The Blood of Christ and a Healthy Self-Image

Why a healthy self-image cannot be built by yourself

Pastor Kitayama opened his message with a direct question to the congregation of Kobe Christ Glory Church: "Do you have a healthy self-image?" He rephrased it several times, because it touches something very personal. In the world, many people carry an image of themselves that is too low, dented by comparisons, hurtful words, failures at school or at home. And Christians are not immune: they too live in this world, hear these words, take these blows.

Kitayama shared two childhood memories. In fifth grade, he had taken refuge in the school bathroom, sick, when some classmates came to bully him. He ended up grabbing one of them and, in his head, kept repeating like a mantra: "I'm strong, I mustn't go all out. I'm strong, I mustn't go all out." An inflated self-image, a little ridiculous, but very real. On the other hand, he dreaded every year's long-distance race at school: slow, out of breath, finishing last under everyone's eyes. There, his self-image was on the floor.

The message he wanted to deliver that Sunday is simple: a truly healthy self-image is not built from your achievements, nor from your failures, nor from what others think of you. It is received from somewhere else. And that "somewhere else" has a very concrete name in the Bible: the blood of Jesus Christ. It is the power and grace of this blood that give you back a right identity before God and before yourself.

Outline of the message

1. The blood of Jesus cleanses me from all sin (1 John 1:7)

Kitayama began with a very simple question: why does the Bible talk so much about blood? In everyday life, you do not use that word. When you fall and scrape your knee, you do not solemnly say, "oh, my blood is flowing." The word "blood" mostly comes up at church. So why does the Bible hold onto it so much?

The first text read is John 19:34: "But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water." This is the first blood of Jesus explicitly mentioned after the cross, and it becomes the key that unlocks the whole Christian life.

Then 1 John 1:5-9. God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If you say you are in fellowship with him while you walk in darkness, you lie. But if you walk in the light as he himself is in the light, "the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin."

Kitayama insisted: this verse does not condemn you, it reassures you. No sin is too great to be washed away. No stain is stronger than the blood of Christ. And he made an important point: this blood was not applied only once, at the moment of your conversion. Its power is eternal. It applies to your life every day, as soon as you recognize and confess your sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us."

He also recalled a nuance many forget: through faith in Jesus, you are declared righteous, but the nature of sin remains in you as long as you live on this earth. That is why the blood must keep flowing over your life, not as a new sacrifice, but as the same grace, renewed again and again.

2. The blood of salvation already announced in the Old Testament (Exodus 12:13)

Exodus 12:13: "The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you."

Kitayama recalled the scene. God is about to strike Egypt with the last plague. He orders Israel to take a spotless lamb, pour out its blood, and paint it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the door. And he says, "I will see the blood, and I will pass over."

The pastor pointed out something you can easily miss. God does not say, "I will look at the people in the house, I will look at their efforts, their sincerity, their good reputation." He says, "I will see the blood." If God had stopped at the behavior of the people inside, no one would have been spared that night. It was not their merit that saved them, it was a sign external to them, applied by faith.

Kitayama made the direct connection: through faith in Jesus, this blood of the perfect Lamb has been applied to the door of your life. When the Father looks at you, he sees first the blood of his Son. That blood is what makes the judgment you deserved pass over you. A healthy self-image starts there: when you understand that it is not your performance that makes you acceptable, but the blood.

3. The blood that frees you from the power of sin (Revelation 1:5, Ephesians 1:7)

Revelation 1:5: "To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood." And Ephesians 1:7: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

Kitayama recalled the meaning of the word "redemption": buying back by paying a price. You were a slave to sin, like a captive at the market. Jesus paid the highest possible price, his own blood, to set you free. And this liberation, the text specifies, is a gift: "according to the riches of his grace." It is not a reward for your good behavior. It is a one-sided gift.

This is where the pastor told his own testimony. When he was a little past twenty, he was driving with his younger brother beside him. On a hill, he thought he could move forward, but the car ahead of him had not moved. A small collision. Nothing dramatic. His brother whispered to him: "Don't apologize, if you apologize you've already lost." But Kitayama, more simply, got out of the car and apologized to the man. The man, a very busy, very rushed company executive, a little annoyed at losing his time, said, "Don't worry about it, I'll go to the police station with you, we'll settle it and be on our way."

