The Blood of Jesus

 

The Blood of Jesus


By Pastor Dan Kennedy

© February 28, 2016

www.pastorkennedy.com


The reality of the Blood of Jesus Christ, given by God, through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son for the sins of humanity, is one of the most important events in all of Scripture and all of human history.


There are those who seek to avoid the mention of Jesus’ blood, feeling it is too gruesome, and morbid or macabre of a topic.  The same person may spend his or her “entertainment time” watching, too often with their children, any number of movies or programs on TV with violent acts portrayed…an average of one every three minutes.[1]


“A new study in the Journal of Pediatrics says the average eight year old child spends eight hours a day on media… A teen typically spends more than 11 hours of media a day (i.e. smart phone, media player, TV, movies, music, etc.).  By age 18, a U.S. youth will have seen 16,000 simulated murders and 200,000 acts of violence. - American Psychiatric Association” [2]


The awesome reality of the blood of Jesus is the direct opposite to the appetite of our carnal nature, and is the story of God’s Redemption, the highest and most profound love story of all time!  


The gracious and sacrificial Coming of God, the Son, is clearly established in the second chapter of Philippians.


Philippians 2:5–11

5    Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

6  Who, being in very nature God,

did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

7  but made himself nothing,

taking the very nature of a servant,

being made in human likeness.

8  And being found in appearance as a man,

he humbled himself

and became obedient to death—

  even death on a cross!

9  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place

and gave him the name that is above every name,

10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,

in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11  and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.


John 3:16

16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”


The Inscription on God’s Foundational Seal


  1. 1.God knows those who are His.

  2. 2.God’s Children must turn away from wickedness.


2 Timothy 2:19

19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”


The Redemptive Blood Sacrifice


From the beginning of the creation of mankind, including their fall and depravity and throughout the ages of the earth until its very end, God is continuing to work out His plan for the redemption of a chosen people who will be joined with Him forever in His everlasting Kingdom.  God’s Redemption is founded and perpetuated upon the eternal value and worthiness of the sacrificial offering of the Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ.


Hebrews 9:19–22

19 When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.


Leviticus 17:11

11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.


The Principle of Redemption


The Israelites were well aware of the principle of “Redemption”, firmly established in their law.


  1. Redemption through the blood of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12).

o   The protection of the firstborn in Israel through the sacrifice of a lamb and the proclaiming of that sacrifice through its blood being sprinkled with hyssop, on the doorposts of each home.


  1. Redemption of the firstborn (Ex. 13:1-2; 11-16; Num. 18:14-19).

o   The sacrifice of a lamb for the redemption of a firstborn in the family or animal.


  1. Redemptive Sacrificial Atonement demonstrated through the Levitical Sacrificial System (as emphasized on the annual “Day of Atonement” Lev. 16).


o   Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, falls on the Hebrew lunar calendar date of 10 Tishrei; in 2016, it begins the evening of October 11 through the 12th.


Leviticus 16

  1. A young bull for a sin offering for the high priest and his household

  2. A ram for a burnt offering for the high priest

  3. A male goat for a sin offering for the Israelites

  4. A male goat, as a scape goat for the sins of the Israelites

  5. Sprinkling of blood in the Holy of Holies

  6. Sprinkling of blood on the Altar of Sacrifice


  1. Redemption of land and homes.  There was limited (one year) Redemption of a house in a walled city  (Lev 25:29), but there was no time restriction on redemption of land and property; land could not be sold in perpetuity.


Land was an inheritance from God; the Israelites were tenants of God’s land (Lev 25:23–24). Accordingly, the law prohibited Israelites from permanently selling land outside the family. Every 50th year, the Year of Jubilee, the land was to revert back to the original tenant or his heirs (Lev 25:8–23; compare Levine, Leviticus, 174). If an Israelite became impoverished, he could sell the use of his land. At this point, a kinsman-redeemer could redeem the property and restore it to the family. The amount paid for redemption was determined by the number of years it was held by the buyer (Lev 25:27).

Laws regarding the redemption of houses differed from those regarding land; they also differed based on the location of the house. Houses within a walled city were not considered “land.” Thus, the seller retained the right of redemption for only a year after its sale. After one year, the house belonged permanently to the buyer and his family (Lev 25:29–30). In contrast, houses outside the walled city were treated as land: They could be redeemed beyond a year and reverted back to the original owner at Jubilee (Lev 25:31). [3]


  1. The Redemption of one sold into slavery (Lev 25:48-52)

  2. The Redemption through the Kinsman Redeemer exampled in the story of Ruth (Ruth 2:19-20; 3:9; 4:1-22)


Redemption through a Redeemer was well established in the Jewish culture, because God wanted His Chosen People to clearly understand the Redemption that He would provide for them through the Blood of His Son, once for all, in the fullness of time (Heb. 10:12).


God inspired Isaiah to clearly write about the coming of the Suffering Savior and Messiah in Isaiah 53, some 700 years before Christ’s coming.


