GOOD FRIDAY: The Blood of Jesus

By Otto Kaiser

Introduction

A missionary from Campus Crusade for Christ was showing a gospel film in Burma, Asia. He went to the front of the audience at the end of the film to give an invitation to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. As he stood before all the people, a poisonous cobra slipped out of the underbrush and coiled around the feet of the missionary.

The audience held their breath as the missionary pleaded the blood of Jesus. As quickly as the serpent had come out of the jungle, it slipped away again. The missionary was not harmed and the onlookers were awed by the power of God. What God did in divine protection through the blood of Jesus for this missionary, God can do for you. The Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). What God has done for others, He can do for you. This message is on the blood of Jesus.

Title: THE BLOOD OF JESUS

Text: I Peter 1:18-19, “It was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious BLOOD of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

Outline:

I.                You Receive Salvation Through the Blood of Jesus

II.             You Receive Divine Passage Through the Blood of Jesus

III.           Jesus Triumphed Over All the Powers of Darkness Through His Blood

IV.           Christians Have Power Over All the Powers of Darkness Through the Blood of Jesus

I.                You Receive Salvation Through the Blood of Jesus

Modern man tends to squirm when we mention the Blood of Jesus. He finds it very repulsive. He considers the words a hangover from primitive religions. He wants nothing to do with a so-called slaughterhouse religion. Some of our liberal denominations have removed all the songs that mention the blood from their hymnbooks. But the blood of Jesus is central in the Bible.

Early in the Bible, God revealed a very important principle. The Bible says in Ezekiel 18:20, “The soul who sins is the one who will die.” Either the sinner must die or a substitute must die in his place. This meant blood had to be shed to appease the guilt of sin.  The Bible says in Hebrews 9:22, “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”

Thus when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, blood had to be shed. Adam and Eve tried to cover their nakedness with fig leaves, but these were not sufficient. Animals had to be slaughtered and their blood shed to provide skins to cover Adam and Eve. Later Abraham, Isaac and Jacob shed the blood of animals, as they offered sacrifices to God. The shedding of blood to atone for sins was the basis of the entire Old Testament sacrificial system.

Jesus provided all the benefits of salvation through His blood.  The blood of animals could not permanently atone for the sins of man.  The soul that sins, his blood or an equal substitute must be shed. All men have sinned including you and me. All men deserve to have their blood shed as the penalty for sin. But God has been pleased to accept as a substitute for our blood, the blood of the Lord Jesus. However, there is a condition. We must believe in Jesus Christ and accept Him as our Lord and Savior.

Thus on the banks of the Jordan River, John the Baptist could point to Jesus and say, “Look the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Thus Paul could write to the Ephesians (2:13), “Now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” Now through the blood of Jesus, our sins have been forgiven (Eph. 1:7, Col. 1:14). We have freedom from all our sins (Rev. 1:5). Now through the blood of Jesus, we have been justified before God (Rom. 3:25; 5:9). Through the blood of Jesus, we have peace with God and peace with our fellow men (Eph. 2:14-18). The blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all our sins (I John 1:7: Heb. 9:14). Through the blood of Jesus, we are being sanctified and set aside as holy unto God (Heb. 13:12; 9:14).

Our robes are being washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Rev. 7:14). Through the blood of Jesus, we have been purchased “from every tribe and language and people and nation… to be a kingdom of priests to serve our God” (Rev. 5:9-10). Out text says, “It was not with perishable things such as silver and gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious BLOOD of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (I Peter 1:18-19). As Christians, Jesus has purchased you as an inheritance unto Himself through His shed blood (Acts 20:28; I Cor. 6:20; 7:23). As you trust in the blood of Jesus, you have all the benefits and provisions of salvation.

In early human history two brothers were in a field together. Both had offered sacrifices to God. Cain had offered from the fruit of the ground to God; Abel had offered the best of the lambs to God. God had accepted Abel’s sacrifice, but had refused Cain’s sacrifice. Then out of jealousy, Cain killed his brother Abel. Later the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” (Gen. 4:9). Cain replied, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen 4:9). Then the Lord answered back, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground”: JUSTICE, JUSTICE, JUSTICE (Gen 4:10). Today the blood of Jesus is crying: “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 12:24 that we have come, “To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of a better word that the blood of Abel.” Whereas the blood of Abel cries vengeance, the blood of Jesus cries mercy. The blood of Jesus cries out, “Sin is covered. The penalty is paid.” The blood of Abel spoke vengeance, but the blood of Jesus speaks peace, pardon, and reconciliation to God for all that are bound by Satan.

-- Otto Kaiser is a missionary with Global University.