In the days that followed, Kitayama, troubled, called several times a week to check in: "Are you doing all right? Are you hurting anywhere?" After several calls, he finally reached the man himself, who, a little exasperated, told him: "I already forgave you back then. Don't call again. I'm busy."

Kitayama took it as a kind slap of reality. That man had told him from the very first day, "It's fine." And he had not known how to receive that forgiveness. He kept apologizing, kept dragging his fault around, kept punishing himself. That, he says, is exactly what many Christians do with God. The Lord has already declared: "You are free, you are forgiven, you are my child." And you stay tied up in your sin as though the blood had not been enough.

The pastor then said a sentence he wanted you to remember: "The power of your fault is smaller than the power of the blood of Christ." If you still live like a slave when Jesus has set you free, you are missing out on grace.

4. The blood that reconciles everything, down to the animals and creation (Colossians 1:19-22)

Colossians 1:19-22 announces something breathtaking: through the blood of his cross, Christ made peace, "to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven." The reach of the blood goes far beyond human beings. It touches all of creation.

Kitayama highlighted four things about this reconciliation:

• The initiative belongs entirely to God. You did not approach him because you were nice. He is the one who made the first move.
• Grammatically, the text is in the completed past. The reconciliation is already done. Like the man from the accident: "I already forgave you." It does not need to be redone.
• This reconciliation is founded solely on the blood shed at the cross. Not on your spiritual discipline, not on your commitments.
• Its reach covers the entire universe. Cats, dogs, animals, heaven and earth, nothing escapes this plan of salvation.

5. The blood that opens your access to God with confidence (Hebrews 10:19-22)

Hebrews 10:19-22: "Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus (...), let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith."

Kitayama recalled that under the old covenant, the high priest applied blood on the horns of the altar in order to approach the presence of God. The blood was the sign that sin was covered, that access was reopened. Today, it is no longer the blood of animals but the blood of Jesus that gives you this "confidence to enter." There is no more veil, no more barrier. The way is open.

"Draw near" is a word of worship. It is the invitation to worship, to stand before God, to speak to him, to receive from him. And you can draw near with confidence. Not because you have finally become a good person, but because Jesus made it possible through his sacrifice.

Key takeaways

• A healthy self-image is not built by the esteem you give yourself, but by what the blood of Christ secured for you.
• The blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin, without exception, as often as you confess and return to him.
• God does not look at your merit to save you; he looks at the blood applied to your life by faith.
• You are no longer a slave to sin. Continuing to feel chained is refusing a grace already given.
• Through this blood, you have direct access to God. You can approach him with confidence, today, just as you are.

Personal application

• What image of yourself are you carrying this morning: too high, too low, or anchored in the cross?
• Is there a sin God has already forgiven for which you keep punishing yourself, alone?
• Who have you perhaps refused to forgive, as though the blood of Christ had not been enough for that person too?
• What would your week look like if you truly believed your worth was founded on this blood, and not on your performance?
• Can you take a moment today to draw near to God in prayer, remembering that the way is open?

Verses cited

• John 19:34, blood and water come out of Jesus' side.
• 1 John 1:5-9, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.
• Exodus 12:13, "I will see the blood and I will pass over you."
• Ephesians 1:7, redemption through his blood.
• Revelation 1:5, Christ freed us from our sins by his blood.
• Colossians 1:19-22, reconciling all things through the blood of the cross.
• Hebrews 10:19-22, confidence to enter the holy places through the blood of Jesus.
• Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me."

FAQ

Does the blood of Jesus forgive my sins today too, not only the ones from before my conversion?

Yes. Pastor Kitayama repeated it several times: the power of the blood of Christ is eternal. It applies every day, every time you confess your faults. 1 John 1:9 promises that God is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you, today just as on the first day.

Why does the Bible insist so much on the word "blood"?

Because blood represents a life poured out in place of yours. Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22). From the Passover in Egypt to the cross, God uses this sign to show you that your salvation costs a life, that of Jesus, offered by grace.

How do you live out a healthy self-image day to day?

Not by trying harder to be proud or humble, but by standing regularly before the blood of Christ. Remember that you are loved, redeemed, set free, adopted. This identity depends neither on compliments nor on failures. It is already signed and sealed in the blood of Jesus.