A Bloody Religion

By Pastor Debbie Roberson

June 23, 2024

We sing often, "What can wash away my sin?"  And the answer is "nothing but the blood of Jesus." Somebody might say, "Where is it?" I need it. If nothing can wash away my sin but the blood of Jesus, Take me to it.

Okay. Let's go to it. We Christians are always singing about the blood of Jesus. We're preaching about it, praying, and calling on the blood of Jesus. Most of our worship and Christianity, in general, is all about the blood of Jesus. Yet there are some religions in some parts of Christianity and some churches that will say, that's a little gory; let's tone that down. It is gory.

But it's also wonderful.

We don't just talk about blood; we talk about the blood of Jesus.

Christianity has been called a "bloody religion." Has anybody ever heard that? Christianity is a bloody religion all about blood. There are reasons for that.

A lot of the disciples of Jesus have been martyred, willing to shed their blood, willing to die for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The disciples who walked with him for three years while he was here before he died witnessed His miraculous healings and incredible teachings. He was quite a man. They witnessed Him and His death. But that alone might not have caused them to be willing to die for the truth of the gospel of Jesus, but His resurrection they also saw with their own eyes. This same Jesus, who had died and shed His blood on that cross, was walking around afterward. Not only walking around, but some saw him ascend back to heaven in His glorified, resurrected body. And so there was no way you would get any of them to deny what they had seen and witnessed in this living Jesus, who had died but rose again.

They were so convinced in this gospel story that they were willing also to give their blood and die themselves in so many horrible ways rather than deny this Jesus and this gospel that they preached.

The blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the center of our Christian faith. The Bible is filled with types, examples, and references from the very beginning of Genesis, all the way through the Old Testament up to the time of Jesus, all pointing toward the time when Jesus would come and shed his blood on that cross to bring life and forgiveness to mankind.

So, let's talk about blood in general for a minute. What is it? It's a mysterious substance that flows through our bodies, hearts, arteries, veins, and vessels. It's just in there flowing, and somehow, it's what's keeping us alive. If your blood were to flow out of your body, there would be no life. Blood gives us life and sustains it.

The life of Jesus was extraordinary, as we mentioned already. But the ultimate thing, the last act in his life, was the most important. His three years on the earth were wonderful, but those three years were a journey to his final mission: to shed his blood to save our lives. To pay the price for our rescue from Satan and to pay for our sin. That was the most wonderful and significant thing that Jesus did in obedience to His Father's will. He was always all about His Father's will. His death there on the cross was the central part of His commitment. It demonstrated His love for His Father. And also showed amazing love for us and brought us the most wonderful gift of eternal life.

The importance of Jesus' blood can be seen in how many times it's mentioned in the Bible. I'd be interested in knowing how many times blood is mentioned, but basically, I'm talking about the times that the blood of Jesus is mentioned; The blood of Jesus is mentioned more times than the cross.

The blood of Jesus is mentioned more than the death of Jesus.

In First Corinthians chapter 11, the apostle Paul talks about how Jesus spent that night with his disciples at the Last Supper.

Jesus broke bread and passed it out to his disciples. He said, "Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me." Then he took the cup, drank and shared it with his disciples, saying, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as you drink it, in remembrance of me."

And I want to make a side note here. Somebody asked me just this morning, Did Jesus drink wine? Good question. Isn't it? He drank wine. I don't know the customs in those days. He didn't have a Coke. He probably didn't have any iced tea. We have beverages with our meals. I believe that wine was a beverage that they drank with meals.

But let me tell you this: Jesus would not have given himself over to a substance that would have altered Him, that would have taken over his mind and his body. He would not have submitted to being "under the influence" of anything. So, He was never drunk.

The Bible tells us to be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but instead, be filled with the Spirit. Amen. That's a better option.

Scripture tells us that we should be sober. We should stay sober because how are we going to live life if we're not sober? We need to be "with it." and never give ourselves over to any other kind of substance that would take us away and overpower us.

But again, I'm asking you to think about why so much blood. Why is it such a part of Christianity? Let's try to unpack that a little bit. The necessity of the shedding of blood is a result of sin.

I can't tell you the whole gist of it in one sitting, but think about this. I mentioned earlier that if your blood were to flow out of you, you would no longer be alive. The Book of Leviticus 17:11, says, For the life of the flesh is in the blood. What's keeping this body alive is the blood that's in it. If life is in the blood, and the blood represents life, then the loss or shedding of the blood represents death.

So that's what's so significant about Jesus losing his blood, shedding his blood. He lost his blood; therefore, He lost his life. And his death was the payment for our sin.

