SUBJECT:
THE BLOOD OF JESUS
INTRODUCTION:
The
Outline has been developed for all leaders of the Cell Ministry to serve as a
guide for our Bible study meetings in the month of May. The subject is ‘The Blood of Jesus’ as taught by our
Man of God during the class.
As clearly
stated by our man of God at the beginning of the study, this subject is very
important, as it is a fundamental element of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, having a clear understanding of it would help us build a solid
Christian foundation without which we would experience instability, or probably
live as non-Christians. So, in teaching your members, do your best to ensure
you help them understand better, the Word of God on the subject, just as you
were taught.
This outline is in 4 parts. Part 1 throws
light on what makes this subject important and what it means to us; the
significance of blood in atonement, and also gives us insight into the various
sacrifices offered in the Old Testament for atonement. Part 2 sheds light on
Jesus being our sin offering and High Priest, and importance of His blood. In Part
3 we learn of Jesus as our Passover sacrifice and the significance of the
communion; while in the concluding part, we’ll be looking into 7 things the
blood of Jesus does for us.
Kindly ensure your members have their Bibles;
all the Scriptures in the outline are read during the meeting; and the members
look into their Bibles while the Scriptures are read.
TABLE OF
CONTENT:
- Blood: the atonement for sin………....…………………………………………………………………..Page
3
- Jesus: our sin offering and High
Priest……………………………….……..……..…..….........….Page 15
- Jesus: our Passover Lamb………………….………………………………………………………………...Page
21
- Seven things the blood of Jesus does for
us………………………………………………..……....Page 28
PART 1 -
Introduction:
At the end of this chapter, each member should:
- Understand
the importance of blood and its role in atoning for sin.
- Be enlightened
about some of the different offerings given for atonement in the Old Testament
and their significance.
This subject is very
important, as it is a fundamental element of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Therefore, having a clear understanding of it would help us build a solid
Christian foundation without which we would experience instability, or probably
live as non-Christians.
What is
Blood?
We’ll begin our study by clarifying some very basic things; the
first being: What is blood? To understand the blood of Jesus, this needs to be
clarified, because we need to determine whether in referring to the blood of
Jesus, the Bible is speaking in generic terminology, or if it’s referring to
something specific. Is it dealing figuratively, or is it being specific of a
particular substance?
Scientifically, blood is defined as the fluid consisting of plasma,
blood cells and platelets, that is circulated by the heart through a vertebrate’s
vascular system, carrying oxygen and nutrients to, and waste materials away
from all body tissues. Functionally, similar fluids in animals, other than vertebrates,
is also called blood. It means, we’re dealing with a substance: the fluid in
our bodies and in animals, often red in colour. This is simple to understand
because it’s something common to every one of us. So, when we talk about the
blood of Jesus, we are talking about this fluid that goes through the body.
Now, how important is the blood and what does the Bible really say about it?
We would begin from the book of Genesis:
Genesis
9:1 – 4: “And
God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply,
and replenish the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon
every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth
upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they
delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the
green herb have I given you all things.
But flesh with the life
thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.”
At that time, God had taken
action against the world and destroyed it; all of mankind was destroyed except
Noah and his family; and the Lord blessed them after they came out of the Ark.
This blessing was very similar to the blessings and instruction He gave Adam at
the beginning. He gave them every moving thing as meat, and every green herb;
however, He said in verse 4, that they couldn’t eat ‘flesh with the life
thereof, which is blood. God gave us a very definite understanding there, that
as far as He was concerned, the blood is the life of the flesh.
This understanding in verse 4 above, was unveiled before the law of
Moses was introduced.
Blood:
the atonement for sin:
Now under the law, in Leviticus
17:11, the Bible says: “For
the life of the flesh is in the blood: 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 is remarkable! In Genesis, He made it clear that the blood is
the life of the flesh. Now, coming to the law, He brings in the subject of
atonement, saying, the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I’ve given it to
you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls.
Atonement means appeasement; propitiation; to satisfy the claims of
justice. This refers to compensation for wrongdoing. He was telling them that if
they did wrong, they had no way of satisfying the claims of justice, or the
divine claims, so, He gave them blood as the atonement for their souls – the
blood of the animal upon the altar. This meant with the blood of an animal, God
could overlook what they had done and look at the blood as their representative.
