“The life of the
flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make
atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for
the soul” (Leviticus 17:11). Just as “the life of the flesh is in the
blood,” so the life of Christianity is in the atoning, life giving blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am.. .the life” (John 14:6).
He is the life of God, made living in the believer. Paul said, “Christ
lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). Christ lives in every born again believer
because the believer, by faith, is a partaker of the life giving blood
of Jesus. We are children of God by the blood. Therefore, we are “blood
relatives” of God through the living blood of Jesus the Son of God, who
is God the Son.
If the atoning blood of Jesus is rejected, and the rejecter continues willfully to reject eternal life through the blood, after knowing the truth that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), for that person “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26-28). Christ atoned for our sins in His own body on the tree. Therefore, the person who rejects salvation by the blood of Jesus is guilty of a threefold sin:
1) He has “trampled the Son of God underfoot” (Hebrews 10:29; 6:6).
2) He has “counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing” (Hebrews 10:29).
3) He has “insulted the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).
This threefold sin is committed by many church members who profess to know Christ as personal Savior, but deny salvation by the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus warned them in His Sermon on the Mount, when He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). In that day they will point to their church membership, baptism, self righteous life, and all manner of religious works; but Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). Thank God He will never say this to those who, by faith, have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).
Before you proceed with this study, read God’s warning to those who deny the validity of the atoning blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:26 31). Now examine your faith: Have you neglected or belittled the doctrine of salvation by the precious blood of Jesus? Have you committed the threefold sin against the saving blood of Christ? (Hebrews 10:29). If you have, it is not too late to repent and by faith claim salvation through the shed blood of Jesus, and escape the Great White Throne of judgment (Revelation 20:11 15). God summed up His warning in Hebrews 10:31: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
20-1 The First Shedding of Blood
(Genesis 3:21)
“The Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (v. 21). When the first man and woman sinned, God did not drive them from the garden robed in their man made, bloodless religion. The Word says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (v. 7). Adam and Eve experienced a new feeling; for the first time they felt guilt, which caused them to fear God and to hide.
God judged the man and woman, and before He drove them from the garden He sacrificed animals; the innocent shed their blood for the guilty. What an excellent type, or illustration, of the Lord Jesus “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Peter also tells us that we have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Adam and Eve must have watched as God selected the animals; and so they witnessed the first shedding of innocent blood, knowing that it was because Adam had failed God (1 Corinthians 15:45 49). As they watched, they learned that God in His sovereign grace provided a covering, a propitiation for their sins. Not a cover up, but a cover—a promise of payment in full to blot out sin and to make atonement for mankind (Leviticus 17:11). They departed from the garden knowing that “without shedding of blood there is no remission”—no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
Verse 21 gives us a perfect picture of salvation by the grace of God apart from works (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Just as the animals shed their blood in Eden, to provide a covering for the nakedness of Adam and Eve, so the blood of Jesus Christ covers the sins of the believer and robes him in the righteousness of Christ (Romans 10:1 4).
20-2 Abel’s Blood Offering
(Genesis 4:3 7)
Why did God reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s? A careful examination of the two brothers and their offerings will answer this question, and will give you a fresh glimpse of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
1) Cain’s offering was not an act of saving faith. He believed that God existed, and had come to worship Him. But he had the wrong offering, the wrong attitude, and the wrong motive (Matthew 7:21 23). Cain did not do the will of God; he acted according to his own will. He had “a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Abel’s offering, on the other hand, was an act of saving faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9). “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness [from God] that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4). By faith Abel offered a lamb for the remission of sins, and God declared him righteous.
2) Cain’s offering was bloodless; it may have been equal in cost to Abel’s but it was without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice; it was a type of the Lamb of God who shed His blood to redeem lost souls (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
3) Cain’s offering was a type of salvation by works (Titus 3:5): Abel’s offering was a type of salvation by grace (Ephesians 1:7).
4) Cain’s offering was a type of dead religion. Abel’s offering was a type of life: “The life of the flesh is in the blood [the life of Christianity is in the blood of Christ], and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your soul; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
5) Cain’s bloodless offering was rejected by God. Abel’s blood offering was accepted by God, and Abel was made righteous with the righteousness of Jesus who would atone for his sins (2 Corinthians 5:21).
20-3 The Offering of Isaac
(Genesis 22:1 19)
This chapter is a treasure of spiritual wealth, and awesome in many ways. We can never reach its height or depth, nor exhaust its spiritual significance. Gradually we see beneath the surface, and slowly begin to discern the purpose of God in this unique picture of Jesus Christ, our substitute. When Abraham and Isaac left the land of Moriah, after seeing God provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, they knew that “the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). How can anyone read of this amazing event and not stand in awe of Jehovah Jireh. “And Abraham called the name of the place, The Lord Will Provide” (v. 14). And God did provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, because Abraham believed God and obeyed Him without asking, “Why, Lord?”
