A LENTEN ADVENTURE for 2024 - Wednesday March 13

 

Yesterday, we discussed the Passover “lamb” and the Passover “Lamb”.  

Today, we will discuss the blood of the Passover “lamb” and the blood of the Passover “Lamb”.

According to Exodus 12:7,12,13,22,23 we learn that after sacrificing the lamb, each family of the people of Israel were to take a handful of hyssop, dip it in the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses, because that night Jehovah was going to pass through Egypt and slay every firstborn among men and beasts.  “The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.”  (Exodus 12:13)

In Leviticus 17:11 we see that “… 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.” Hebrews 9:22 completes the idea explaining that “… according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” (NKJV)  What does “atonement” or “expiation” mean, and what does “remission” mean?  The Word “expiation” comes from a Hebrew word that means “to erase” or “to cover” – it means giving a sacrifice to erase or cover the guilt for sins committed.  The word “remission” means the forgiveness of guilt or condemnation that prevents a person from being free.  Where is the life found, according to Leviticus? It’s in the blood. It’s through a blood sacrifice that the guilt of sins is erased and covered; it’s through the shed blood that there can be forgiveness of sins committed; it’s the blood that purifies the defiled.  

This is why the blood applied to the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses of the Israelites in Egypt marked where the destroyer could not enter to kill the firstborn; in those houses the sins were covered and erased by the shed blood of the lambs.  That truth had to be accepted by faith.  The Israelites had to believe that the words and the commandments of God were true; when they obeyed and applied the blood over the doorposts of their homes, they would not die but live by that blood.  

In the New Testament, it is through the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, that we receive “expiation”, “remission” and “purification” from our sins.   That truth must also be accepted by faith; we must believe that the words of God are true.  God has told us that the sacrifice of His Son on the cross of Calvary forgives us and saves us. As 1 Timothy 1:15 says: “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners …” And Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Mark 10:45 speaks of a “ransom”:  “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

The Scriptures speak of “redemption”; that is, the ransom that was paid with the death of Jesus on the cross to free the captives from slavery.  In Psalm 130:7, we read:  “Israel, put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.”   And in Ephesians 1:3, 5-7, Paul says: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ”; having chosen us “He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace …”

What’s more, we can see that the blood of Jesus:

• covers sin (Romans 4:7)
• cleanses from sin (1 John 1:7)
• washes sin (Acts 22:16)
• removes sin (John 1:29)
• buries sin (Micah 7:19)
• erases sin (Isaiah 43:25)

Through the blood of Jesus, His people are sanctified (Hebrews 13:12).

Through the blood of Jesus, we have life within us (John 6:53) and eternal life (John 6:54); we abide in Him (John 6:56), and we have communion with Him (1 Corinthians 10:16).

Through the blood of Jesus we have “confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus” (Hebrews 10:19), where we can approach “God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

Dear friends, let’s give thanks to our God for “so great a salvation” (Hebrews 2:3) – let’s proclaim here on earth just as one day we will proclaim in a loud voice with a great multitude in heaven: “Hallelujah!  Salvation and glory and power belong to our God.” (Revelation 19:1)   

+ REFLECTIONS