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A PORTRAIT OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST
LEVITICUS 17:11
Introduction
Without blood there cannot be life in the physical body. That is also true in the Bible.
Blood flows through the Bible just as it does through our veins.
It is the blood of Christ that gives us life and it is the blood of Christ that keeps Christianity alive. Someone has said, “Cut the Bible anywhere and it will bleed.”
The blood is spoken of 427 times in our Bible, so it is easy to see, that this is not a minor theme. Without the blood, the Gospel is dead and we are deprived of eternal life.
In Matthew 26:28 at the last supper, where Jesus established the Lord’s Table that we will observe tonight, He said, “For this is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”
Paul explained in Colossians 1:14– “. . .we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
The writer of Hebrews added, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”
Peter added in 1 Peter 1:18-19, that we are not redeemed with such things as silver and gold and precious stones, but with the precious blood of Christ.
Then John said in 1 John 1:7 that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.
The early church understood the blood. There are 22 sermons recorded by four preachers in the Book of Acts and they all give the same message–the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
They understood that His death and the provision of the atonement (or we could say the covering) by the blood was the essential ingredient of the Gospel.
I want you to see God’s portrait of the blood of Jesus Christ tonight?
Blood, as it is flowing in the body, is hard to see–it’s internal. To make it external hurts. You have to be cut or injured. But the Bible paints in broad strokes the blood on a canvas, and then in minute detail God’s Word breaks it down to show us the importance of the blood of Christ!
We can see this today. But even more important is that God sees the blood applied to our lives, and passes over us!
I want us tonight to put the blood of Christ under the microscope and do some forensic study. Then we’ll get the complete picture—a portrait of the blood.
I. IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
The virgin birth of Christ established His righteousness.
Judas cried out in Matthew 27:4–“I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.”
Paul explained it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:21 “For He (God) hath made Him (Jesus) to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”
Pilate said in John 18:38, “I find in him no fault at all.”
Jesus Himself said in John 8:46–“Which of you convinceth me of sin?”
The writer of Hebrews said in Hebrews 7:26 that He was, “Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.”
Peter said in 1 Peter 2:22 that He “. . .did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.”
John said in 1 John 3:5, “. . .in Him is no sin.”
If Christ had had a natural father such as us, that father would have imparted the sin-nature of Adam to Him and His death could not have provided redemption.
The virgin birth was absolutely essential to the salvation of our souls.
The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus was born of a virgin and did not have original sin. Matthew quotes Isaiah the prophet saying,
Matthew 1:23–“Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.”
The Adamic nature is passed to the offspring by the blood line of the man.
There were no impurities in the blood of Christ. Everything about Christ was perfect including His blood.
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
II. IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
One of reasons we use grape juice for the LORD’s table instead of wine is because wine has to go through a process of fermentation. The process of fermentation is actually bacteria working in the juice. It is a rotting process.
That could never give a proper picture of the sinless Blood of Christ. For all that is holy, Satan has his counterfeit, and communion is no exception! Pure grape juice is the true symbol of the pure Blood of the Lord Jesus, just as the bread is to be without leaven.
When Dr. Curtis Hutson was struggling with cancer, on a number of occasions he went through a treatment called “Chelation.” My understanding of Chelation is that high concentrations of a mixture of certain vitamins, herbs, and minerals are added to the body that supposedly help cleanse the impurities from it. This treatment is believed to have prolonged Dr. Hutson’s life for a good long time.
The idea behind giving him “Chelation” was that after his blood had been purged of germs, disease, and bad cells, it was then able to work against the enemy cells that were at war with his system.
The writer of Hebrews stated in Hebrews 9:13-14–“For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
When the pure blood of the Saviour is applied to the sinner, it provides cleansing!
John explained in the later part of 1 John 1:7 this way , “. . .the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Elisha Hoffman wrote in his song:
NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD
“What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus
Oh, precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow
No other fount I know
Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.
Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:18-19–, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.” I Peter 1:18, 19
And because it is pure, it is purifying!
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
III. IN ACTION: HIS BLOOD IS PERPETUAL!
The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament were continuous year after year.
The blood of bulls and goats provided forgiveness and pardon temporarily only because it pointed to the sacrifice of Christ and His blood being shed for the covering of our sin.
The writer of Hebrews speaks of Christ in Hebrews 7:27, as one, “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.”
Again he tells us in 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.”
Then again in Hebrews 9:26, “But now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.”
And in Hebrews 10:12, “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”
The death of Christ set into motion a continuous cleansing for those who trust in Him.
We are given the gift of eternal life that He purchased with His blood.
Thank God we are washed once and for all, forever!
The Bible speaks of the “blood of the everlasting Covenant” in Hebrews 13:20.
Our faith in His blood is all it takes to settle it forever and ever.
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
IN ACTION: HIS BLOOD IS PERPETUAL!
IV. IN ACCOMPLISHMENT: HIS BLOOD IS POWERFUL!
Another of our song writers Lewis Jones wrote:
Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There is power in the Blood
Would you over evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the Blood
There is power, power wonder working power
In the Blood of the Lamb
There is power, power wonder working power
In the precious Blood of the Lamb
John wrote in Revelation 5:9–“Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood.”
It takes amazing power to do that! We are told in Revelation 12:11 that those spoken of there overcame the wicked one, Satan, by the blood of the Lamb.
It takes a lot of power to do that, too!
False religion has always denied the blood and its power.
Mary Baker Eddy of the Christian Science movement wrote, “The material blood of Jesus is no more efficacious to cleanse from sin when it was shed upon the cursed tree than when it was flowing through His veins.”
R. B. Theime, a supposed Bible teacher in Texas, declared, “The red liquid that ran through the veins and arteries of Jesus’ mortal body is not related to our salvation.”
