“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” Leviticus 17:11

“This is my blood, the blood of the covenant, that is poured out for many.” Mark 14:24

TO UNDERSTAND THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS, WE MUST LOOK BEYOND THE SYMBOL. THE JEWISH ANIMAL SACRIFICES ARE THE SYMBOL OF THE REALITY. HOWEVER, IT IS HELPFUL TO UNDERSTAND THE SYMBOL.

THE BLOOD OF THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES ENABLED ISRAEL TO MEET WITH GOD BY COVERING THEIR SIN. THE MEANING OF ATONEMENT IS COVERING, “KIPPUR.” THE JEWISH DAY OF ATONEMENT IS “YOM KIPPUR.”

HOW DID THE BLOOD OF ANIMALS COVER ISRAEL’S SINS? THE PASSAGE IN LEVITICUS QUOTED ABOVE ANSWERS THAT QUESTION. IT WAS THE LIFE IN THE BLOOD THAT GAVE MEANING TO THE SACRIFICE. THE BLOOD OF THE ANIMAL WAS MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH ITS DEATH. BUT IT WAS THE LIFE IN THE BLOOD THAT MADE ATONEMENT.

HOW CAN THE LIFE OF AN ANIMAL COVER A MAN’S SIN? HEBREWS, CHAPTERS NINE AND TEN, EXPLAIN THIS. THE BLOOD OF THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE SYMBOLIZED, OR LOOKED FORWARD TO, THE COMING REALITY IN THE PERSON OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

THE ANIMAL SACRIFICES WERE LIMITED, BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT THE REALITY. THEY WERE A TEMPORARY PROVISION UNTIL THE COMING OF GOD’S TRUE SACRIFICE. THEIR MEANING, VALUE, AND POWER LAY IN THE TRUTH THAT THEY REPRESENTED. THE ISRAELITE, OFFERING THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE, MAY NOT HAVE UNDERSTOOD WHAT WAS HAPPENING, BUT HIS OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S PROVISION AND COMMAND COVERED HIS SIN, TEMPORARILY.

THE ANIMAL SACRIFICE SPOKE OF THE GIVING OF A LIFE THROUGH DEATH. THE DEATH OF THE ANIMAL HAD TO OCCUR BEFORE THE LIFE BLOOD COULD BE OFFERED TO GOD.

WHY SHOULD ALMIGHTY GOD BE ASKING FOR LIFE FROM MAN? BOTH JOB AND KING DAVID ASKED THE QUESTION WHY GOD WAS SO MINDFUL OF MAN. Job 7:17, Psalm 8:4 WHY DOES GOD CARE SO MUCH ABOUT YOU AND ABOUT ME?

WHEN GOD CREATED MAN, HIS PURPOSE WAS TO CREATE A BEING AFTER HIS OWN LIKENESS, A BEING WITH WHOM HE COULD ENJOY THE FULLNESS OF FELLOWSHIP. ADAM AND EVE FAILED TO RISE TO GOD’S CALLING. MAN’S SIN HAS ROBBED GOD OF THE LIFE HE IS SEEKING IN MAN. “ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD.” Romans 3:23 ADAM AND ALL OF HIS DESCENDANTS ARE IN DEBT TO GOD. WE OWE GOD FOR THE LIFE HE HAS GIVEN US, LIFE THAT WE HAVE MISUSED, WASTED, AND PROFANED. NO MATTER WHAT OUR PERSONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS, WE ALL FALL SHORT OF WHAT WE WERE MADE FOR, OF WHAT GOD EXPECTS FROM US.

GOD SAID TO ISRAEL, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.” Leviticus 11:45 GOD KNEW THAT ISRAEL WOULD FAIL, BUT HE DOES NOT LOWER HIS STANDARDS BECAUSE OF MAN’S FAILURE. GOD ALWAYS SPEAKS UP TO US, NOT DOWN. ONE OF GOD’S NAMES IS “JEHOVAH JIREH,” THE LORD WILL PROVIDE. WHAT MAN CANNOT DO, GOD DOES.