But this was going to be a definite animal chosen by God, and it was to be
carried out in His prescribed manner. Moreover, there were only to offer
sacrifices in altars designated by the Lord.
The First Sacrifice for Sin:
The first sin in the world was committed by Adam
and Eve in the garden of Eden. The Bible records that after they sinned, they
hid themselves and tried to flee from God, but God called out, ‘Adam where art
thou’. His response to God, was that He was hiding, because he was naked. But
God said, ‘who told you that you were naked? Have you done what I told you not
to do?’ Of course he had done something wrong, and he and his wife covered
themselves with leaves (Genesis 3:8-11).
However, God did something: He called them and killed an animal, spilled the blood
of that animal, and used the skin of the animal to cover their nakedness,
instead of the leaves they had used. Observe that He killed an animal, spilled
the blood of that animal and made atonement for them (Genesis 3:21; Hebrews 9:22).
As we progress on this study, always remember
what God did right there in Genesis, from the very beginning. The first time
man sinned, God killed an animal, sacrificed the blood of that animal and
covered their nakedness with the skin of that animal.
A Spiritual Law:
Let’s look again at Leviticus 17:11: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood: 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 shows us a spiritual law, meaning there is
no other way to make atonement for the soul except with blood. This is God’s
divine order; His divine principle and law, that’s why He instructed them not
to eat the blood of an animal, which they killed.
You know, man may get all the elements together
and try to create artificial blood, but it will never give life. God hid the
life in the blood; that’s where God put the law of the human/animal life. The
blood of the human body has the life of that body.
Over in the New Testament, Hebrews 9:22 agrees perfectly with what we read above: “And almost all things are by
the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission”
Sin cannot be wiped away without the shedding
of blood; it’s a spiritual law. So relate this with what we read in the latter
part of Leviticus 17:11 – the blood
makes atonement for the soul. He didn’t just say for your soul, but for the
soul, letting us know this is a spiritual law.
Different types of Offerings:
There were different kinds
of special offerings, which God called for in the Old Testament. The five major
ones were:
- The
burnt offering
- The
grain offering
- The
peace offering
- The
sin offering
- The
trespass offering
These were very important offerings, and
you’d find them explained in the book of Leviticus. Now, because we are dealing
with the blood of Jesus, we would be looking into the offerings that had to do
with blood, and their significance.
The Law of the Burnt Offering:
Leviticus 1: 1 – 4: “And the Lord called unto Moses, and spake unto him out of the tabernacle of the
congregation, saying, Speak unto
the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man of you bring an offering
unto the Lord, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd, and
of the flock. If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of
the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own
voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the Lord. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and
it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him” - This is the law of the burnt offering.
The burnt offering referred
to here was a personal free will offering. Notice the Scripture above says,
‘…he shall offer it of his own voluntary will, at the door of the tabernacle of
the congregation…’ If a man wanted to give an offering, he was to take of the
herd or of the flock, and offer it of his own voluntary will. He was required
to put his hand on the burnt offering, and it was accepted to make atonement
for him. Notice here that it had nothing to do with whether or not the man had
done something wrong.
Noah also offered a burnt
offering even before God gave instruction about the blood in Genesis, and it
wasn’t because he had done something wrong.
Genesis 8:19 – 21: “Every beast, every creeping thing, and every
fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out
of the ark. And Noah builded an altar unto
the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and
offered burnt offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour; and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for
man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither
will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done.”
He got a blessing there, because he did what
pleased God. This would not be the first time a man would offer a burnt
offering. The Bible tells us Abel evidently offered a burnt offering unto the
Lord.
The burnt offering
typically represented what we call an acceptance offering. It was an offering
of dedication and acceptance, which meant on the man’s side, when he offered a
burnt offering, he was dedicating himself; and the Lord’s instruction was that
the whole offering should be burnt, so everything on the altar would be
accepted. From the man’s perspective, it was an offering of dedication, and
from God’s perspective, He accepted the man.
Notice Leviticus 1 Verse 4 above says, “…and it shall be
accepted for him to make atonement for him. The man hadn’t done anything wrong, yet the Bible says the burnt
offering shall be accepted to make atonement for him. Meaning even in their
relationship with God, they needed to have atonement/an appeasement, to come
before God and be accepted of Him. They didn’t have to look around to know if
they had done anything wrong, as far as God was concerned, they were unclean in
themselves. God was so holy; He required a burnt offering.
