- Overcomer Literature Trust
- Swindon
- Wiltshire
WHAT THE SCRIPTURES TEACH ABOUT BLOOD.
By Andrew Murray.
“Not Without Blood” (Heb. 9 v7 &18).
The Scriptures teach us about the glorious power of the blood of Jesus and the wonderful blessings procured for us by it. I cannot lay a better foundation, nor give a better proof of the amazing glory of that blood as the power of redemption, than by asking you to follow me through the Bible and see the unique place which is given to blood from the beginning to the end of God’s revelation of Himself.
The Old Testament record about blood begins at the gates of Eden. Abel brought a lamb from his flock to the Lord as a sacrifice and there, in the first act of worship recorded in the Bible, blood was shed. We learn from Hebrews 11 v4 that it was by faith that Abel offered an acceptable sacrifice, and his name stands first in the record of those whom the Bible calls believers. He pleased God, his faith and God’s good pleasure in him are closely connected with the sacrificial blood.
Then came the flood, which was God’s judgment on sin. But God brought forth a new earth from that awful baptism of water. Notice however that the new earth must be baptised also with blood and the first recorded act of Noah after he had left the ark was the offering of a burnt sacrifice to God.
By the divine call of Abram, and the miraculous birth of Isaac, God undertook the formation of a people to serve Him. But this purpose was not accomplished apart from the shedding of blood. God had already entered into covenant relationship with Abraham and his faith had already been severely tried. It was counted to him for righteousness, yet he must learn that Isaac, the son of promise, can be truly surrendered to God only by death. Abraham must offer Isaac on the altar. That was not an arbitrary command of God, it was the revelation of a divine truth that it is only through death that a life can truly be consecrated to God. But it was impossible for Isaac to die and rise again from the dead, for on account of sin death would hold him fast, so his life was spared as a ram was offered in his place, and the great lesson of substitution was clearly taught.
Four hundred years passed and Isaac has become the people of Israel. Through her deliverance from Egyptian bondage Israel was to be recognized as God’s first born among the nations. Here also it is not without blood. Neither the grace of God, nor His covenant with Abraham, nor the exercise of His power, which could so easily have destroyed their oppressors, could dispense with the necessity of blood.
What blood accomplished on Mount Moriah for one person, who was the Father of the nation, must now be experienced by that nation. By the sprinkling of the door frames of the Israelites with the blood of the Paschal lamb, by the institution of the Passover as an enduring ordinance with the words “When I see the blood I will pass over you”, the people were taught that life can be obtained only by the death of a substitute.
Fifty days later this lesson was enforced in a striking manner. Israel had reached Sinai. God had given His Law as the foundation of His covenant. That covenant must now be established but as it is expressly stated in Hebrews 9 v7, “not without blood”. The sacrificial blood must be sprinkled, first on the altar and then on the book of the Covenant, representing God’s side of that Covenant, then on the people with the declaration, “This is the blood of the Covenant” (Ex.24).
Immediately after the establishment of the covenant the command was given, “Have them make a sanctuary for Me and I will dwell among them” (Ex. 25 v8). They were to enjoy the full blessing of having the God of the Covenant live with them.
He gave clear directions for the arrangement and service of that house. But notice that blood is at the centre. Draw near to the vestibule of the earthly temple of the Heavenly King and the first thing visible is the altar of burnt offering where the sprinkling of blood continued without ceasing. Enter the Holy Place and the most conspicuous thing is the golden altar of incense, which together with the veil, is constantly sprinkled with blood. Ask what lies beyond the Holy Place and you will be told that it is the Most Holy Place where God dwells. If you ask how He dwells there and how He is approached, you will be told “not without blood”. The golden throne where His glory shines is itself sprinkled with blood, once every year, when the High Priest alone enters to bring in blood and to worship God.
This continued for fifteen hundred years till our Lord came to establish a fellowship with the Holy One, in sprit and truth. Our Lord Jesus taught about blood. With His coming the old order passed away and all things became new. He came from the Father in Heaven to tell us in divine words the way to the Father.
It is sometimes said that the words ‘not without blood’ belong to the Old Testament, but that is not what the New Testament teaches. When John the Baptist announced Jesus coming he spoke of Him as filling a dual office, “look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, and then as “He who will baptise with the Holy Spirit”. The outpouring of the blood of the Lamb of God must take place before the outpouring of the Spirit. Only when all that the Old Testament taught about blood had been fulfilled can the time of the Spirit begin. The Lord Jesus plainly declared that His death on the Cross was the purpose for which He came into the world, and that it was the necessary condition of the redemption and the life which He came to bring.
In the Synagogue at Capernaum He spoke of Himself as the Bread of Life, and of His flesh that He would give for the life of the world. Four times He said most emphatically, “Unless you . . . drink his blood you have no life in you”. “Whoever . . . drinks my blood has eternal life”. “My blood is real drink”. “Whoever . . . drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him” (John 6 v53-56). Our Lord declared the fundamental fact that He, as the Son of the Father, came to restore to us our lost life, but He could do this in no other way than by dying for us, by shedding His blood for us, and then making us partakers of its power.
Christ cannot make us partakers of that eternal life which He has procured for us, save by the shedding of His blood. “Not without blood” can eternal life be ours. Equally striking is our Lord’s declaration of the same truth on the last night of His earthly life. Before He completed the great work of His life by giving it as a ransom for many, He instituted the Holy Supper saying, “Drink from it all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26 v28). Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. Without remission of sins there is no life. For victory over sin and the deliverance of the sinner God has no other means or thought than "the blood of Christ".
All the wonders of grace are focused here. The Incarnation by which He took upon Himself our flesh and blood, the love that spared not itself but surrendered itself to death, the righteousness which could not forgive sin till the penalty was paid. The substitution by which He, the Righteous One, atoned for us the unrighteous, the atonement for sin and the justification of the sinner making possible renewed fellowship with God. The cleansing and sanctification to fit us for the enjoyment of that fellowship, the true oneness in life with the Lord Jesus as He gives us His blood to drink, the joy of the hymn of praise, “You have redeemed us to God”; all these are but rays of the wonderful light which are reflected upon us from “ the precious blood of Jesus.”
We can rely on the Lord Jesus to reveal to us the power of His blood. It is by this confident trust in Him that the blessing obtained by the blood becomes ours. We must never in thought separate the blood from the High Priest who shed it and ever lives to apply it.
From: “The Power of the Blood of Jesus”.
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