Sunday, July 15, 2018 am
What the Blood of Jesus
Does
a.
We all know what it
means to be cleaned up.
b.
Spiritually, sin makes
us unclean in God’s eyes. It
stains us. Isaiah 64:6
speaks about how all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.
Matthew 15:18-20, while not exhaustive, Jesus describes things
proceeding from the heart that defile a man (make him unclean).
c.
We need to be cleansed
to be in God’s presence –The remedy for sin that we are about to notice
shows how sin makes us unclean before Him.
d.
Psalm 51:2, David in
repentance prayed, “Wash me
thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin.”
Isaiah 1:18, a call to reason with God and the promise, “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…”
e.
Revelation 1:5 it is the
blood of Jesus that washes us from our sins.
Hebrews 9:13-14 – it cleanses your conscience from dead works to serve
the living God.
f.
1 John 1:7 – even as
Christians, when we sin, we need His blood to cleanse us of our sins.
g.
Associated with
cleansing is the idea of
purification.
Hebrews 9:22-23 speaks of how all things are purified with blood. Just
as the Old Covenant and priesthood were purified with animal blood, we
are purified with something better – the blood of Jesus. The rest of
this text explains this further (Hebrews 9:24-28)
Titus 2:14, describes how Jesus gave Himself for us that He might purify
for Himself His own special people.
a.
Sin separates us from
God. Isaiah 59:2 tells us
that our iniquities separate us from God.
The word enmity describes hostility.
Sin puts us at enmity with God – James 4:4 – friendship with the
world, the carnal mind – Romans 8:6-8ff.
We do NOT want to stand before God as His enemy.
b.
Reconciliation is the
bringing together those who had become enemies.
It is to be restored to friendly or favorable status.
We understand reconciliation in the world – a damaged friendship or
relationship, nations that have become enemies.
There is a strong need for reconciliation, OR the consequences of
enmity will take place. Concerning
our enmity with God, we are warned in Hebrews 10:31 it is a fearful
thing to fall into His hands.
c.
We need to be reconciled
to God.
Romans 5:10-11, notes
that this reconciliation took place through the death of Jesus.
For if when we were
enemies we were
reconciled to God through the
death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved
by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the
reconciliation.
In context, vs. 9 mentions begin
justified by His blood.
Colossians 1:19-21,
For it pleased the Father that in
Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to
reconcile all things to
Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven,
having made peace through the
blood of His cross. And you, who
once were alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has
reconciled
2 Corinthians 5:18-21,
we find yet another passage that notes God has reconciled us to Himself
through Jesus Christ. The
call in vs. 20 – be reconciled to God.
d.
If you are at enmity
with God, the blood of Jesus can bring about that reconciliation.
a.
Another description of
the result of sin is that it enslaves us.
Jesus warned in John 8:34, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.
Romans 6 deals with that slavery – Romans 6:16 we note,
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you
are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or
of obedience leading to righteousness? But God be thanked that though
you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of
doctrine to which you were delivered.
b.
Redemption is a term
that in the New Testament means to release or set free.
It is often associated with the paying the price for freedom, or
perhaps a ransom.
We need to have that ransom paid – Romans 6:23 – the wages of sin is
death.
c.
Jesus, through His blood
redeemed us - Ephesians 1:7 – we have redemption through His blood, the
forgiveness of sins. Colossians
1:13-14 says the same thing.
1 Peter 1:18-19 – it was with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish or spot that we were redeemed.
Titus 2:13-14 – He gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from
every lawless deed.
1 Timothy 2:5-6 – gave Himself a ransom (He paid the price) for all.
Romans 3:23-25 – summaries this, we are sinners justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…
a.
Justification is a legal
term meaning to be made right or declared right.
It is associated with justice which deals with one receiving
their due for what they have or have not done.
b.
In God’s eyes, we are
guilty and deserving of punishment.
Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is death.
Romans 3:23 – we have sinned and fall short of His glory.
The justice of God demands that a price be paid for our sins.
c.