The Sin and Trespass Offerings:
The sin and trespass
offerings also required the shedding of blood. If you sinned knowingly and
willfully, you were expected to give the sin offering. But, there were certain
sins categorized under trespasses, and these were sins committed unknowingly.
These offerings - the sin and the trespass offerings were
given as atonement for personal sins and guilt. In each case, an animal or a
bird was killed, and that became the atonement for their specific sins. They
always had to go before the priest with this animal, and the priest who was
designated would take the necessary action; he’ll kill and offer the animal in
the prescribed manner, and then burn whatever part God said should be burned in
the prescribed manner. And this continued every time a man sinned. If you study
the whole of Leviticus 4 and 5 you’d see this covered all kinds of sins. You either
had to offer the sin offering or you offered the trespass offering, depending
on what category the sin belonged. But this provided covering or atonement for
the time being.
National
Offerings:
In addition to the offerings made for personal sins, guilt,
trespasses and dedication, was the national offering. This is a very
significant aspect, where God charged Israel as a nation with sin. They were
not the only nation that did wrong; other nations and people sinned too, but the
beauty about Israel’s situation was that God provided a means to come out of
their predicament through the Abrahamic covenant, which they had with Him. But
the rest of the world didn’t have a way out; they lived in complete
condemnation, that’s why the Bible says they were strangers to the covenants of
promise, having no hope, and without God in the world (Ephesians 2:12). But these chosen people of God, the Israelites,
were given a particular way to come out of their trouble, when they sinned
against God.
As a people, every year, they had to offer a special
sacrifice by which God was appeased over them and their sins, so that they
could walk before Him, and enjoy all of His blessings for the next one year. However, at the end of one year, it was
brought to mind; their sins were remembered again. Why? Because the Bible says
it was not possible for the blood of an animal to completely take away sin. For
this reason, it had to be done again and again. Remember, the Bible shows us
that sin is actually a nature. When Adam sinned against God, he took on himself
the nature of satan; the very nature of sin. The Bible tells us that
disobedience brought sin (Romans 5:18).
When he disobeyed, he sinned against God and that sin brought spiritual death,
which is separation from God. And so, in order to cover his sin for the time
being, God killed an animal, but that couldn’t cover his nature. Man was still
a miserable offender and sinned again and again; therefore God allowed these
sacrifices to go on and on.
The
Great Day of Atonement:
On the great Day of Atonement, the High priest was to offer
sacrifices to make atonement for the people as a nation. The national offering
was given on this day.
Leviticus
16: 1 – 3 (NIV):
“The LORD spoke to Moses after the death
of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the Lord. The LORD said
to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses
into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on
the ark, or else he will die. For I
will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover. This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy
Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a
burnt offering.”
In this Scripture Moses was given
specific instructions as to when Aaron should enter into the Most Holy Place. The
Holy Place was were the priests functioned, but only the high priest was to
come into the Most Holy Place, and he was to come once a year, he’s therefore explaining
to him in Leviticus 16:3, how to come, with – “… a young bull for a sin offering and a ram
for the burnt offering”
Leviticus
16:4 goes on to say, “He is to put on the sacred linen tunic,
with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around
him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe
himself with water before he puts them on” This is talking about
his dressing; his regalia.
Verse 5:
“From the Israelite community he is to
take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering”. Now
this is for, and on behalf of the people. So there are 5 animals altogether:
one bullock and one ram for Aaron, and two goats and one ram for the people.
Verse 6:
“Aaron is to offer the bull for his own
sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household.” This
is the high priest, and he can’t offer for the people till he first offers for his
own sin. He first offers a sin offering for himself and his household.
Verse
7 - 10: ”Then
he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to
the Tent of Meeting. He
is to cast lots for the two goats – one lot for the LORD and the other for the
scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice
it for a sin offering. But
the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the
LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a
scapegoat”
Now remember, he was to sacrifice one bullock
for his own sin offering – to make atonement for himself. Then he takes one
goat here, which is the one that falls to the Lord, and kills it as a sin
offering. But the other goat, which is the scapegoat, is used for making
atonement in a special way.
Verse
11 – 14 “Aaron
shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and
his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. He is
to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two
handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. He
is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense
will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that
he will not die. He is to take some of the bull's blood and with his finger
sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of
it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.”