GENESIS 9 SPEAKS OF HOW IMPORTANT MAN’S LIFE IS TO GOD. EVEN THE ANIMALS WILL HAVE TO GIVE AN ACCOUNT TO GOD FOR SHEDDING THE BLOOD OF MAN! “SURELY I WILL REQUIRE YOUR LIFEBLOOD; FROM EVERY BEAST I WILL REQUIRE IT, AND FROM EVERY MAN, FROM EVERY MAN’S BROTHER I WILL REQUIRE THE LIFE OF MAN.” Genesis 9:5 

CREATED MAN HAD FAILED GOD, YET GOD WAS NOT DISCOURAGED. HE EVEN BRAGGED TO SATAN ABOUT HIS SERVANT JOB, AND PROMISED KING DAVID THAT HE WOULD BUILD HIM AN ETERNAL HOUSE. GOD HAD A WONDERFUL PLAN THAT INVOLVED HIS UNITING HIS HOLY ETERNAL LIFE WITH THE HUMAN RACE, PROVIDING MAN WITH THE LIFE HE WAS SEEKING IN THE MAN AND WOMAN THAT HE HAD BROUGHT INTO BEING.

GOD IS NOT SEEKING DEATH. HE IS SEEKING LIFE, A LIFE THAT GOD ALONE CAN PROVIDE. THUS, THE WORD BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US, FULL OF GRACE AND TRUTH. John 1:14 

FORTY DAYS AFTER THE BIRTH OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH TOOK HIM INTO THE TEMPLE TO BE DEDICATED TO GOD ACCORDING TO THE LAW. “THE LORD YOU ARE SEEKING WILL SUDDENLY COME TO HIS TEMPLE, AND THE MESSENGER OF THE COVENANT, WHOM YOU LONG FOR, IS CERTAINLY COMING, SAYS THE LORD WHO RULES OVER ALL.” Malachi 3:1

AT AGE TWELVE, JESUS WENT TO JERUSALEM WITH HIS PARENTS TO OBSERVE THE PASSOVER. AFTER THE FEAST WAS OVER, INSTEAD OF FOLLOWING HIS PARENTS BACK TO NAZARETH, HE REMAINED IN JERUSALEM WHERE HE WAS FOUND BY THEM “IN THE TEMPLE COURTS, SITTING AMONG THE TEACHERS, LISTENING TO THEM AND ASKING THEM QUESTIONS.” Luke 2:46 HE WAS PUZZLED BY HIS PARENTS ANXIETY OVER HIM, SAYING, “DID YOU NOT KNOW THAT I MUST BE IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE?” BUT HE WAS OBEDIENT TO HIS PARENTS AND RETURNED WITH THEM TO NAZARETH.

ALL WE KNOW ABOUT THE NEXT EIGHTEEN YEARS IS THAT “HE GREW IN WISDOM AND STATURE AND FAVOR WITH GOD AND MAN.” Luke 2:52

THE NEXT TIME WE SEE JESUS IS AT THE JORDAN RIVER WHERE HE ASKS HIS COUSIN JOHN THE BAPTIST TO BAPTIZE HIM. AS HE AROSE FROM THE JORDAN, THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD DESCENDED UPON HIM AND REMAINED, THE FIRST TIME ANY HUMAN BEING WAS PERMANENTLY FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD. IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT GOD COULD BE HEARD EXPRESSING HOW PLEASED HE WAS IN JESUS, HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON.

THE NEXT GREAT EVENT IN THE LIFE OF JESUS IS HIS TRANSFIGURATION INTO GLORY, A MOST NATURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE LIFE OF A HOLY MAN. HE WAS ASCENDING TO THE FATHER. HOWEVER, HE DESCENDED FROM THERE, DOWN THE MOUNTAIN, TO EXIT THIS LIFE BY DYING ON A ROMAN CROSS.

