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by Bernie Parsons
The Blood Of Jesus
By Bernie Parsons
Presented Before the Dan Ridge church of Christ September 3, 2005
Hello, friends, brothers and sisters,
Tonight I wish to discuss the blood of Jesus, Christ, and what it means to
us. Some skeptics, usually atheists, have inquired as to why the blood of
Jesus has anything to do with eternal life. Long ago, God described to His
people the importance of the blood.
Deuteronomy 12: 23: “Only be sure that thou eat not the blood: for the blood
is the life; and thou mayest not eat the life with the flesh.”
“The blood is the life” is a powerful statement. The ancient Israelites were
forbidden to eat the blood of the animals that they killed, because the
blood is the life. Many today don’t realize the symbolism of the sacrificed
creatures under the Law of Moses. Actually, those lives were substitutes, or
stand-ins, for the people. The lives of animals were offered instead of the
lives of the sinners, themselves.
You can read about this in Leviticus chapter 16. There were two goats. One
was killed, and its blood offered before the mercy seat of God in the most
holy place. The other had the sins of the people pronounced upon it, and it
was turned loose, that is, allowed to escape into the wild, to take away the
sins of the people. This was the scapegoat.
Leviticus 16:7: “And he shall take the two goats, and present them before
the LORD at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
8: And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats; one lot for the LORD, and
the other lot for the scapegoat.
9: And Aaron shall bring the goat upon which the LORD's lot fell, and offer
him for a sin offering.
10: But the goat, on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat, shall be
presented alive before the LORD, to make an atonement with him, and to let
him go for a scapegoat into the wilderness.”
The blood of the slain animal stood in for the blood of the people. God
accepted its death rather than requiring theirs, and so forgot their sins.
The living animal was for atonement—it bore the sins of the people away from
before them, and from before God.
Blood was used to seal that first covenant, or testament, of God.
Exodus 24:6: “And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basons; and
half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.
7: And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the
people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be
obedient.
8: And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said,
Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you
concerning all these words.”
Hebrews 9:18: “Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without
blood.
19: For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to
the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet
wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
20: Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto
you.
21: Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the
vessels of the ministry.
22: And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without
shedding of blood is no remission.
23: It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens
should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with
better sacrifices than these.
24: For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which
are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the
presence of God for us:
25: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth
into the holy place every year with blood of others;
26: For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world:
but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the
sacrifice of himself.
27: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment:
28: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that
look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
This writer indicates that as the first covenant was dedicated by blood, so
is the second covenant dedicated. The first allowed animals to stand in for
the people, while the second allowed Jesus, the Son of God, to stand in for
the people. He bore our sins away from us, away from before God. He became
our sacrificial lamb. He died in our place, that God might forgive our sins,
but also to bear our sins away, that we should cease from sin.
1 Peter 1:18 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with
corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received
by tradition from your fathers;
19: But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and
without spot:”
Jesus is our sacrifice. He bore our sins, and died upon the cross, that
through the giving of His blood, that is, His life, He stood in for us. He
took the beating that was due us, and He bore our sins, and died in our
stead.
1 Peter 2:21: “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also
suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
22: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:
23: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
24: Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed.”
Like the scapegoat, which took away the sins of Israel into the wilderness,
so Jesus took away our sins. Like an unblemished, perfect lamb, He
sacrificed Himself in our place.
John 1:29: “The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold
the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.”
1 John 3:5: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and
in him is no sin.”
The blood is the life. Jesus, in giving His blood, first in the cruel Roman
scourging, and later, when He was nailed to the cross, gave His life for us.
John 15:9: “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in
my love.
10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have
kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
11: These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you,
and that your joy might be full.
12: This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his
friends.”
Jesus lay down His life for all of us. He gave His life to give us life. In
order to avail ourselves of the cleansing blood, we have to obey Him.
Romans 5:6: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died
for the ungodly.
7: For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a
good man some would even dare to die.
8: But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
9: Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from
wrath through him.
10: For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of
his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.
11: And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have now received the atonement.”
Jesus is our atonement (at-one-ment), and has reconciled—that is, brought us
back—to God by cleansing us from sin. His life gives us life, and His death
gives us joy—because we share in the hope of His resurrection.
1 Corinthians 15:19: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of
all men most miserable.
20: But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of
them that slept.
21: For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the
dead.
22: For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
Jesus gave His blood, and His life, that we might have eternal life. Because
of this, we, too, must be willing to let go of this world, and the things in
it, and our love for them, that we might seize upon this eternal life that
is in Christ Jesus.
Mark 8:34: “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples
also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow me.
35: For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose
his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it.
36: For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and
lose his own soul?
37: Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”
Jesus gave His blood for us, and then He asked us to love one another.
1 John 3:16: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his
life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17: But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and
shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God
in him?
18: My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in
deed and in truth.
19: And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts
before him.
20: For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth
all things.
21: Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God.
22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23: And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his
Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And
hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”
The blood of Jesus also marks us so that the angel of death shall pass over
us in the day of God’s judgment of us. Recall the blood of the Passover.
Exodus 12:5: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year:
ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and
the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the
evening.
7: And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and
on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.”
Exodus 12:12: “For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and
will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.
13: And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are:
and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be
upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
14: And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a
feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by
an ordinance for ever.”
It was at the feast of Passover that Jesus told His followers to drink the
fruit of the vine in remembrance of Him. His blood marks us so that eternal
death shall pass over us.
Matthew 26:26: “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.
27: And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink
ye all of it;
28: For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for
the remission of sins.”
Tomorrow morning, Lord willing, most of us will gather here again, and we
will break the bread and drink the cup in remembrance of Jesus. We cannot
help but recall that He said that it is His blood.
Many misunderstand what is taking place at that time, and they say, “I am
glad that I lived to drink the cup again, so that the blood of Jesus washed
away my weekly sins.”
As we drink that cup, we drink the blood of Jesus. As it is absorbed into
our blood stream, we realize that the blood of Jesus flows in our veins. We
are His. We are Him. His blood was shed to purge us from our past sins, and
that we put sin from us..
Romans 3:23: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
24: Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in
Christ Jesus:
25: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,
to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past,
through the forbearance of God;”
His blood is also in us that we might cease from sin. We are to put away sin
from our lives, and love the Lord our God with all of our being.
1 John 5:6: “This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not
by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7: For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and
the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8: And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the
water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
9: If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this
is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10: He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that
believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record
that God gave of his Son.
11: And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this
life is in his Son.
12: He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life.
13: These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son
of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe
on the name of the Son of God.”
Revelation 1:5: “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the
first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto
him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,”
Hebrews 12:24: “And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the
blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.”
1 Peter 1:2: “Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the
blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.”
Hebrews 10:22: “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of
faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies
washed with pure water.”
Let Jesus sprinkle His blood on your dirty conscience, and let the waters of
baptism wash your body in obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. As Saul
of Tarsus—the Apostle Paul—was told in Acts:22:16: “And now why tarriest
thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of
the Lord.”
Galatians 3:27 “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have
put on Christ.”
When we are baptized, the blood of Jesus washes away our sins. We die to the
love of sin. We are purged from our sins by Jesus, and should no longer
serve sin.
Romans 6:1: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace
may abound?
2: God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
3: Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were
baptized into his death?
4: Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as
Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we
also should walk in newness of life.
5: For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of
sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”
Why don’t you let the blood of Jesus purge you from your past sins? Why
don’t you be baptized, and let His blood wash away your sins? Won’t you
repent, and turn to the Lord tonight, and put sin out of your life? The
blood is the life, and the blood of Jesus can give you eternal life. Come,
be washed in the blood of the Lamb of God.
