Blood part II

This is the first of several planned blogs on the subject of blood and its meaning in our faith. I have been researching several commentaries and authors on the topic of blood sacrifice. What I am attempting to accomplish is to meld several sources into one common sense body of work that will help us further understand the deep significance of what was accomplished through Christ’s atoning work.

One of the most vital and fundamental doctrines of Holy Scripture is that of blood sacrifice. It is the scarlet thread that stretches not only across time, but reaches from eternity past into eternity future. It is the eternal God's remedy for man's sin. It is the solemn yet joyous theme of psalmists, prophets, and New Testament apostles, as well as of the Savior Himself. I am going to trace its development as recorded in the Bible to help understand fully the significance of blood sacrifice.

Consider these verses from 1 Peter 1:18-20 that reach back into eternity past. First, “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.” The sacrificial Lamb and His atoning work in salvation was not an after-thought in God's plan for the reconciliation of man. There are three things recorded that took place or existed before the foundation of the world:

1.) The love that the Father had for the Son

a. Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began! John 17:24

2.) The believer chosen in Christ

a. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. Eph 1: 4

3.) The sacrificial Lamb foreordained

a. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days. 1 Peter 1:20

The great plan of salvation originated in the mind of God before the creation of the universe.

Speaking of the followers of the first beast in Revelation 13:8, we read, "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world", from the creation, and onward from the fall, the details of the sacrificial, atoning death of Jesus are gradually unfolded until it was consummated at Calvary. Peter tells us that the angels were vitally interested in this gradual unfolding, as well as the prophets who did not fully understand what they were writing as they were led along by the Spirit of God, 1 Pet. 1:10-12 tells us “This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.”

In Genesis 2:7, 18 & 21-25 there is a very prophetic preview of the sufferings and death of the Savior and its glorious results. "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul" "And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a help meet for him", "And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; and the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, and were not ashamed". Paul comments in Ephesians 5:32, "This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church, That deep sleep and wounded side produced a bride for the first Adam, and it points forward to the deep sleep of death and the wounded side from which the blood and water flowed of the last Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Next in Genesis comes the fall in the Garden of Eden, and its tragic consequences for all mankind. Eve was deceived by Satan's lie, but Adam acted deliberately in disobeying God and, in accordance with the warning given by God, spiritual death and ultimately physical death was the result. In passing sentence on Satan and on the guilty pair, God made a glorious promise. It has been called the Protoevangelium. It is one of the great key-promises of the Scriptures. Speaking to the serpent, God said, "And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel." Gen. 3:15. This tremendous prophecy and promise speaks of a mutual hostility, a twofold seed, and a twofold bruising. These few words in Genesis 3:15, gives us an epitome of the great work of salvation and redemption.

The twofold hostility would indicate the battle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness. The two seeds of the serpent and the woman indicate the children of unbelief heading up in the Antichrist, and the children of God and of faith, consummated in the Messianic line and the incarnation of the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ. The twofold bruising points forward to the mighty contest at Calvary. In anticipation of it, our Lord said, "The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself.” He said this to indicate how he was going to die ", John 12: 31-33. It was at the cross that the serpent's head was crushed, a fatal blow. "Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying", Heb: 2. 14-15. But in doing this, the Savior Himself was bruised: "But you are a tower of refuge to the poor, O Lord, a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. You are a refuge from the storm and a shelter from the heat. For the oppressive acts of ruthless people are like a storm beating against a wall, or like the relentless heat of the desert. But you silence the roar of foreign nations. As the shade of a cloud cools relentless heat, so the boastful songs of ruthless people are stilled", Isa. 53:4-5. In the death of Christ, the power of Satan was broken, and His triumphant resurrection and ascension ensure His final victory over all the powers of darkness. The immediate result of the fall was, "the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons", Gen. 3:7. Before the guilty couple were expelled from Eden's paradise, God gave them an adequate covering. "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them" v. 21. The inference is that the sacrificial animal had to die and its blood had to be shed, in order to provide the covering. This should be compared with the doctrinal teaching in Romans 5:12-21 concerning the spotless robe of imputed righteousness which has been graciously provided by a loving God for the guilty sinner who puts his faith in the atoning work of Christ on the cross. Isaiah 64: 6 declares that in our sinful condition before conversion, "we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags". The clothing of our first parents in the Garden of Eden anticipates that which God in His grace does for the sinner today who believes in His Son.

Genesis 4 provides us with a graphic and tragic picture of the right and the wrong way to approach the presence of God. Abel was a shepherd and Cain a tiller of the soil. There does not seem to be any doubt that Adam had taught his sons the details of what had happened in Eden. They must have known the facts and the meaning of their parents' disobedience and its results. Adam and Eve had been driven out of paradise, and there was a barrier consisting of the cherubim and the flaming sword at its gate to prevent any access to the tree of life. Sin had entered, and communion with God had been broken. But there must be a way back to God. Cain, the older son, brings his offering, the fruit of the ground and the result of his own labor. It could have been very beautiful and attractive, with the sweet odor of a skillfully arranged bouquet. But it was the product of a cursed earth, and consequently it was refused. Then Abel, the younger son, brings his offering, the firstlings of his flock and the fat. The fact that fat is mentioned indicates that the animal or animals had been slaughtered and the blood shed. The record reads, “Abel also brought a gift—the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift" Gen. 4. 4. The solemn lesson is that the only and correct way of approach to a holy God is by a blood sacrifice. The sad sequel is that Cain, the first man who had a brother, in an outburst of passion and rage murdered his brother. In dealing with the crime and sentencing Cain, the Lord said to him, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground!" v. 10. Significantly, this is the first time that the word "blood" occurs in the Bible. It was innocent blood, the blood of the first martyr who died on account of his testimony.

Cain and Abel are typical characters. Jude 11 speaks of those who have gone in the way of Cain, those who have deliberately rejected the divine way of approach to God, ending in the ultimate crime of the murder of Messiah. Abel, on the other hand, is the first name in the noble line of the men of faith recorded in Hebrews 11. There are two references in Hebrews that add to our knowledge of the meaning of Abel's sacrificial offering. One of these reads, "it was by faith that Abel brought a more acceptable offering to God than Cain did. Abel’s offering gave evidence that he was a righteous man, and God showed his approval of his gifts. Although Abel is long dead, he still speaks to us by his example of faith" Heb 11:4. Here we learn three things: (i) the offering was by faith; (ii) the offerer was a righteous man, that is, a regenerated man in the Old Testament sense of the word; (iii) God sealed his offering with His acceptance and approval. The second reference is in Heb 12:24 “You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel”.

Today we approach God by a blood sprinkled way, " And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. ", Heb. 10. 19-22.