So, the loss of blood was the proof of death, or "was" the cause of death. Death was the result of shedding His blood. So that's why, when we talk about the blood of Jesus, we're not just talking about his blood. Because He shed his blood, He died for us. Shedding his blood was the process that brought the death that paid our sin debt.

Think about this. There was no death in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve sinned. But when they sinned, they brought sin to the whole human family. Which also brought the first death and the first shedding of blood. Do you know what the first death was? The first shedding of blood?

We read about it in Genesis 3:21. God did the first killing.

It says, "unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skin and clothed them." Okay, they sinned.

And all through scripture, we learn and understand that it is God's rule that if there's sin, there has to be a death. Romans 6:23: For the wages (or payment) of sin is death;

And the Bible tells us what sin is. I John 3:4: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

 Sin is breaking God's law. Adam and Eve did that in The Garden.

We do it all the time, don't we? We transgress God's laws. God's laws were given to Adam and Eve, and they're given to mankind for our protection. God's laws are not to hold us back or to punish us. No, His laws are for our good. You know how you parents have rules. It's for your children's good. So when we break the laws of God, it puts us in danger, but it also disappoints the Lord. And we walk out from under his protection.

So Adam and Eve sinned. They did what God told them not to do. God had a wonderful plan for them there in that garden of Eden, in a paradise that was supposed to spread over the world. What a wonderful plan God had. And God was trying to get them to cooperate. Hey, I've got a plan. And here, don't do this, but do all this. Because if you do that, it will mess up the plan. They messed up the plan. So, God had to have a way to fix His plan and still carry out His will for the world. Because despite our disobedience, He still has a magnificent future planned for us.

Adam and Eve walked away from God. They said, no, we're not going to do it your way. We're going to follow this other voice over here.

That was sin. Sin is the transgression of God's law. Sin is a separator. Do you see what happened there? When they sinned, transgressed God's law, or did something outside God's plan, it caused a separation from God. They no longer had this wonderful fellowship with God that was planned to always be. There was then a separation. Death is a separation. Think about it in your own body. You lose your blood; your spirit leaves your body. It's physical death.

Spiritual death is what happened in that garden. They left God, who is life. They walked away from God. They were then separated from God. Sin brought death. Sin brought separation from God. So, right there in the Garden,  God gave them an example that, for sin, somebody or something is going to die.

The ultimate plan, as we see all through scripture, is, even in the Old Testament,  God made these rules that they were to offer a sacrifice for their sins. So, the person or the people who sinned didn't have to die; God allowed a substitute. Animals. And that's what He did here in the Garden of Eden: an animal was sacrificed to cover them. This act was an initial example and type, pointing to Jesus. I believe God was saying,  Hey, here's the plan. Sin has to be covered. Blood has to be shed. There has to be a death.

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission (forgiveness, pardon).

I can't explain God's law, and He doesn't explain it. He just states it. Either you die because of your sin, or a substitute dies. So, to get the skins to cover them, it's evident that something died. Oh, how the Lord demonstrated His love for us from the very beginning.

This act that God did of clothing Adam and Eve was, for one thing, for their protection because now they were going out into the elements, out of paradise. They were going to need some covering. And it also symbolizes the use of animal skin, as I already said, implying that the innocent creature had to die to provide covering for their shame and the idea of a sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. It also pointed to the hope that God would provide cover for the sins of this fallen humanity.

Despite their disobedience, Just like the Bible says in John 3.16, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice—the innocent to pay for the guilty.

In the Old Testament, there are lots of blood stories. One story I'd like to review is that in Genesis, God had a family He was working through that began with Abraham. Abraham had a son named Isaac, and Isaac had a son named Jacob. Remember them? And Jacob's name was changed to Israel. So, these men and their descendants became known as the Israelites. They started as a family and eventually became the nation of Israel.

And that nation is still here with us, and boy is it with us in the news every day. At one point, this nation was in bondage to Egypt.

They were slaves wanting freedom; they were wanting out of there! God was working a plan to get them out.

God had sent Moses as a spokesperson for God down there in Egypt. He told Moses to tell Pharaoh, Egypt's ruler, that God said, let these people go! They continued balking and saying no. God had sent plagues, miserable things. One of the worst things I can imagine is frogs. He sent frogs that were hopping everywhere. Gnats and flies and all kinds of wild stuff that you would think that the leaders of Egypt would say, all right, if it's going to get the flies out of here, get these people out of here!

The very last plague that God was going to send was the death of the firstborn of every family. We're talking about humans and animals. But God wanted to protect His people and anyone who would follow Him, as He still does.

So this was the plan: For every family to be sure that their firstborn was not taken, there needed to be a substitute—a lamb. It had to be spotless. This lamb could die in the place of the family's firstborn.

