I JOHN 1:7
But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.
BLOOD IS USED TO MAKE ATONEMENT FOR SINS
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.
The story goes all the way back to the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt, and a celebration called Passover.
The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt for over 400 years and the Lord saw their affliction and heard the cries of His people, so He sent Moses to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt
EXODUS 3:7-10
And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt
Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, didn’t want to let the people of Israel go, so God sent plagues upon Egypt, but Pharaoh was stubborn and wouldn’t heed God’s commandment to free them. The tenth and last plague that the Lord brought upon Egypt in those days, was that every firstborn of Egypt, both man and beast, would die.
In order to save His chosen people alive while the destroyer went through Egypt, the children of Israel were to bring in an unblemished lamb on the 10th day of the 1st month of the Jewish calendar and keep this lamb for 4 days. Then on the 14th day of the first month, the Israelites were to kill their lamb and place the blood of the lamb on their homes so that the angel of death (the destroyer) would pass over them.
To celebrate their freedom, they were told to do this every year after that AS IT WOULD BE A HOLY DAY, and the celebration was called Passover. This event was a shadow of an event to come … The death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
COLOSSIANS 2:16-17
Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the Sabbath days: Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ
Soon after God’s people were free and journeying through the wilderness on their way to the Promised Land, the Old Testament was established with the children of Israel.
What is a testament and how is it established? Well, just like with a will and testament, it is a covenant that is put into effect when the testator dies … or with the shedding of blood. The blood of the old covenant came from sacrifices. The people brought sacrifices to the priest, and Moses sprinkled the blood of the sacrifices on the people to cleanse them of their sins. After the original covenant was made, different sacrifices were made daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.
By and by, mankind turned away from the laws of God, so much so, that all the sacrificing in the world wouldn’t cleanse away the sin, so God sent Jesus, who through the shedding of His blood, brought in the New Testament. The new covenant is this:
No more sacrifices are needed, but simply by believing in Jesus life, death and resurrection, and that He is the Son of God, we need only repent and our sins are forgiven.
We are sprinkled (cleansed) by the blood of Jesus.
Just as the SHADOW reflected, the sacrifice of Jesus’ blood happened during the feast of Passover. Jesus, known as the Lamb of God, without blemish (sin), came into Jerusalem on the 10th day of the 1st month and was with the people for 4 days. He was killed by the choice of His own people on the 14th day of the first month, just as the Jewish people were celebrating the Passover. We are saved by the blood of the Lamb.
PARTAKING OF THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST
How does one become sinless to be worthy of God …
Because it is written ... We are all sinners?
ROMANS 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.
BUT ... We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin.
I JOHN 5:18-19
We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness
It’s not we that sin but the sinful nature within us. That’s why we feel bad after and repent. Paul explains it best ...
ROMANS 7:14-25
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin
We were BORN INTO the sin of Adam and Eve (it's in our blood).
So, the only way to become worthy of our Father, is to become one with Jesus, because He’s the only one who is sinless, and we do this by partaking of His blood.
Before we go into detail of how to partake of the body and blood of Jesus, there’s another interesting thing that we should know about Him.
I JOHN 5:6
This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood.
This symbolizes that Jesus came in the flesh and blood.
Awesome huh? But what of the WATER?
Read this from John’s account of when Jesus was taken down from the cross:
JOHN 19:34
But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith (at once) came there out blood and water.
It only makes sense that Jesus came by water and blood when he took human form as to die for our sins.
GENESIS 1:26
And God said, Let US make man in OUR image, after OUR likeness.
Let’s investigate this.
Note that the Bible says US and OUR when God is talking. That’s because OUR and US is God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. The TRINITY ... THREE IN ONE. Sooooo, since we (as humans) were made in His image, we also have three parts but are one.
THE BIBLE IS CLEAR THAT WE ARE CREATED IN GOD'S IMAGE.
SO WE TOO WERE CREATED AS A TRINITY OF SORTS.
I JOHN 5:7-8
For there are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word (Jesus), and the Holy Ghost: and these THREE ARE ONE. And there are three that bear witness IN EARTH, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these THREE AGREE IN ONE.
Therefore we, as humans, are made of three parts or depths.
The SPIRIT, WATER, AND BLOOD.
THE SPIRIT
The SPIRIT is the spirit that God assigns each soul that is born and that we humans surrender when we die (you give up the ghost or spirit).
Ecclesiastes 12:7
Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was:
and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
THE WATER
The WATER is obviously the body since it is made up of mostly water.
Remember that John made it clear that the WATER represents that Jesus came in the FLESH.
I JOHN 5:6
This is He that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood.
THE BLOOD
The BLOOD is our soul … our life.
LEVITICUS 17:14
The blood is the life of the flesh.
DNA blood samples can be used to identify a specific person.
As it is written ... Abel's BLOOD (his soul) cried out
GENESIS 4:10
And he said, What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's BLOOD crieth unto me from the ground
We’re all pretty familiar with the body and blood of Jesus, from the story of the Last Supper, but let’s look a little deeper into this water that John is talking about. In John’s Gospel there’s a story about a woman from Samaria. Jesus told her that He is the living water, and that whoever drinks of the water that He gives will never thirst again, but the water that He shall give will be a well of water springing up into everlasting life
JOHN 4:14
But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life
Then, while teaching at Capernaum, He told the Jewish people:
JOHN 6:53-56
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him
At the Last Supper Jesus confirmed this again when He gave the Apostles the cup of wine, (known as the cup of eternal salvation) and said:
MATTHEW 26:28
For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Now, at the Last Supper, Jesus said to eat and drink in His memory. Now, each time when we eat and drink, we have an opportunity to remember that Jesus’ blood was shed for us, and that we continually renew His life in us. Many choose to do this before they eat each meal, they say a little prayer. Some denominations call this communion (sharing in the body and blood of Christ), and it is only offered at certain times. But I ask you, is it the consecrating of bread and wine that removes your sins, or was it the act of Jesus dying on the cross, that takes away the sins of the world, once for all?
We’ve also learned that we need forgiveness regularly, not once a week or once a month, so why wouldn’t Jesus choose the Last Supper ... a meal … something that we partake of daily . . . regularly, to use as the perfect occasion to remind us that He died for us and to confess our sins and be forgiven DAILY.
And what about penance? Is it OUR works that bring forgiveness? Didn’t Jesus already pay the price? To be repentant comes from your heart and our Lord forgives us. To suggest that in order to be forgiven, one must recite a specific prayer, do some community service or anything of that nature ... is like saying that YOU are in some way working off your sins, or that YOU somehow have a hand in the forgiveness process and all in all ... it’s saying that what Jesus did, dying on the cross for you, wasn’t enough and that YOUR works will be the healing factor. TRUTH is ... It is much more SPIRITUAL than all that. Jesus paid our price and that price is ETERNAL.
I CORINTHIANS 7:23
Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.
Paul warns what will happen if we don’t respect the blood of Jesus:
HEBREWS 10:26-29
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of Grace?
I will close this study by sharing something with you that the Apostle Paul said ...
HEBREWS 13:20
Now the God of Peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever.
Amen.
