries oxygen from the lungs to all the other tissues in the body and, in turn, carries waste products, predominantly carbon dioxide, back to the lungs where they are released into the air. When oxygen transport fails, a person dies within a few minutes. Food that has been processed by the digestive system into smaller components such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates is also delivered to the tissues by the blood. These nutrients provide the materials and energy needed by individual cells for metabolism, or the performance of cellular function. Waste products produced during metabolism, such as urea and uric acid, are carried by the blood to the kidneys, where they are transferred from the blood into urine and eliminated from the body. In addition to oxygen and nutrients, blood also transports special chemicals, called hormones, that regulate certain body functions. The movement of these chemicals enables one organ to control the function of another even though the two organs may be located far apart. In this way, the blood acts not just as a means of transportation but also as a communications system.

The blood is more than a pipeline for nutrients and information; it is also responsible for the activities of the immune system, helping fend off infection and fight disease. In addition, blood carries the means for stopping itself from leaking out of the body after an injury. The blood does this by carrying special cells and proteins, known as the coagulation system, that start to form clots within a matter of seconds after injury.

Blood is vital to maintaining a stable body temperature; in humans, body temperature normally fluctuates within a degree of 37.0° C (98.6° F). Heat production and heat loss in various parts of the body are balanced out by heat transfer via the bloodstream. This is accomplished by varying the diameter of blood vessels in the skin. When a person becomes overheated, the vessels dilate and an increased volume of blood flows through the skin. Heat dissipates through the skin, effectively lowering the body temperature. The increased flow of blood in the skin makes the skin appear pink or flushed. When a person is cold, the skin may become pale as the vessels narrow, diverting blood from the skin and reducing heat loss. © 1993-2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

My apologies for this rather academic explanation, but the objective is to make very clear how and why "the life of the flesh is in the blood." We could get much more technical from a purely physical standpoint, but this ought to suffice. The spiritual significance here is that while natural blood flows through our veins to bring life-giving power to every part of our physical bodies, the Holy Spirit has been given to us to flow through our beings to give life to the Word. Without repeating much of what has already been written in this series of Coffee Breaks, we know from John's gospel that Jesus was and is The Word. He described Jesus as "the Word ... made flesh" and dwelling tangibly, physically in their midst.

But Jesus described the Word as also being manna -- bread from Heaven. At the Last Supper, Matthew records, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:26-28)

Question. Why would God say to Moses, "I have given [the blood] to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

Why was it so important that blood be shed on the altar in the first place "to make an atonement" or, as Paul wrote in his letter to the Hebrews, "almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission"? This word, "remission" is a translation of the Greek, aphesis, which comes from aphiemi; and it essentially means: to dismiss, to send away, to cause to disappear, to omit. In short it means: to erase from existence, to make as though it never was.

As a side note to the above, we see the word "forgive" often used as a translation of this word, aphiemi, through the NT. There are actually two other Greek words which more accurately translate to "forgive" and the picture would better be described from either of those words: to pardon, to give or extend grace towards one who has offended. The singular difference is that "forgiveness" defines pardon or grace without the utter erasure of the attending penalty; whereas "remission" describes not only full pardon but total erasure to the point where both the offense (or sin) and the penalty for that offense no longer exist. When Jesus spoke of it (and our English versions translate it "forgive," Jesus NEVER used any other word than the word aphiemi for total erasure. THIS is the description for "the remission of sin."

The Hebrew word, kaphar, parallels the Greek, aphiemi, and -- with the other meanings from the Greek -- adds: to cancel out, to cover (specifically with bitumen). That ought to be graphic enough!

Back to our question. Why would blood have to be shed in order for forgiveness to take place?
Consider this. Life was taken from Adam and Eve when they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The poison of humanly-acquired knowledge (in place of receiving divinely-given knowledge and revelation) caused a spiritual separation between mankind and God and introduced death and the dying process into the human genepool. Although I tend to believe (but I can't absolutely prove it) that blood replaced Spirit in Adam and Eve's frame, it is certainly true that from the moment Adam and Eve were cut off from their intimacy with the Lord, the blood that flowed through their veins was contaminated with death. If, therefore, death and dying replaced eternal life -- and it was the blood that flowed in their veins that gave them life -- it follows that there had to be the death of blood as legal compensation. (Del or Rifkah, if you have any further light on this, I'd appreciate your input.)

