The Precious Blood of Christ

Introduction:

1. An incredible drama is being played out in the universe – all for the glory of the great God and His wonderful attributes – with a transaction price of infinite value and significance being a central theme.
2. We have a wedding tomorrow, but we must see the mystery of marriage – Christ’s love for His church.
3. In order to return to true Biblical Christianity, let us consider the importance and role of Christ’s blood.
4. We are so far removed from bloody wars, bloody preparation of food, bloody surgeries of bodies, and blood of any kind that the truth of our Lord’s religion is unpopular, distasteful, and quite ugly.
5. Studying and considering Christ’s blood will comfort the righteous and irritate the wicked, for this subject is foolish to the natural man and glorious to the spiritual man (I Cor 1:21-24; 2:2; Gal 6:14).

IMPORTANCE OF BLOOD

1. God created blood and put it in living creatures, as the fluid of life for many functions.
2. Blood is a very special substance, as some in this assembly would faint even to see it.
3. We worry about blood types, blood pressure, blood sugar, blood viscosity, blood donations, blood tests, blood cell counts, blood poisoning, and a heart that pumps blood.
4. Men fear heart attacks – pump is damaged; they fear strokes – brain doesn’t get blood.
5. We saw much more blood prior to this sanitized, sterilized, shrink-wrapped generation.
6. With a home birth recently occurring in our congregation, several were able to see the umbilical cord and the sustaining factors of life being transferred by the blood it carries.
7. Wounds, surgeries, capital punishment, battles, animal sacrifices, and other forgotten activities made blood a very important substance and very visible matter of concern.
8. He has revealed to us plainly that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:10-14).
9. Eating blood was further condemned by the elders at Jerusalem (Acts 15:19-20,28-29).
10. Death is best pictured and represented by blood running out from punctures of the body, which occurred frequently with animal slaughter and hand-to-hand combat in battles.
11. God commanded Noah immediately after the flood of blood for blood (Genesis 9:1-7).

GOD’S USE OF BLOOD

1. God used skins of animals to clothe Adam and Eve, which required blood (Gen 3:21).
2. God required a blood sacrifice of living creatures, which Cain resented (Genesis 4:1-5).
3. Zipporah found out about the religion of God through circumcision (Exodus 4:24-26).
4. God required Israel to put blood on their houses for Him to pass over (Exodus 12:1-51).
5. Samuel killed a suckling lamb before a war with the Philistines to atone (I Samuel 7:9).
6. God required Israel to sanctify things under the old covenant with blood (Heb 9:18-22).
7. God required a High Priest before Him once a year with blood (Heb 9:7; Lev 16:1-34).

RELIGIOUS USE OF BLOOD

1. Pagan religions have aped and perverted God’s religion with blood sacrifices (Ps 16:4).
2. The prophets of Baal mingled their blood with the blood of a bullock (I Kgs 18:26-28).
3. The papists – Catholic pagans – adopted the perverse tradition of drinking human blood.
   1. The hold the doctrine of transubstantiation, or drinking of Christ’s literal blood.
   2. Even when only taking the host (cracker), they are literally drinking His blood.
   3. For they believe His body, blood, soul, and divinity truly replace both species.

CHRIST’S BLOOD

1. Damned by the weakness of our first mother and the rebellion of our first father, Satan had us condemned to eternal judgment under God’s fiery justice and judgment for sin.
2. Yet we read of wounds early in the drama, which foretell the conclusion (Gen 3:15); for though the male seed of the woman bled, it was not fatal; yet Satan bled fatally by Him.
3. Jesus had to take on a nature compatible with those for whom He died (Heb 2:14-16).
4. God purchased the church by His own blood, by the incarnation of Christ (Acts 20:28).
5. Which is the great mystery of godliness – God became flesh and blood (I Tim 3:16).
6. Jesus shed innocent blood for our sins as testified by Judas and Pilate (Matt 27:4,24).
7. Jesus sweat as it were great drops of blood, just contemplating His death (Luke 22:44).
8. Then they punctured His back, head, face, hands, feet, and side to draw for His blood.
9. The Jews begged for His blood, were afraid of the guilt for His blood, and then bled and died miserably for shedding it (Matthew 27:25; Acts 5:28; Matthew 23:35).
10. The Father purchased a bride for His Son by a dowry of blood (Rev 19:6-9; 7:9-14).

