The Blood Series

The Blood

Thesis: Our blood does seven life giving functions and the shed blood of Jesus Christ does seven everlasting life giving functions.

Texts: Hebrews 9:11-28

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!

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.

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.

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 waiting for him.

Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the 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.”

Introduction:

De Haan states, “The Bible is a book of blood and a bloody book. When we are accused of preaching a Gospel of blood we proudly plead guilty, to the charge for the only thing that gives life to our teaching and power to the Word of God is the fact that it is the blood which is the very life and power of the Gospel. The Bible declares itself to be a living book, the only living book in the world; and it is able to impart life to those who will believe with their hearts what it teaches”(9).

Hebrews tells us, “The Word of God is quick, powerful and sharper than any two edged sword.”

The word translated “quick” in this verse is living or alive. What the Word declares here is that it is a living Word- it is alive-it’s not a bunch of words on a page. It is a book that has blood flowing from page to page.

Spurgeon stated, “Scripture teaches us…that the blood produces life – that life lies in the blood. Blood, therefore , is the mysterious link between matter and spirit. How is it that the soul should in any degree have alliance with matter through blood, we cannot understand; but certain it is that this is the mysterious link which unite these apparently dissimilar things together, so that the soul can inhabit the body, and the life can rest in the blood”(65).