Let’s pause here for a second. These
verses above show us the method through which Aaron was to carry out this
service; how he was to approach God – this was God’s prescription. In the
latter part, observe what he does with the blood - he sprinkles it on the
atonement cover before God, which is the mercy seat.
Verse
15 – 16:
“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. 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…”
Imagine this, he sprinkles this blood
over the Most Holy Place. This is supposed to be the Most Holy Place, yet he
sprinkles the blood, and what does God say about it? “…He shall sprinkle it on the atonement
cover and in front of it.
In this way he will make atonement for
the Most Holy Place…” He’s making atonement for the place! How
holy God is; even the place of sacrifice had to be sanctified. There had to be
an atonement for that place before it could be used for God.
Verse
17
18: “No-one is to be in the Tent of Meeting from
the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes
out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community
of Israel. Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make
atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s
blood and put it on the horns of the altar”
No one was to be there from the time
Aaron went in till he came out, and he shall make atonement for the altar, by
taking some of the bull's blood, that was his own, and some of the goat's
blood, which was the one for the people, and put it on the horns of the altar.
Verse
19: “He shall sprinkle some of the blood on
it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the
uncleanness of the Israelites” Here he cleanses the altar to
consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites. No wonder the Bible says
all things are purged with blood (Hebrews
9:22). The altar, the vessels, the Holy Place, were all purged with the
blood of an animal.
Verse
20 - 22: “When
Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the Tent of
Meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both
hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it the wickedness and rebellion
of the Israelites – all their sins – and put them on the goat’s head. He shall
send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the
task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the
man shall release it in the wilderness”
So now we’ve got 3 animals left, the
live goat, which is the scapegoat, the ram, which is for the burnt offering for
the people and Aaron’s ram for the burnt offering. Two have been killed already.
Aaron the high priest then lays both hands on the head of the live goat. God is
specific here. He didn’t say on the back of the goat but on the head of the
live goat. And then notice, he confesses over it all the sins, wickedness and
rebellion of the people, and sends the goat away by a man appointed for the
task.
No name is mentioned of who takes the
goat; it just says: one qualified for the job. This man takes the scapegoat and
lets it loose in the desert. That goat is called the sin bearer, and figuratively
bears the sins of the nation of Israel. And so for a whole year, their sins
were gone; borne by the scapegoat, the sin bearer.
Verse
23 - 24: “Then
Aaron is to go into the Tent of Meeting and take off the linen garments he put
on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. He shall bathe himself with water in a holy
place and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the
burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people to make
atonement for himself and for the people”
When he (Aaron) returns, he changes his
clothes, puts on his regular priestly garments, and he sacrifices the burnt
offering for himself, and the other for the people. What’s the significance of
this? Their sins are borne away to the desert by the scapegoat. But even though
their sins are gone they need another sacrifice, which is the burnt offering,
to be accepted by God. As we said earlier the burnt offering is the offering of
acceptance. So he kills these animals, first, one for himself; the blood is
shed, and so blood is brought again before the Lord for the high priest to be
accepted. Then, he takes the one belonging to the congregation and does the
same thing, so that the congregation of Israel might be accepted before the
Lord.
There’s another significant thing here
from Verse 25 – 27: “He shall also burn the fat of the sin
offering on the altar. The man who
releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with
water; afterwards he may come into the camp. The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought
into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp;
their hides, flesh and offal are to be burned up.
Now remember, the blood ministration
were done inside, but for the remains of the animal, God said, carry the rest
of it outside the gate. This is all significant because the Bible tells us that
this was the reason Jesus suffered outside the gate
(Hebrews 13: 11-12).
Note 3 important things in atoning for sins:
- God had to give instruction on the kind
of animal to be used for atonement.
- The altar had to be designated by God.
- The offering had to be administered by
a priest called of God.
So the High Priest carried out this
ministry on the great Day of Atonement. Next, we’ll begin to relate this with
Jesus, His blood and what He did for us.
Discussion Question:
What was the significance of Aaron’s sacrifice for himself and his
household? Is it related to us as priests in the New Testament? In other words,
is it related to leaders’ personal offerings?
Answer
to discussion question:
No, the purpose was for his own sins and acceptance, as we already
saw. However, those offerings were sacrifices for sin but the offerings we give
today, whether as leaders or members are not sacrifices for sin.