Isaiah 53

53   Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

2   He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3   He was despised and rejected by men,

a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4   Surely he took up our infirmities

and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

smitten by him, and afflicted.

5   But he was pierced for our transgressions,

he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

and by his wounds we are healed.

6   We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

the iniquity of us all.

7   He was oppressed and afflicted,

yet he did not open his mouth;

he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,

so he did not open his mouth.

8   By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

And who can speak of his descendants?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9   He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10   Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

11   After the suffering of his soul,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous

servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12   Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.


Hebrews 10:1–4; 11-14

The Law’s Shadow of the Reality of Christ’s Once for All, Sacrifice

10  The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.


11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest (Jesus Christ) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.


Jesus, God’s Redeemer


     Jesus is God’s Lamb for the Redemption of His Children.


Romans 3:23–26

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.


1 Corinthians 1:30–31

30 It is because of him (Jesus Christ) that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”


Ephesians 1:7

7 In him (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace


Colossians 1:13–14

13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.


Hebrews 9:11–12

The Blood of Christ

11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12 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.


Further elements regarding the eternal value and worthiness of the sacrificial offering of the Blood of God’s Son, Jesus Christ:


·      Atonement


Romans 3:25

25 God presented him (Jesus Christ) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—


Hebrews 2:14–18

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.


1 John 2:1–2

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.


1 John 4:9–10

9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.


·      Reconciliation


Romans 5:10

10 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!


2 Corinthians 5:18–20

18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.


Colossians 1:21–22

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation


·      Justification


Romans 4:25

25 He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.


Romans 5:9

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!


·      Sanctification:  A progressive work of God’s Holy Spirit – producing Spiritual growth in the believer and “setting them apart” to God toward honorable service for the Kingdom of God.


(John 17:15-19; Acts 20:32; 26:18; Rom 15:16; 1 Cor. 1:2; 6:9-11; 7:13-15; 1 Thess. 4:3; 5:23; 2 Thess. 2:13-14; Heb. 9:13-14; 10:28-31; 1 Peter 1:1-2)


The Elements of life and death – The Elements of Communion


Spiritual Death and Physical Death

“You will not surely die.”  Satan deceitfully whispered through the serpent in the Garden of Eden, while tempting Eve with the forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:4); but, die they did, in an immediate and most profound spiritual death, the moment they disobeyed their Creator – propelling them out of the Garden, away from the Tree of Life, to live in a cursed earth and a lonely dis-fellowshipping with God Himself.  Centuries later (Gen. 5:5) Adam’s once genetically perfect body would finally succumb to the ravages of physical death.


“You will not surely die.”  But surely they did…sweeping each subsequent generation with them into spiritual depravity and a broken relationship with God.


   1.    The perishable Physical Body – The Earthly “tent” of Christ’s Body was broken…but He conquered sin and physical death, to rise again!


2 Corinthians 5:1

5 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.


1 Corinthians 15:3–6

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.


   2.    The Spiritual and Eternal Essence of Life in the Soul and Spirit – The Cup, representing the Blood of Christ, the essence of His life, was shed so that mankind could be Redeemed to inherit eternal life.


·      Eternal Life

·      “Spiritual death” is a term that typifies depraved humankind’s Judgment and separation from God, with eternal accountability (ultimately culminating, following the final Judgment), in “the Second Death” – Rev. 20:13-15; 21:6-8.



Communion


The Elements of Communion embody the essence of Physical and Spiritual Life:


“The Breaking of Bread”


There can be no greater, or more worthy eternal sacrifice than the sacrifice of a holy, sinless, Eternal and Divine life given in ransom for a sinful, terminal soul destined for accountability and eternal judgment.  The element of the broken unleavened (typifying the sinlessness of Christ) Bread in Communion represents the death of Christ in His sinless life, offered to us as the life-giving source and nourishment from which we can obtain eternal Redemption.  


Matthew 26:26

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”


Luke 22:19

19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”


“The Cup”


“The Cup” is the Divine symbol of the sacrifice of the very essence of Christ’s pure life, His blood.  The body’s blood brings life and resource to every cell in our body; thus, the “life of the flesh is in the blood”.

Partaking of “the Cup”, remembering Christ’s blood poured out for forgiveness of our sins, gives us a continual reminder of Christ’s death until He comes.


Matthew 26:27–28

27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.


The pouring out of Christ’s life’s Blood for the Forgiveness of sins and Redemption of those who believe in Him.


Paul’s Account of the Lord’s Supper, which he “received from the Lord”…A Proclamation of Christ’s Death, until He Comes!


1 Corinthians 11:23–32

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.






[1] http://w2.parentstv.org/main/Research/Facts.aspx

[2] ibid.


[3] Lau, P. (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015). Redemption. In J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema & W. Widder (Eds.), The Lexham Bible Dictionary (J. D. Barry, D. Bomar, D. R. Brown, R. Klippenstein, D. Mangum, C. Sinclair Wolcott, L. Wentz, E. Ritzema & W. Widder, Ed.). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.