The Bible says that God would send a death angel through the land. And when he would see the blood from this substitutionary lamb on the doorposts of the home, he would pass over that home. And the firstborn would be saved. Somebody say, "Saved." We know that this story pointed to Jesus, who John the Baptist in scripture calls the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

Also, we read in 1 Corinthians 5:7… For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us:

Now, the blood was proof of an innocent substitute death required to pay for their sin. The blood of Jesus is the testimony of His substitute death for us.

As we read further into the Old Testament, we'll find out that in the Tabernacle and the Temple, God required priests to sacrifice and offer bulls, goats, etc., on an altar to atone for, cover, or make up for the people's sins. Once again, that ritual pointed to Jesus, who would come and shed His blood and die for our sins, becoming our substitute.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Righteousness, among other things, means "in right standing with God".

God sent Jesus, who never sinned, to take our place, and we took His place. Our standings were reversed. He took our place, our blame, and our punishment. We took His place in right standing with God.

You might say I didn't do what Adam and Eve did, and I'm good. The Bible says there are none good, none righteous, and no one is good enough.

Have you ever told a little white lie? Then you aren't good enough. Jesus was totally righteous. We had never been until He made us righteous and swapped places with us. Are you hearing me? He swapped places with us just long enough to pay our debt. He overcame our sin and death and is now glorified, not only in right standing with God but now sitting at the right hand of God!

They often had to offer sacrifices in the Old Testament because those people were bad. Those Old Testament people, boy, oh boy, you should read about them. They were something! Not like us, right?

Again, these sacrifices pointed to Jesus, except He only had to die once for all of us at the same time. Jesus died one time for everybody's sin. And now, when I'm not perfect, which is every hour of the day, the Bible says in First John 1.9, all I have to do (my heart has to be right and I can't be sinning on purpose), God forbid, the Bible says. But when I miss the mark, when I don't quite make it, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness because He died once for all of our sins!

Once for all of everybody's sins. Isn't that why we sing so much about our Jesus? He has taken our place, and it wasn't easy. It was a terrible death.

But His death turned away God's wrath against us for our sins.

The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:19 …that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them…

Jesus came to help us make up with God.

His blood blots out our sin. Now that's amazing!

We are sin-cleansed and washed in the blood of Jesus. Now, as I asked earlier, where is the blood? Please take me to it.

This blood is applied by faith. We have to trust and believe the story that Jesus came to be a substitute for our sins. And so, by faith, we didn't see it happen, but we believe it. We believe the story. And when we believe the gospel, the story that Jesus came to be our substitute and to die in our stead, to pay our death debt, then his righteousness is applied to us.

The book of Revelation talks about Jesus Christ, the first begotten of the dead. What does that mean? The Bible teaches us that we're still going to die a physical death, but we're going to be resurrected. He died for us, allowing us to be resurrected and live forever. He was the first in line, and we are to follow Him!

We do not have to pay for our sin by a forever death to be forever separated from the Lord. We are going to be forever living with him. That's what the Bible calls "everlasting life"!

We don't actually go somewhere and put his blood on us. We apply his blood, accept his death by faith, and accept the salvation it provides.  

When Adam and Eve walked away from God, they followed Satan, right? Satan put them in bondage to him.

Satan really played on that, and he played by the rules. I can just hear him saying, "I gotcha. I gotcha. God said that when you sin, you die. When you sin, you're separated from God. So if you're separated from Him, what or who else do you have? Me!"

But Jesus came and paid the ransom. So he said, "Here, Satan. I'm paying their debt with my death and my blood. So let them go"! He paid the kidnapper's ransom. Once again, Satan knew the rules. He had to let us go!

 And that's why we sing the song, He set me free, Yes, He set me free! Once like a bird in prison, I dwelt, no freedom from my sorrow I felt, But Jesus came and glory to God, He set me free!!

Colossians 1:13–14: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:

1 Peter 1:18–19: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; ¹⁹ But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

We've been redeemed, bought back, rescued, or ransomed from Satan with the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb, without blemish and without spot.

What if you were actually kidnapped by somebody? And they wouldn't let you loose until somebody paid what they were demanding. Wow. That's what has happened. Satan kidnapped you. He wouldn't let you go without having a ransom paid. Redemption, being redeemed, or being ransomed involves a transaction that restores what was broken or lost.

We were lost. But the redemption that Jesus provided has restored what was lost. Remember, Jesus said that He came to seek and to save that which was lost.

We were lost from God. God had lost us. But Jesus came looking for us. Remember that we sing this song a lot, too:

Oh, victory in Jesus! My Savior, forever. He sought me, "that means He looked for me," and He bought me. With His redeeming blood, yes, "that's what was paid." And all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood.

A flood of what? His blood, the proof of His death, the proof of His substitution for your death.

Christianity is a bloody religion.