LEGAL SALVATION IN CHRIST’S BLOOD

1. God’s faith in Christ’s blood and His forebearance covered O.T. sins (Romans 3:24-26).
2. We are justified by His blood, which He ever lives to plead before God (Rom 5:9-10).
3. We are redeemed and forgiven our sins by the blood of the Beloved (Ep 1:7; Col 1:14).
4. Peace and reconciliation between God and His people are by His blood (Col 1:19-22).
5. Jesus the great High Priest obtained eternal redemption by His blood (Heb 9:11-12).
6. Jesus the great Mediator put the everlasting covenant in force by blood (Heb 9:15-23).
7. The death of Jesus Christ is the blood of the everlasting covenant (Hebrews 13:20-21).
8. We were chosen to this sprinkling of blood by the election of God the Father (I Pet 1:2).
9. This precious blood and its redemptive significance should move us (I Peter 1:16-21).
10. Jesus washed us from our sins by His blood and made us kings and priests (Rev 1:5-6).
11. The Spirit shows our Redeemer as a “Lamb as it had been slain” – blood red (Rev 5:6).
12. This glorious work of redemption is the basis for our worship in heaven (Rev 5:9-10).
13. The righteous in heaven are seen in robes made white by the Lamb’s blood (Rev 7:14).
14. Our great victory over Satan is based on the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 12:10-11).

PRACTICAL SALVATION IN CHRIST’S BLOOD

1. Drinking the blood of Jesus Christ proves possession of eternal life (John 6:53-56).
   1. This is not the Catholic heresy of transubstantiation, or pagan blood drinking.
   2. This is not the cannibalism presumed by these ignorant and rebellious hearers.
   3. This is not the true and proper practice of the Lord’s supper, which is figurative.
   4. This is coming to Christ and believing Him as the Son of God (6:29,36,47,64).
   5. This is participating in Him by faith, which is the evidence of life (I John 5:13).
   6. Which none would or could do without sovereign drawing (6:44-45,65,37-40).
2. The blood of Christ and the knowledge of it unite Jews and Gentiles (Eph 2:11-13).
3. If animal blood could sanctify at all, how much more the blood of Christ (Heb 9:13-14).
4. Our whole life with God and church relationship is based on His blood (Heb 10:19-25).
5. And we can expect horrific judgment, if we neglect the blood of Christ (Heb 10:28-31).
6. We should consider our Lord’s suffering against sin, for we have not bled (Heb 12:4-5).
7. The covenant is based on better sprinkling than Abel faithfully observed (He 12:24-25).
8. As the animals of atonement, He died without the camp, calling us there (He 13:11-13).
9. Slothfulness in our lives is due to forgetting the value of our purging (II Peter 1:9).
10. We have the practical forgiveness of our sins as we walk and confess (I John 1:7-9).
11. We are not to sin; but when we sin, we have an advocate with the Father (I John 2:1).

COMMUNION OF BLOOD

1. Fellowship and communion with the bread and cup at the Lord’s table shows our common union around the Lord Jesus Christ (I Cor 10:15-21).
2. We say with Him, “This cup is the New Testament in my blood” (I Corinthians 11:25), for it represents His precious blood that ratified and executed the everlasting covenant.
3. The cup showing His blood witnesses with the Spirit and water of Him (I John 5:6,8).
   1. His baptism, Spirit-filled ministry, and death declared Him to be God’s Son.
   2. Baptism, preaching by the Spirit, and the Lord’s supper continue to testify it.
4. Comparing family to marriage, we say, “Blood is thicker than water.” But when we compare His blood to mere family blood, “Blood [His] is thicker than blood [ours].”

Conclusion:

1. You cannot remain neutral regarding Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You must love Him or hate Him. This sermon will either cause you to flee to Him by faith or provoke boredom and resentment for such a dry and boring discourse. He was a stumblingblock to the Jews and foolishness to Greeks (I Cor 1:22-23).
2. The Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour by His precious blood, is coming soon to destroy all His enemies, which will leave His vesture dipped in and stained by the blood of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God (Revelation 19:11-16; Isaiah 63:1-6). He is King of kings and Lord of lords.
3. If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ and His blood, let him be Anathema Maranatha (I Cor 16:22).