PART 2 -
Introduction:
At the end of this chapter, each member should:
- Know
Jesus as our High Priest and the One whose blood was given to make atonement
for our sins once and for all.
- Understand
the importance of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Jesus:
our sin offering and High Priest:
We concluded part 1 by looking into
God’s requirements for making atonement for the nation of Israel for their sins
and acceptance. Now, we would begin to relate some of this with Jesus.
Hebrews 9: 11 – 28, “But Christ being come an high priest of good
things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building; 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”
First, he tells us that Christ is
an High Priest. Remember Aaron was the high priest as we saw earlier, now Jesus
Christ has become our high priest. These are two testaments: the old one and
the new one; Jesus comes as the High Priest of the New Testament, but here He doesn’t come with the blood of an animal, but by His
own blood, he entered in once, into the Holy Place. Aaron had to enter in once
every year, on the Day of Atonement, but Jesus came in once for all time. Glory
to God!
Verse 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” Notice that this Scripture doesn’t say He entered
to obtain eternal redemption. No! It says, He entered, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. This Holy Place being referred to is the real Holy Place in
heaven; the very presence of God, not the earthly tabernacle where Aaron
ministered. Remember, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Mary came looking
for His body and saw that the body had been removed from the grave. Then she
saw a man, and thinking He was the gardener, said, ‘sir, where have you laid
Him?’ But Jesus called her by name, and she turned saying rabboni, having
recognized his voice. She ran towards Him, but Jesus said, “…don’t touch me
because I have not yet ascended to my father…” (John 20:17)
At that time He
had become our High Priest and He was taking His own blood to heaven, before
the Father. He then said to her, “…go and tell my brethren, I ascend to my
Father and your Father, to my God and your God…” This was the first ascension;
it was not the ascension recorded for us in Acts chapter 1. This was the High
Priest’s ascension, where He takes His blood to heaven, to the mercy seat,
before He came back, and appeared in the midst of His disciples (Matthew 28:9; John 20:19)
Notice what the writer,
Paul, said, ““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”
This means He went in with His blood, and had
obtained eternal redemption for us. The word redemption used here is
‘lutrosis’, which means to deliver, save, and bring you out of trouble, out of
sin. He had obtained eternal redemption and He did it before the resurrection.
Remember, when He died on the cross, we died with Him and that was where the
redemption took place, by His death, not by His resurrection. That’s why it
says He went with His blood into the Most Holy Place having obtained eternal
redemption – deliverance from sin, evil, and from all things that were
inconsistent with God’s dream for man. All this happened before the
resurrection; He obtained it by His death on the cross.
Now the new
creation in Christ became a reality not at the cross, but at His resurrection.
The cross made it possible for Him to give eternal life to those who would
believe. Now the use of words here has been a problem for many and that’s why
we started by clearly stating what the word redemption used there meant. We were
redeemed from sin at the cross and His blood became the currency with which He
paid for the sins of the whole world. Then He was buried and on the third day
God raised Him from the dead with a new life; He was the first of the new
creation. So now, He gives eternal life to those who believe in Him.
The Bible calls us
the purchased, and here’s where a lot of people are mistaken in their
understanding. In Revelations 5:9 the Bible says, “And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
people, and nation;…” Isn’t this
wonderful; this has not happened yet but the Bible says, from every nation, not
just Israel, glory to God! Now the word redeemed is wrongly translated here. It
means purchased. It’s not the same word we saw earlier in Hebrews. The word
here is ‘agorazo’, and what he’s referring to here when he says ‘thou hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood’, is to buy /make a purchase. This is not ‘lutrosis’
as we saw earlier, but ‘agorazo’. It means to go to the market and make a
purchase; to buy something as a gift to give to someone. You are not buying it
back but making a fresh purchase. With His blood, He purchased us and gave us
as gifts to God.
Several translations will actually give you a proper
rendering of that Scripture. The NIV (New International Version) says, “And they sang a new
song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because
you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from
every tribe and language and people and nation. You
have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reignon
the earth”
The
Living Bible puts it this way, “They
were singing him a new song with these words, you are worthy to take the scroll
and break it seals and open it, for you were slain, and your blood has bought
people from every nation as gifts for God.”
