Thesis: we come into contact with the blood of Christ when we are baptized into his death.
Introduction:
●Dr. Paul Brand was a gifted and celebrated physician who pioneered innovative techniques in reconstructive hand surgery. He was also a committed Christian, the son of missionary parents, and deeply devoted to helping the victims of leprosy. Dr. Brand spent some 20 years as the head of the leper colony down in Carville, Louisiana, some six and a half hours south of here.
Dr. Brand wrote 100 scientific papers and six books. In one of his books, entitled In His Image, Paul tells of an epiphany he had as a young man, an experience that dramatically changed his view of the medical profession – and of blood.
You see, he didn’t really want to be a doctor – in fact, Brand didn’t go to medical school – at least, not at first. Why? Well, for one thing, Paul’s true love was carpentry, so he entered Livingston College in London to to prepare himself as a missionary builder of churches in India. Oh, and there was one other thing – Paul couldn’t stand the sight of blood.
But while he was a student at Livingston College, his advisors said, “Paul, if you intend to work in India, you really should take a course in tropical medicine.” So he did. And as part of that course, the professor assigned him to work in a local hospital to learn how to do dressings and the basic principles of diagnosis and treatment. So Paul took a job at a small hospital on the east side of London, and while working there one night he had that epiphany I mentioned, an experience that changed the course of his life forever.
●There had been an accident – a beautiful young woman was wheeled into the emergency room – she had lost a lot of blood, too much blood. In fact, when Paul tried to take her pulse, there was nothing there. She was pale, so pale that even her lips had lost their color – and she was still, as still as death. Not only that, the young victim didn’t seem to be breathing, so Paul was sure she was dead.
But just then a nurse arrived with a bottle of blood, and hooked her lifeless form up to an IV. I’ll let Paul finish the story. He writes:
●They fastened the bottle high and used an extra-long tube so that the increase in pressure would push the blood into her body faster. The staff told me to keep watch over the emptying bottle while they scurried off for more blood.
Nothing in my memory can compare to the excitement of what happened next. Certainly the details of that scene come to me even now with a start. As the others all left, I nervously held the woman’s wrist. Suddenly I could feel the faintest press of a pulse. Or was it my own finger’s pulse? I searched again – it was there, a tremor barely perceptible, but regular. The next bottle of blood arrived and was quickly connected. A spot of pink appeared like a drop of watercolor on her cheek. It began to spread into a beautiful flush. Her lips darkened pink, then red, and her body quivered with a kind of sighing breath.
Then her eyelids fluttered lightly and parted. She squinted at first, and her pupils constricted, reacting to the bright lights of the room. At last she looked directly at me. To my enormous surprise, she spoke, asking for water.
Brand concludes: That young woman entered my life for only an hour or so, but the experience left me utterly changed. I had seen a miracle: a corpse resurrected, the creation of Eve when breath entered into and animated her body. If medicine, if blood could do this………………….by the time I finished my year at Livingston College, I was incurably in love with medicine. [Source: In His Image, pages 52-54]
Paul Brand learned in a vivid way what the Bible taught us centuries ago: ●BLOOD is liquid LIFE! It can have an almost miraculous power to revive and restore health.
●Our own Kenneth Langston can testify to that. A month ago he didn’t realize he was suffering from ulcers that were causing him to steadily lose blood, and by the time he got to the hospital his body was short three units of blood. (I don’t know how the doctors measure that, but I can tell you, if they stuck a dipstick in Kenneth, it would have come up dry!)
They gave him antibiotics for the ulcers, and a transfusion of blood, and ever since then he’s been back to his old self, bustling around our buildings making everything spic and span.
And by the way, Kenneth wanted me to be sure to tell you the blood he received was free, because he is a member of the College Avenue Church of Christ! That means two things: when you participate in our blood drives, you are giving the gift of life, and you never know who you may be saving. In fact, Kenneth may be walking around with your red blood cells right now! Oh, and it also means Kenneth saved $500!
●Blood = life. This was the principle behind the sacrificial system of the Old Testament. ●In Leviticus 17:11 the Law of Moses spelled it out: “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
We saw in our last lesson that every time the Jews offered a blood sacrifice, it indelibly imprinted, deep on their consciousness, three basic principles:
●First, it was an object lesson in SIN – it taught them that ●SIN BRINGS DEATH.
When the blood of the sacrifice was spilled on the altar, it represented the loss of life. That is a spiritual picture of the inevitable consequences of SIN. ●Romans 6:23 “The wages of sin is death.” That was true in the Garden of Eden – it will remain true until Jesus returns “from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels” (2 Thessalonians 1:7) to punish the wicked and reclaim the redeemed. Sin equals death – it always has, always will.
●Second, the blood was an object lesson in SUBSTITUTION: A LIFE FOR A LIFE. WHEN SOMEONE SINS, SOMEBODY DIES.
●The concept of substitution lies at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. —Author and theologian John Stott Source: John Stott, The Cross of Christ (Intervarsity, 1986); submitted by Bill White, Paramount, California
The manner in which the burnt offerings had to be presented made that substitution a very personal experience, because ●Leviticus 1:4-5 commanded, “He is to lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted on his behalf to make atonement for him. He is to slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and then Aaron’s sons the priests shall bring the blood and sprinkle it against the altar on all sides at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.”