Under the Mosaic Law, the penalty for taking someone's life was the life of the one taking it. "Life for life," in other words. When sin was committed -- sin being defined as erring from the keeping of or fulfilling the commandments God gave -- that sin could be remitted or atoned for by the shedding of blood. Hence the sacrifice of innocent sheep or oxen as an interim substitute for human life. Because animal sacrifice only provided for the remittance of the sin, and not the return of eternal life or intimacy with the Lord God, it became necessary that a once-and-for-all sacrifice take place where innocent human blood was shed.

The trick was that there was no human being on earth who qualified as "innocent" under the Law. Paul, in writing the Romans, (5:12) said, "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." It became necessary, therefore, for someone who qualified as "human" and as a member of the human race who had NOT yielded to sin, and was not born with the DNA of sin in his genes (and resulting slavery to Satan) to die as the innocent sacrifice for the sins of the human race.

When Jesus took the Cup at the Table with His disciples and said, "Drink ye all of it; for this is the blood of the new testament which is shed for many for the remission of sins," He was referring to the New Covenant that would replace the Law -- the Old Covenant with its animal sacrifices. Notice that He did NOT say, "This is the blood of the new testament which is shed for ALL for the remission of sins." Had it been for ALL, there would have been no conditions for men and women to be restored to their relationship with God. Jesus' Blood was shed for the "many" who would come back to the Father THROUGH Jesus Christ! There would be no other way for salvation. There would be no other path to relationship with God.

Hence, Jesus made it abundantly clear when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6) Pretty clear, don't you think? And He didn't leave it there. Jesus also said, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." (John 10:9)

Thus the apostle Paul again writes -- this time to Jews who clearly understood the significance of the Law and the sacrifices commanded by Moses: "Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own.

Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." (Hebrews 9:23-28 NASB)

NOW you can see why Paul said (I Corinthians 11:25), "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come."

Show who? Satan, of course! He's the one who holds the Law over our heads. He's the one who constantly says, "You're my slave. You're not even a person. You are my property and I can do with you whatever I please." And THAT, folks, is a lie! Because he shed innocent blood -- the Blood of Jesus -- he became a murderer and stands judged of that crime. With that crime, he relinquished his right to hold in bondage those who receive the remission of sin through the shedding of Jesus' Blood. But Jesus' Blood did a whole lot more than simply remitting our sins. It forever restored our access to the same relationship with the Father that Adam and Eve once enjoyed. It restored our access to the Heavenlies. It took away the penalty for death and restored eternity.

Jesus' Blood eradicated death and the dying process. Along with the dying process went all sickness, all disease, all bondage to Satan (no matter what form that bondage takes), all weakness or infirmity. Jesus' Blood restored the Abrahamic Covenant -- and the Blessing of Abraham. Jesus' Blood canceled the curse of the Law. Jesus' Blood canceled poverty. Jesus' Blood canceled the need to work for a living and redeemed work so that we can now "work for a giving" instead -- just like He did!

Once more, "For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come."

And to repeat what we said in the last Coffee Break, that word, "show," comes from the Greek, katangello: to promulgate, to praise, to proclaim publicly, to demonstrate, to teach, to declare.

We are drinking of resurrection life! Understand? Resurrection Life! That same power that raised Christ from the dead. But we have to do it by faith. Once again, there is nothing common, or ordinary, or casual about this. The Table of the Lord is transformative -- and we are shouting it from the housetops!

Therefore, if you aren't already, begin eating of the Lord Jesus Christ daily at His Table. Eat of His Word. Drink from the Cup of Blessing. Drink of Resurrection Life! Receive the life-changing and metamorphosing Bread of Heaven: the rhema! Show the world what Jesus has done in you. More than that, shove it in Satan's face! Show him that he no longer has power over you! You are no longer his slave or his servant. You are free!

John 8:32, 33, 36: "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. ... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed!"

"I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." (Galatians 2:20)

Be blessed!

Regner

Regner A. Capener
CAPENER MINISTRIES
RIVER WORSHIP CENTER
455 North River Road
Prosser, Washington 99350-6554
[phone]

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