Jesus paid that price –
Romans 3:24-25 notes that we are justified freely by His grace through
the redemption in Christ Jesus. Jesus
is the “propitiation”, a word associated with the mercy seat (atop the
Ark of the Covenant) and is associated with appeasing the wrath of God.
d.
By dying on the cross,
Jesus paid the necessary price that God demands for our sins to be
forgiven. 2 Corinthians 5:21
notes that God made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin, to be sin for us.
While I do not understand the
exact workings of this plan, the point is that Jesus paid a price (set
before the foundation of the world) that God accepted in place of my
sins. Thus justice is served
through the blood of Jesus.
1 Peter 2:23-25 notes that He bore our sins in His own body on the tree.
Romans 5:9 – we are justified by His blood. Romans 5:18 -
Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men,
resulting in condemnation, even so through
one Man’s righteous act the free
gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life.
1 Peter 3:18 summarizes this well,
For Christ also suffered once for
sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put
to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.
a.
To be sanctified means
to be set apart. The Greek
word for sanctify is a derivative of the same word as holy and saint.
We are “set apart ones” who belong to God.
b.
Hebrews 13:12,
Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own
blood, suffered outside the gate. This is a context where the writer
is encouraging brethren to be willing to suffer for Him.
Heb. 10:10 notes that we
are sanctified “through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”
c.
Up to this point, we
have seen how the blood of Christ makes us right with God and saves us.
NOW, we see what He does TO us –
He set us apart to serve Him.
One of the ways we are described is as a priesthood (under the
Old Law, the priests were set apart to do God’s temple service, etc.). 1
Peter 2:4-5 – we are a holy priesthood, built to offer sacrifices
acceptable to Him. 1 Peter 2:9 describes us as a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood and His own special people (peculiar).
All of these are associated with our sanctification (holiness).
We belong to Him and are called upon to serve Him.
Hebrews 12:14 – without holiness (sanctification) we will NOT see the
Lord.
d.
John 17:17, let us not
forget that it is through His word of truth that we LEARN how to live
sanctified.
a.
Acts 20:28 Paul notes
that Christ purchased the church of God with His own blood.
In His death, he created the body of the saved.
Ephesians 5:25-27 describes how Christ gave Himself for His
church (His bride).
Acts 2:47 (NKJV) – notes that we are added to the church (to their
number).
b.
We are added to that
body when we obey the gospel.
1 Corinthians 12:13, we are baptized into that one body (which is
His church). Ephesians
1:22-23 notes how He is head and we are the body.
So much can be emphasized in this.
VII.
Baptism and the blood of
Jesus
a.
As we conclude I want to
consider baptism and the blood of Jesus.
OR another way of saying this is to ask, WHAT does baptism do for
us?
b.
Acts 2:38 – in baptism
we receive the remission (removal, forgiveness) of sins.
In Hebrews 9:22 we note that without the shedding of blood, there
is no remission. This is
followed by a description of how Jesus shed His blood to become our
sacrifice or provide our “remission of sins”.
We receive the remission of sins in repentance and baptism.
c.
Romans 6:3—4 ties
baptism to His death, WHERE He shed His blood.
d.
Mark 16:16 – by
believing and baptism, we are saved.
See also 1 Peter 3:20-21, etc.
e.
Consider also many of
the things we have discussed in this lesson.
When we are baptized:
i.
We are cleansed - Acts
22:16 – wash away your sins;
Romans 6:3-4 – raised to
walk in newness of life.
ii.
We are redeemed - Romans
6:6 in baptism the old man is crucified, and we are no longer slaves of
sin.
iii.
We are justified by
God’s grace through “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the
Holy Spirit.”
Titus 3:4-7
Thus we can see the importance of the blood of Jesus.
It describes our salvation in so many different ways. It makes it
possible for us to one day be in the presence of God.
Water doesn’t save us and never
has. BUT, it is through the
waters of baptism that we come in contact with the precious blood of
Jesus. What about you?
Have you been washed in His blood?
Are you continuing to walk in His light?
Think about it!