You
are a gift from Jesus for God; you were bought with a price. This is not that
redemption; this is ‘agorazo’, fresh, you belong to God. So you understand when
we say we are not the redeemed. Man was delivered from the devil when Jesus
died on the cross, but when God raised Jesus from the dead, we became new
creations, superior to satan, not being delivered from the devil, but born
superior to satan by the second birth.
Difference
between Christ and the Old Testament Priest:
Let’s look at the difference between Christ and
the Old Testament priest. Remember the old testament priest had to come in with
two animals, a young bull and a ram for himself; he had to offer the bull for
his sin offering then later on offer the ram for his burnt offering. This had
to be done before he could do what he did for the people, he had to cleanse
himself first; in addition, he had to do it every year. But let’s look at what the Bible says of
Jesus.
Hebrews
7:26: “For such an high priest became us, who is
holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the
heavens; 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. For the law maketh men high
priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the
law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.”
Hebrews
8:3 - 6 (NIV): “Every
high priest is appointed to offer
both gifts and sacrifices, and so
it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already
priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a
sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to
build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the
pattern shown you on the mountain.” But in fact the ministry Jesus has received
is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is
mediator is
superior to the old one, since the
new covenant is established on better promises.”
Let’s
read Verse 6 from the King James
Version: “But now hath he
obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a
better covenant, which was established upon better promises”
Jesus entered the Holy Place with His
blood, once for all time. He didn’t need to sacrifice first for Himself as
Aaron did, using the blood of animals. His sacrifice took away the sins of the
whole world, and His blood still works for us today. His ministry was superior
to that of Aaron’s; He is the mediator of a better covenant, established on
better promises.
PART 3
Introduction:
At the end of this chapter, each member should:
- Understand
the significance of the Jewish Passover and how it is related to Christ.
- Have
more insight into the importance of the communion.
Jesus: Our Passover Lamb
We’ve seen Jesus
as our high priest; we’ve looked into the giving of His blood as an offering,
but how did this all come in? Why Jesus?
The background is
given to us with the children of Israel in bondage in Egypt. The Bible tells us
they’d been there for more than 400 hundred years, and it was time to be set
free according to God’s oath to Abraham. He was going to bring them out through
a man named Moses, and He said to him, I want you to go to Pharaoh and tell him
to let my people go. Again and again Pharaoh said no, but God actually told
Moses that He knew Pharaoh won’t let them go except he was compelled with a
strong hand. The Lord said to Moses, I’ve got one more sign, and after this,
he’ll surely let you go.
Let’s read from Exodus 12, from verse 1 – 8.
“And the Lord spake unto Moses and
Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning
of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all
the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall
take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb
for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his
neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls;
every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb
shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from
the sheep, or from the goats: 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. 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. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened
bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it”
The Lord was about to take them out of Egypt and He tells
them to sacrifice this lamb, strike their door posts with its blood, roast it
over fire, and eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The bitter herbs would remind them
of the bitterness of bondage they had been in Egypt for 400 long years, and now
they’re leaving, and will never forget what happened.
Verse 9 - 13: “Eat not of it
raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs,
and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until
the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn
with fire. And thus shall ye
eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your
hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the Lord's Passover. 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. 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.”
God didn’t say, in
this Scripture, when I know how clean you are, or when I know your family name;
neither did He say when I know how many you are behind the door, no, He 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. He looks for the blood.
The only condition was the blood. He didn’t
ask them to write all the good things they had done; it didn’t matter whether
they were good Israelites or bad Israelites, He said when I see the blood; what
matters here is the blood.
Verse 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.” This
was forever, and if God says it’s forever, that means it’s forever. There may
be changes on how things are going to happen but it’ll be forever; He’s going
to alter the rules with time, but it’s going to be forever.
Now 1 Corinthians 5:7 says: “Purge out
therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For
even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” Glory to God!
Jesus is our Passover.
The Last Supper:
John 13:1: “Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his
hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having
loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. And supper
being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's
son, to betray him; Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his
hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; He riseth from supper,
and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. After that he
poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe
them with the towel wherewith he was girded. Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and
Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? Jesus answered and said
unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. Peter
saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash
thee not, thou hast no part with me. Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my
feet only, but also my hands and my head. Jesus saith to him, He that is washed
needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean,
but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are
not all clean. So after he had washed
their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto
them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say
well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your
feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example,
that ye should do as I have done to you”
Feet washing was a
Jewish tradition where the servants washed the feet of their masters or the
master’s guests when they came home.