Picture that scene in your mind: the worshipper was required to touch the animal he presented, so there was a physical connection between the sinner and his sacrifice; just before the bull or the sheep was slaughtered, it could have looked him in the eyes.
That’s why every Jewish worshiper understood that when the poor innocent lamb was offered on the altar, it was because of HIS sin. He could never look at that dying animal without understanding the cost and consequence of his sin, because he was reminded in red: “That animal died for ME.”
●Third, it was an object lesson in SALVATION: OUR FORGIVENESS AND RECONCILIATION WITH GOD COMES AT A COST!
Salvation is free (to us) – but friends, it wasn’t cheap. On the contrary, our forgiveness carried the most expensive price tag in history!
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●1 Peter 1:18-19 “You know that 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.”
You see, God couldn’t simply wave his hand over our sin and say “Oh, it doesn’t matter” – because it does matter. God is a God of holiness, and of justice – and he cannot tolerate or ignore sin. There is always a price to be paid, a penalty to be met. Jesus redeemed us from the curse and consequences of sin with his own blood. ●Romans 3:25 puts it this way:
“God presented (Jesus) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”
We have “faith in his blood.” We are trusting in the blood of Jesus for our salvation: that’s why we sang a moment ago:
●My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
ONE FINAL QUESTION: How do we come into contact with the shed blood of Jesus? We have a clue in ●Matthew 26:28, where Jesus is instituting what we know today as the Lord’s Supper. He takes the wine and solemnly says to his disciples: “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”
You may remember that our text in Hebrews 9 told us that the first covenant was put into effect by blood. Moses took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll, the people, the tabernacle, in fact everything used in its ceremonies. Now Jesus is indicating he is offering a New Covenant, and like the Old, it will be inaugurated with blood – with his own blood.
In the original Greek the phrase translated ● “for the forgiveness of sins” is ●eis aphesin hamartion. Why do I bring that up? Because the very same Greek phrase appears in another passage, one that you have heard a hundred times. In ●Acts 2:38, when the convicted crowd on Pentecost asks Simon Peter what they can do to erase the guilt of murdering God’s own Son, he answers: ● “Repent and be baptized, every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins” ● (eis aphesin hamartion).
●Note two things: first, if the shedding of Jesus’ blood was a prerequisite for my forgiveness (and every interpreter agrees that it is) then why do some teachers argue that baptism is NOT also a prerequisite for my forgiveness? After all, the very same Greek phrase is used for both. So, when Peter says baptism is “for the forgiveness of your sins” – we need to believe him! If you haven’t yet confessed your faith in Christ, and been immersed into him, you are still standing outside his covenant of grace.
But second, note WHY blood and baptism are connected: when I am immersed into Jesus, the New Testament tells me I am buried into his death – burial – and resurrection.
It is not the water of baptism that saves me – it is the shed blood of Jesus! Baptism happens to be the place God has ordained for me to come into contact with that blood.
One last thing: someone might ask, “Ok, Dan, I understand that the blood of Jesus washes away my sins when I am baptized, but what happens when I sin after that? Do I get a one-time transfusion of grace, or is there some hope for me when I sin as a Christian?
That’s a great question. ●TURN to the book of 1 John, Chapter 1. Kent is teaching 1 John on Wednesday nights, so what I’m about to share will be familiar to those of you who have been in the Auditorium class.
Are you in Chapter 1? Go down to ●Verses 6-7 “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
I cannot “walk in darkness” – that is, willfully, intentionally, casually sin – and be right with the Lord. But if I “walk in the light,” then thank God, the “blood of Jesus” will purify me for “all sin”! My Lord doesn’t save me and then forget me – and his blood is still efficacious on my behalf.
“Well, Dan, I know I come into contact with the blood of Christ when I’m first baptized – what should I do when I’ve messed up after I’m a Christian?” Keep reading!
●Verses 8-9 “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
If I’ve sinned privately, I can go to my closet, get on my knees, and privately confess my sins and ask for forgiveness.
If I’ve sinned publicly, I can go to my church family, ask for their intercession, and experience the power of the blood.
●And did you notice the big little word John used in both Verse 7 and Verse 9? “ALL sin….ALL unrighteousness.” There is no sin beyond the cleansing power of the blood of Jesus when we humbly and bring him our repentance.
●Back in 1893 a great “Parliament of Religions” was held in Chicago. Members of all the various cults were gathered in attendance: there were Hindus, and Buddhists, and representatives of all sorts of exotic Eastern religions. It was a great festival of tolerance and ecumenical brotherhood, but a preacher, Joseph Cook of Boston, offered a reminder that not all religions are equal.
●During one of the sessions he rose and dramatically announced, “Gentlemen, I beg to introduce to you a woman with a great sorrow. Bloodstains are on her hands, and nothing she has tried will remove them. The blood is that of murder. She has been driven to desperation in her distress. Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?” A hush fell on the gathering. Not one of the swamis or monks said a word.
In the heaviness of that silence Cook abruptly raised his eyes heavenward and cried out, “John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?” The preacher waited, as if listening for a reply. Suddenly he cried out, “Listen, John speaks. ●1 John 1:7 – ‘The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Not a soul broke the silence that followed; all the representatives of Eastern religions and Western cults sat speechless. Why? Because only Christianity can make that statement: only the shed blood of Jesus can claim the power to forgive “all sin.” [Source: Paul Lee Tam, Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations, Illustration #479, page 203]
–Dan Williams