Of course, these teachers and many like them stand in complete opposition to the Bible that declares in Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission.”
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
IN ACTION: HIS BLOOD IS PERPETUAL!
IN ACCOMPLISHMENT: HIS BLOOD IS POWERFUL!
V. IN ACQUITTAL: HIS BLOOD IS PERMANENT!
A woman at a photography studio told the photographer “Do me justice.”
The photographer replied, “You don’t need justice, you need mercy!”
“Acquit” is a heavy word. It means “to pay off, to free, to clear, to absolve.”
It has a far reaching meaning extending from the past all the way to the future.
Quite a few years back O. J. Simpson was acquitted of murder, and it can never come back on him now in a court of law. Not even “new evidence” can be presented.
You say, yeah, but I don’t believe justice was done. Well, neither do I! But you and I are guilty and we know it! And we don’t want justice, we want mercy! And we need it to be permanent…we need our sins forgiven AND forgotten!
Lamentations 3:22-23–“It is of the LORD'S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”
Not only our past sin was covered but also our present and future sins are put under the blood when we trust in Christ as Savior.
Jesus’ blood cleanses from our past sins. God said, in Isaiah 44:22–“I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.”
David spoke to this when he stated in Psalm 103:12– “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us.”
Jesus’ blood covers our present sins, both the sins of omission (the things we ought to be doing and are not doing) and the sins of commission (the things we are doing that we ought not to be doing.) These are all covered fully by His Blood atonement.
Jesus’ blood continues to atone for future sins. This is not to say we can just go ahead and sin. A truly saved person won’t have that kind of attitude. But we know that despite our very best efforts, we are all still sinners and we all still fall short of God’s glory.
But that doesn’t mean we have to get saved again. Do we need to confess our sin to God and make it right? Of course! As we continue to walk thru this life we will need daily foot washings, but praise God that one time “all over bath” secures us from all sin–past, present, and future!
Jesus’ blood conquers all sin!
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
IN ACTION: HIS BLOOD IS PERPETUAL!
IN ACCOMPLISHMENT: THE BLOOD IS POWERFUL!
IN ACQUITTAL: THE BLOOD IS PERMANENT!
VI. IN APPRAISAL: THE BLOOD IS PRECIOUS!
We love to sing, “Oh precious is the flow that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the Blood of Jesus.”
Peter used the term precious to describe the Blood of Christ in 1 Peter 1:19. He called, it “. . .the precious Blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Recently I read a story of a very wealthy old man who had an elaborate collection of Van Gogh and Monet paintings. His only son shared his father’s interest in the rare paintings. They traveled around the world buying these paintings wherever they could find them.
The son enlisted in the army and was placed in the medical corps. In a severe battle, while carrying a wounded soldier to safety, the son was seriously wounded himself and died. The mother was dead already and the news of the tragedy devastated the old father. He grieved in loneliness for months.
One day a knock came at his door and when he responded he found a young man with a package. The young man explained that he was one of the several soldiers that the son had carried to safety. Knowing of his interest in paintings, he had painted a picture of the son and presented it to the father.
The painting was not rare, but was very precious to the old man because it was a good resemblance of his son.
The man moved a very valuable painting from the mantle and placed the picture of his son in its place. Hour after hour he sat in a rocker and gazed up at the image of his beloved son.
When the man died, the art collection was put up for sale by auction. Hundreds of collectors came to bid. The auctioneer announced that the will stated that the picture of his son was to be auctioned first. A moan of disappointment could be heard from the crowd. “Let’s get on with the real paintings,” one was heard to say.
The son’s picture was held up and the auctioneer cried, “Who will give $100.00, $50.00, $25.00. There was no response. A kind old gentleman in the back asked, “Will you take $10.00.” “Sold,” said the auctioneer. “Good”, cried the crowd. “Now we can get on with the auction.”
Then the auctioneer announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes the auction.” The crowd was puzzled and upset. Then the statement was given.
The will declared that the son’s picture was to be sold and the person who took it would get all the rest. The old man who paid $10.00 for the picture of the son was suddenly amazed at the fact that he now owned all of the valuable paintings.
The same is true of God’s son. When a person takes the Son of God, everything God has is included. We become heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus. The precious blood has made it all possible.
VII. IN AGGRESSION: THE BLOOD IS PROTECTIVE!
In Exodus 12 the blood of the Passover Lamb was sprinkled on the door posts of the Jewish homes just as the Lord had instructed them. When the death angel came on that fateful night with the awful judgment of death to the first born, the Jews were protected by the blood.
It was actually their faith that brought protection. They believed the Word the Lord had given to Moses. They believed it enough to act on it. By following the directions just as the Lord instructed they reaped a great benefit.
God had said, “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.” Exodus 12:13
We still speak of being “under the Blood.” The judgment will not fall on those who have placed their faith in Christ and accepted Him as their Savior.
If you have not gotten under the protection of the Blood of Jesus Christ, I beg you to do so now before the death angel comes to your house.
Conclusion
Do you get the picture today? Can you see Christ’s blood? More importantly, can God see it?
If not, all He sees is your sin. Make sure you’re covered! One application will do!
IN ANALYSIS: HIS BLOOD IS PERFECT!
IN APPLICATION: HIS BLOOD IS PURE!
IN ACTION: HIS BLOOD IS PERPETUAL!
IN ACCOMPLISHMENT: THE BLOOD IS POWERFUL!
IN ACQUITTAL: THE BLOOD IS PERMANENT!
IN APPRAISAL: THE BLOOD IS PRECIOUS!
IN AGGRESSION: THE BLOOD IS PROTECTIVE!
Home Page Contact Us Service Times Sermons Are You Going To Heaven?
NOTICE: THESE SERMONS ARE FREE TO BE USED BUT ARE NOT TO BE SOLD!