The Precious Blood of Christ
![The Precious Blood of Christ
By Pastor Dan Kennedy
© October 5, 2014
www.pastorkennedy.com
How do people find cleansing for their sins?
• Promise – “I won’t do it again!”
• Prevention – “I will put up barriers to keep from sinning again.”
• Penitence – “I will do something good to offset the bad I have done.”
• Process/Ritual – “I will follow this ‘procedure’, this ritual; it will cleanse me.”
How do you find cleansing from sin?
How does God Provide Cleansing from sin?
Jesus Christ came to cleanse sin in “the fullness of time”.
Jesus did not come to sacrifice Himself for the sins of each specific generation, in each Century, from the beginning of time.
Jesus did not come to sacrifice Himself for the sins of each ethnic people group that rose from time to time, from the creation of the world.
Jesus did not come to sacrifice Himself for sin, annually to cover the sins of the past year, such as the Jewish High Priest’s offered yearly sacrifices – on the “Day of Atonement”, Yom Kippur – the Holiest of Days on the Jewish calendar.
The Old Testament’s “Yom Kippur” vivid annual illustration of the Death and “Sprinkling of Blood” for Sins
Leviticus 16:15–16, 30
15 “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it.
16 In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been….
30 For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins.
When Jesus Christ came, He Came once-for-all to cleanse sin for everyone who would put their trust in Him… He came “in the fullness of time”!
Galatians 4:4–5
4 But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, 5 to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
The New Testament also speaks of the “Sprinkling of Blood”, or the “Shedding of Blood” for Our Sins
Why did blood need to be shed?
• The Life of the flesh is in the blood.
Leviticus 17:11
11 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.
The blood cells bring…through every vein and tiny capillary…
o Oxygen from the lungs,
o Nutrition from our food,
o and Healing (with white cells to fight infection) to every cell in our body.
o Then blood carries out waste from every cell.
Etc., Etc.
When the blood is shed and gone, or stops flowing, life-support is no longer given to every minute part of the body. The body dies.
• Blood is required to be shed, and Death needs to occur, as a payment for sin.
o “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23; Gen. 2:17).
o Our disobedience against God is called sin.
o The universal payment for sin demands death for those who sin.
• Sin requires the death of each person who has sinned, or the death of a sinless “Redeemer” who could provide an adequate pardon, before a Holy God, for our sin.
Romans 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Today’s Text: Hebrews 9:11-14
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. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
1. Only Christ’s Blood Cleanses Our Conscience from Acts that Lead to Death
How can a Holy God bring me, a sinful person, into His Holy Heaven, after I die, to live with Him forever, and God still be holy?
The cleansing “pardon” of the Blood of Jesus Christ, offered to those who believe in Him, is God’s means of “making pure” a sinful person and allowing him or her to enter His Holy Presence for eternity.
- Christ’s Blood Purifies our conscience from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
The cover of the Ark of the Covenant was the “Mercy Seat”, on which the blood was sprinkled, underneath were the two tablets of the 10 Commandments.
Whereas in the Old Testament, the blood of bulls and goats were sprinkled on the earthly replica of the “Mercy Seat”, Christ Provided Cleansing for our sins, on “The Mercy Seat” within The Heavenly Tabernacle (not in an earthly replica)!
The Mercy Seat in the Most Holy Place – in HEAVEN – is sprinkled with the Spotless Lamb of God’s Blood.
By this, Christ obtained for His Children their promised Eternal Redemption!
Jesus Christ offered His Unblemished Blood to God, as a Sacrifice for Our Sins, through the Eternal Spirit.
Because of this, Christ’s Blood has the Power to Cleanse our Consciences from acts that lead to death,
- So that we may Serve the Living God!
Hebrews 9:15
2. Christ, through His Death, has become The Mediator of a New Covenant for those who accept His Gift of Salvation.
15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Hebrews 9:16-22
The Example of a Person’s Last Will & Testament
No one can gain an inheritance unless the person giving the inheritance has passed away.
The Example of the 1st Covenant
The Example of Moses Sealing the Proclamation of the Law by the Sprinkling of Blood on Everything – The Blood of the 1st Covenant
The Requirement of the Law that Everything be Cleansed with Blood
- There is No Forgiveness without the Shedding of Blood
Hebrews 9:16-22
16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. 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.
Heavenly Purification through the Sprinkling of Jesus Christ’s Blood
Christ did not Enter a Man-Made Copy of the Sanctuary
Christ Entered Heaven itself, appearing for us in God’s Presence
Christ did not offer Himself multiple times – as did the Old Covenant human High Priests, or Christ would have had to suffer many times
In the Fullness of Time Christ Appeared, Once for All to do away with sin by the Sacrifice of Himself
o Just as man is destined to die once and afterward to face Judgment (there is no reincarnation)
o So Christ was Sacrificed Once to take away the sins of many people
Hebrews 9:23-28
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. 25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are [eagerly] waiting for him.
3. Christ will appear a Second Time, not to take away sin, but to bring Eternal Salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for Him.
Conclusion
What Cleanses Us from Sin?
Do we have forgiveness of sin because we Promise? “I won’t do it again!”
Do we have forgiveness of sin because we Prevent ourselves from sinning? “I will put up barriers to keep from sinning again.”
Do we have forgiveness of sin because we do Penitence for our sin? “I will do something good to offset the bad I have done!”
Do we have forgiveness of sin because we go through specific Processes or Rituals, which make us feel cleansed? “I will follow this ‘procedure’, this ritual; it will cleanse me.”
1. Only Christ’s Blood Cleanses Our Conscience from Acts that Lead to Death.
2. Christ, through His Death, has become The Mediator of a New Covenant for those who accept His Gift of Salvation.
3. Christ will appear a Second Time, not to take away sin, but to bring Eternal Salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for Him.
~~~
John 3:16
For God So Loved the World
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 1:12
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,](The_Precious_Blood_of_Christ_files/shapeimage_1.png)
