Poured Out

The Greek words for pour have a very specific use, and with the exception of one verse, have to do with either the pouring out of blood, the pouring out of God’s wrath, or the pouring out of the Holy Spirit.

“All the circumcised believers who came with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they were hearing them speaking with tongues and exalting God” (Acts 10:45-48 NLT).

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’” (Rev 16:1-2,17 NLT).

Not only are its uses significant and life changing, but its definitions are way more potent in the original language: gush, rush headlong, and spill. One reason to have such forceful definitions is it represents an impact of cataclysmic and life-changing proportions.

Think of what the blood of Christ has accomplished; what the pouring out of the seven bowls brings to pass ; and the change fashioned by the Holy Spirit in our lives. These are all huge. One of sacrifice, one of wrath, one of transformation. If our God pours it all out so as to gush or rush headlong, what should our lives look like?

The Jews, long before they were Jews, were taught: “But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. And for your lifeblood I will require a reckoning: from every beast I will require it and from man. From his fellow man I will require a reckoning for the life of man. “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:4-6 ESV).

These are the words of the LORD to Noah. Note how it was implemented into Jewish law:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.  Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, no person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.  For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life” (Leviticus 17:11-12, 14).

In God’s design, there are only two uses for blood. The first is for life, the second for sacrifice. And it is only in Christ where both are realized.

God has not only given you life, but in Christ, He has given you new life. How are you being poured out to bring glory and honor to him?