WHAT WE SEE IN THE LIFE OF JESUS IS A PERFET HOLY HUMAN LIFE DEDICATED TO GOD, WITHOUT SIN, AND FULLY PLEASING TO ALMIGHTY GOD. “I ALWAYS DO WHAT IS PLEASING TO THE FATHER,” JESUS COULD SAY. IT IS THE ENTIRE LIFE OF JESUS THAT SATISFIES GOD. JESUS HIMSELF IS THE EXPIATION OR GOD’S SATISFACTION. BEFORE JESUS HAD EVEN DIED, THE FATHER TESTIFIED THAT JESUS HAD ALREADY GLORIFIED HIM AND WOULD DO SO AGAIN. John 12:28

THE ATONING BLOOD OF JESUS, SYMBOLIZED BY THE BLOOD OF SACRIFICED ANIMALS, SPEAKS NOT ONLY OF HIS DEATH BUT OF HIS ENTIRE LIFE, A SACRIFICE UNTO GOD FOR MAN. IN HIS DEATH, JESUS OFFERED UP HIS LIFE TO GOD ON BEHALF OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE.

JESUS SAID, “THIS IS WHY THE FATHER LOVES ME – BECAUSE I LAY DOWN MY LIFE, SO THAT I MAY TAKE IT BACK AGAIN.” John 10:17 THE FATHER AND SON WERE IN PERFECT ACCORD IN THEIR LOVE AND DESIRE FOR MANKIND. THROUGH JESUS’ DEATH, HIS DIVINE HUMANITY BELONGS TO THE HUMAN RACE FOR ALL ETERNITY.

WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE? BECAUSE HE REFUSED TO COMPROMISE WITH OUR SIN, AND REFUSED TO LEAVE US IN OUR SIN. EXPRESSING HUMAN PERFECTION IN EVERYTHING HE SAID AND DID, OUR SIN AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS WERE ON AN INEVITABLE COLLISION COURSE.

“I GAVE MY BACK TO THOSE WHO STRUCK ME, AND MY CHEEKS TO THOSE WHO PLUCKED OUT THE BEARD; I DID NOT HIDE MY FACE FROM SHAME AND SPITTING.” Isaiah 50:6  SO, HE CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNT OF HIS TRANSFIGURATION AND REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE INTERVENTION OF TWELVE LEGIONS OF ANGELS.

JESUS’ DEATH ALSO CRUSHED THE HEAD OF THE SERPENT, UTTERLY DESTROYED THE POWER OF DEATH. ALL THE FORCES OF EVIL WERE EXHAUSTED THERE AT CALVARY. ALL THEY COULD DO WAS KILL THE BODY OF JESUS. BUT HE WAS RAISED BY ALMIGHTY GOD IN THE POWER OF AN INDESTRUCTIBLE LIFE! Hebrews 7:16 THE APOSTLE PAUL EXPRESSES THIS TRUTH IN COLOSSIANS 2:15, “DISARMING THE RULERS AND AUTHORITIES, HE HAS MADE A PUBLIC DISGRACE OF THEM, TRIUMPHING OVER THEM BY THE CROSS.” AND THOSE AUTHORITIES WERE NOT JUST EARTHLY BUT ALSO PRINCIPALITIES AND POWERS IN HEAVENLY PLACES. Ephesians 6:12

BEFORE HIS DEATH, AT THE PASSOVER MEAL WITH HIS DISCIPLES, JESUS INSTITUTED A NEW SYMBOL. “WHILE THEY WERE EATING, HE TOOK BREAD, AND AFTER GIVING THANKS HE BROKE IT, GAVE IT TO THEM, AND SAID, ‘TAKE IT. THIS IS MY BODY.’ AND AFTER TAKING THE CUP AND GIVING THANKS, HE GAVE IT TO THEM, AND THEY ALL DRANK FROM IT. HE SAID TO THEM, ‘THIS IS MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT, THAT IS POURED OUT FOR MANY.'” Mark 14:22-24

THIS NEW COVENANT IN JESUS’ BLOOD IS ETERNAL, NOT TEMPORAL. IT IS THE REAL THING! IT IS GOD’S COVENANT EXECUTED BY THE SON OF GOD AND SON OF MAN. IT IS AS ETERNAL AS GOD, AND IT IS MAN’S! THE MAN CHRIST JESUS IS OUR ATONEMENT.

Rosemary E Hyslop   January 25, 2021