Here, Jesus takes
the place of a servant and washed their feet. He was teaching them to honor one
another, not the physical washing of the feet. He was talking about us taking
the role of the servant and serving one another; that’s why Paul and the
disciples taught humility, they all taught us humility, humbleness of mind esteeming
others better than yourself, condescending to men of low estate. So we don’t
need to start going into feet washing services, as some people say we should. That’s
not what Jesus was talking about; it was about humility.
In the book of 1 Corinthians
11:23 - 24, Paul gives his account of the last supper as was revealed to
him. “For I have received of the Lord
that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in
which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it,
and said, Take, eat: this is my body which is broken for you: this do in
remembrance of me.”
In Genesis 3:21, The Lord killed an animal and used the skin of
that animal to cover their nakedness. Now Jesus says this is my body broken for
you. Do you know what that means? It means that when His body was broken for us,
as it were, as the nakedness of Adam and eve could no longer be seen, being covered
with the skin of the animal God had slain, we were covered with the body of Jesus
that was broken for us. When God looks at us now, He doesn’t see anything but
Christ; we are covered with Him. That’s why the Bible says we are in Christ.
When you are born again you are baptized, immersed and dipped into the body of
Christ; you are covered with Christ, and God doesn’t see you with all of your
wrongs, He sees Christ.
Verse 25
26: “After the same manner
also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament
in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as
often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death
till he comes”
Jesus said to them, do this in remembrance of me, for as often as
you drink this cup and eat this bread, you do show the Lord’s death till he
comes. Remember that the blood makes atonement. In the Old Testament and its
priesthood, It was the blood of an animal that was given, and with that blood they
made atonement for their souls, but that was not good enough. God had a plan
because we are eternal beings; He made us to live forever and those animals being
sacrificed for man will never live forever. So they kept killing them over and
over, until God said I’ve got one last lamb. And this was going to be the Lamb
of God, which the Bible says was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8). He was slain before
the world was made, which means in the mind of God He already did it. He offers
His Son, and His body is given for complete covering for every one of us
forever. Through His blood the world was redeemed (Titus 2:14), and by His blood,
we were purchased and raised as new creations forever. His blood was enough;
His blood did it all.
Discussion
Question:
Is it okay to say I sprinkle the blood?
Answer
to discussion question:
You can’t sprinkle the blood of Jesus; it’s not your job to do that.
He told us what to do with the blood; He asked us to break the bread and drink
the cup. That’s what you do with the blood. As often as you eat this bread and
drink this cup you show the Lord’s death; you proclaim the Lord’s death till He
comes. That’s what you’re supposed to do with the blood.
PART 4 -
Introduction:
At the end of this part, each member should:
- Have an
understanding of 7 key things the blood of Jesus does for us.
- Become
acquainted with more scriptures on what the blood of Jesus did for us.
Seven
things the blood of Jesus does for us:
- Remission:
The
blood of Jesus gives us remission. Now it’s important at this point to bring
clarity to the issue of remission and forgiveness.
Luke 24:
46 – 47: “…And
said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and
to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins
should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” Note
those two words: repentance and remission.
Acts
5:31: “Him hath God
exalted with his right hand to be
a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of
sins.”
The Scripture says here ‘repentance to Israel
and forgiveness of sins’. But in Luke 24, Jesus said ‘repentance and remission
of sins’ should be preached in his Name amongst all nations beginning at Jerusalem.
So He used the term remission of sins. Now we come to Acts 5 here, and we find some
translators using forgiveness of sins and not remission, and here’s where we need
to make the correction. In fact, the two words - remission and forgiveness, are
translated from the same Greek word – ‘aphesis’. However this is not enough to conclude, we
now have to check the context in which the words are used, when they are used.
When two or more words, interpreted from the same word in any language are
applied differently, the way to know what is meant at any time is in the
context of their application.
What Peter said is in consonance with what
Jesus said. They were exactly the same thing, so why change one from remission
to forgiveness, when it’s exactly the same, and in the same context.
