The Blood

Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

What is it about the blood of Christ that makes it so important?

Probably the most precious topic known to any believer is the matter of the blood of Christ. This love for it has caused those that despise the Christian religion to often refer to us as having a "bloody religion." Although their purpose is derogatory, the value of that single truth to us is of the utmost importance - and without it the teachings of the Bible would be without any merit.

The message of Scriptures - from cover to cover - begins with the fact that man has fallen from his once honored and exalted position of having a personal relationship with God in the Garden - in a faultless world. Mankind (Adam and Eve only) was once able to talk with the Creator of the universe in a personal way. What an extreme honor! But sin came and changed that forever.

God knew what would happen if He created us, and yet He made us anyway. He even chose to make us in His own image. This meant meant that there is a likeness (in some way or ways) between us and that we had ability to communicate with Him on a spiritual plane. The fall destroyed that ability to communicate but not the hunger to do so. God seeks after us because He loves us and draws us to Himself by His Holy Spirit that we might have salvation and a restored relationship.

God came to Adam and Eve and rebuked them for their sin, cursed them and the ground for their disobedience. He showed them that their coverings of leaves was without any value because their sin had brought on them the death penalty. They could not be accepted and their sin could not be overlooked by God unless there was blood shed - this was the price God's holiness demanded. For God to threaten them with death by saying that if they break the only law that He gave them (to not eat of the forbidden tree), and only slap their hand when it comes time to dish out the penalty - is to be a mockery of God Himself, His character, and His law. After the pronouncement of the curse, and after they were made to understand the serious nature of their offence against Him, then He killed two animals (shed their blood - though not stated, yet it is the only way we know of to come up with skins) and offered to them their skins as a temporary covering in order to restore them to Himself. By faith they received these coverings for their nakedness, and they were forgiven their sin at the expense of the life of the animal (remember that the penalty for their sin was death) - but only until a permanent and fully worthy sacrifce (Christ) could be made.

Here are five things that make the Blood of Christ so special:

1. It is spotless in its nature

The perfect sacrifice that God promised to one day send had to be sinless. If it was not sinless, then it could do no more than to pay for its own sin - forever!

God, however, knew how to bring this about. In order to ensure that The Sacrifice was without sin, it (He) would have to be born of a Virgin.

Mary was indeed a virgin, and that fact is stated in a number of ways in the accounts of Christ's birth in Matthew 1 and Luke 2. If she was not, then Christ cannot be a valid Savior! Thank God, though, that the record is correct, and we are told that "in him is no sin" (1st John 3:5). In another place, the Scriptures declare (Heb. 7:26): For such an high priest" [speaking of Christ] "became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners..."

2. Is given for an atonement

Blood is special because the "life of the flesh is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11). This same verse goes on to say that "and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul."

This truth is repeated and often illustrated for us throughout the Scripture. Here are two examples:

a. Cain and Abel's sacrifices in Gen. 4 - Cain's sacrifice was not accepted because there was no blood; but Abel's sacrifice pleased God - and God even told this to Cain when He gave him a second chance to do it right! Cain's lack of a blood sacrifice showed his own attitude toward God in that it revealed that he did not seriously believe that he deserved the death penalty! He thought his own good nature and works should be enough to make God happy with himself - but it wasn't - neither are our good works enough, today!

b. The Passover - the Israelites escaped death only when the passing death angel saw the blood on the doorposts!

In other words, it did not matter whether they were Jew or Gentile (Non-Jew), all first-borns would die unless the blood was there on the door - as prescribed by God!

This reveals that blood (the blood of a male, spotless lamb - a symbol of Christ) was the only way to escape the judgment of God!

3. Is universal in its application

God has only given the one way of acceptance with Himself. No blood - no acceptance! But if there is the prescribed blood, then, no matter who the person is, they will be received. Since there is no other worthy sacrifice, apart from Jesus Christ, there can be no other door to Heaven, either!

For centuries, the Jews offered animal sacrifices knowing that their daily offerings were only temporary. But one day, John the Baptist announced to the world Someone and something brand new (in 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."

Jesus later testified of this truth in John 8:24: "I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins" [unforgiven] ":for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins." This clearly shows that believing on the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior from sin is the means to having His precious blood applied to your account.

4. Is effectual in its purpose

Once we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we may be sure that His blood covers all of our sins and gives us a permanent access to Heaven. Here are three verses that teach this:

Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation" [a means whereby God is appeased - we are made to be at peace with Him] "through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past.."

Romans 5:9: "Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him."

Ephesians 1:7: "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace."

5. Is everlasting in its duration

In order to show us that His blood is all that we will ever need (for ever), we are shown that Christ took His blood into Heaven and offered it there on the altar in Heaven itself:

Hebrews 9:12: "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."

Here His precious and spotless blood is forever a testimony that we are forgiven - never to be contested! The born-again child of God has forgiveness forever because of His blood - it is God's covenant with us - never to need to be re-negotiated - this is why we drink of the cup of the Lord's Table as a reminder to us of two things: first, that we are saved by His blood; and, second, that He will soon be coming back for us because He desires us to dwell with Him - forever!

When He returns, we will find that "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" (Hebrews 9:28).

Brother Mike Valles