The point here is that if you sin against God
as a Christian, you don’t just get forgiveness (which is coined less that
remission as though you are getting a pardon), no, the wrongdoing does not
exist anymore in the same way your sins were removed at the beginning, when you
came to Christ; there is no record of them anymore. The remission of sin that
you have at the beginning is the remission of sin that you get, if you sin, after you are born again; there is no record
of it anywhere, not in God’s book. This means the blood of Jesus Christ works
for you before salvation, and after salvation it provides remission of sins
completely. He said a new testament, will, covenant, order, will I give to them,
and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. That’s because it is
completely removed (Hebrews 10:16-18).
1 John
1:9:“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. Forgive
here means to take away and to cleanse us from all righteousness. The sins are
completely remitted, with no records kept. It’s not a pardon; it’s blotted out;
as though it never existed.
1 John
2:1: “And he is the
propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world”. This settles it! It works for us as it works
for the whole world. He is our propitiation. And every time you read it, it’s
the same word used. Sinning is not compulsory for the Christian; you don’t have
to sin, but if you do, there is remission, a complete blotting out. God has no
record of your mistakes or errors because the blood of Jesus completely washes
them out of existence. Hallelujah!
Hebrew
10:14 says, “For by
one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified” There is
no more sacrifice for sin; by one offering he has perfected us forever. Glory
to God!
- Justification: the
blood of Jesus makes justification possible. Through His blood, we are
justified, declared not guilty by God, with no record of the past. Acts 13:38 -39 says, “Be it known unto you therefore, men and
brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could
not be justified by the law of Moses”. This
Scripture should also have read remission, but it says forgiveness.
- Redemption: the blood of Jesus brought
us redemption; that is, agorazo – the purchase. We were purchased by the blood
of Jesus and given as gifts to God.
Revelation
5: 9: “And
they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood
out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.”
1
Corinthians 6:20: “For ye
are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your
spirit, which are God’s”
Acts
20:28: “Take
heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy
Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath
purchased with his own blood.”
- Access: The blood of Jesus gives us access to God.
Praise God; we’ve got access! We have access by Christ unto the Father. He is
the way. We enter into the most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus. So every time
you break that bread, remember the new and living way, which He consecrated for
us through the veil, which is His flesh.
Ephesians
2:18: “For
through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father”
John 14:6: “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the
truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Other
Scripture References: Acts
4:12; Hebrews 10:19.
- Fellowship: We have fellowship with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. We’ve come into partnership, communion, a
sharing together with Him. We are in His class, because of the blood of Christ.
Ephesians
2:13-14: “But now
in Christ Jesus ye who sometines were far off are made nigh by the blood of
Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us;”
Other
Scripture Reference: Colossians
1:20
- Cleansing:
The
blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
Hebrews
9:14: “How
much more shall the blood of Christ, who throught the eternal Spirit offered
himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead workd to serve the
living God?”
1 John
1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
- The will: the blood gives us the will;
the testament.
Hebrews
9:15-16 (NIV: “And 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. In the case
of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it,”
Acts
26:18: “To open
their eyes, and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan
unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them
which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
Other
Scripture Reference: Romans
8:16.
In
Conclusion:
God said the life of the flesh is in the blood and gave the blood
on the altar for the atonement of the soul. The blood of animals offered year
after year, though covering sin for a while, could not completely wash away
sin. But Jesus, who was without sin, became sin for us and obtained eternal
redemption through His precious blood. Now there is no remembrance of sin; we
are new creations without a past, purchased as gifts for God, because of the
precious blood of Jesus Christ.
Lessons
Learned from this Study:
- The
blood is the life of the flesh and God gave the blood for the atonement of the
soul.
- Atonement
means appeasement; propitiation; compensation for wrong doing; to satisfy the
claims of justice.
- The
first sacrifice for sin was when Adam and Eve sinned, and God killed an animal,
spilled the blood to cover their sin, and used the body of that animal to cover
their nakedness.
- There is
no other way to make atonement for the soul except by blood.
- The
burnt offering was an offering of dedication and acceptance.
- On the
great day of atonement, the high priest offered sacrifices to make atonement
for the people as a nation.
- Jesus
was our Passover lamb.
- Jesus was
given as the sacrifice for sin, and He entered into the most Holy Place in
heaven with His blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
- The new
creation in Christ became a reality at the resurrection of Christ and not at
the cross.
- Having
paid the price for our sins, Jesus purchased us as gifts to God.
- The