Verse 1 tells us that “God tested Abraham.” God did not tempt him toward evil in the sense of luring him to fall, because “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13). Rather, He tested Abraham to show the quality of this man who was His friend. In this chapter God put Abraham’s faith to the supreme test. He said to Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (v. 2). The mountain in the land of Moriah, where Abraham built the altar to sacrifice Isaac, is believed to be the plateau on which Solomon built the temple. Some believe that the Most Holy Place stood over the exact spot where Abraham built his altar. This chapter is also rich in typology; in it we have Abraham as a twofold type, Isaac as a twofold type, and the ram as a single type.
Abraham is a type of:
1) All who are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Abraham lived by faith (Galatians 3:11), and his faith was “accounted… to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; cf. Galatians 3:6, 7). God tested Abraham’s faith in four great personal crises. In each crisis God called on him to surrender by faith something or someone whom he loved. If faith is to grow to greatness, it always requires sacrifice.
a) The first crisis. God called on Abraham to leave his country and relatives and to go by faith, “not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8; cf. Genesis 12:1).
b) The second crisis. God called on him to separate himself from Lot, his brother’s son. Abraham had no heir but Lot. Then, “after Lot had separated from him,” God promised him the land and “your descendants as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:1-¬18).
c) The third crisis. God called on him to abandon all plans for his firstborn son Ishmael.. Abraham pleaded with God to make Ishmael his heir: “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” (Genesis 17:18, 19).
d) The fourth crisis. In his greatest crisis of faith, Abraham was commanded by God to offer up Isaac, his God appointed heir, as a burnt offering (Hebrews 11:17 19). Abraham’s faith stood the test, and God gave him the victory. Anyone who lives by faith will be tested many times, because it is only through discipline that Christian character is developed.
2) God the Father (John 3:16). Abraham was told, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.., and offer him there as a burnt offering” (v.2). This type was fulfilled when God the Father gave His only Son to become our sin offering. “For He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Isaac is a type of :
a) The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who came into the world to do the will of His Father. Just as Isaac obeyed his father, and was willing to become a burnt offering, so the Lord Jesus obeyed His Father, and “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
b) The whole human race, which is born in sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23 25). Isaac needed a substitute to take his place on the altar of sacrifice, and God provided a ram. The rain is a type of Christ, who became our substitute. This type was fulfilled in Christ almost two thousand years later, when He freed us from sin’s penalty and power (Romans 8:1 3).
20-4 The Passover Blood
(Exodus 12:1 36)
The twelfth chapter of Exodus is one of the great chapters of the Bible. It displays deliverance from slavery for Israel, but judgment of Pharaoh and all Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt” (Exodus 11:1). The “one more plague” was death for the firstborn, wherever there was no Passover blood on the doorpost and the lintel.
1) The Passover lamb is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeems, not with silver or gold, but with His own life giving blood (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Paul reminds the Corinthian church that Christ is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).
a) The Passover lamb “shall be without blemish, a male of the first year” (v. 5). The Passover lamb is a type of Jesus, “who knew no sin.” He was without blemish (2 Corinthians 5:21), and even challenged His enemies to find sin in Him: “Which of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46).
b) The Passover lamb was to be separated from the sheep or goats, from the tenth to the fourteenth day. This separation period was a time of examination, to make certain that the Passover lamb was without blemish. The Passover lamb is a type of Jesus, “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:25 28).
c) The Passover lamb was to be killed: “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel [the crossbeam] and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin” (v. 22). The blood of the Passover lamb is a type of the blood of Jesus, who hung upon the cross and shed His precious blood for the remission of our sins (John 19:28 37). The blood on the crossbeam and on the two doorposts is a picture of the blood stained cross.
2) God said to Israel, “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). Now God did not say, when I see your good works, or your moral character, or your self righteousness, or your religion, or the laws you keep, I will pass over you. No! He said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). Remember, without the blood of Jesus there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
20-5 The Day of Atonement in the Old Testament
(Leviticus 16:1 34)
This chapter is rich in typology, with Christ as the fulfillment of each type. He is our atonement for all our sins. The biblical meaning of the word atone is to cover, to expiate, and to pay the penalty for sins. To reconcile, or to achieve “at one ment” with God, is a part of the atoning death of Christ. To atone is to bring the sinner from a state of enmity with God to a place of union or oneness with Him (2 Corinthians 5:18).
The Day of Atonement was to be repeated on the tenth day of the seventh month, year after year. It was a day of rest; the Israelites were to do no work. It was a day of repentance. God said, “You shall afflict your souls” (v. 29). On the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the atoning blood upon the mercy seat, to atone for all the sins of the congregation, including those sins committed unintentionally or in ignorance (Leviticus 4:1 35).
Compare the high priest with the Lord Jesus Christ:
1) He is a type of Christ in his office as a mediator. He was the “go between”; he alone stood between God and man. Once each year he was to go alone before God with atoning blood, while the congregation waited to be reconciled to God (vv. 16, 34). Christ fulfilled this office of the high priest as recorded in Hebrews: “He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death” (Hebrews 9:12 15). “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
2) His priestly garments are a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. God told Moses to “make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” The garments were to be made of “gold, blue, purple and scarlet thread, and fine linen” (Exodus 28:1 5). Christ fulfilled the type of the holy garments. When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus, he said, “That Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The writer of Hebrews said, He “is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). The gold thread speaks of His deity, the blue thread of His heavenly character, the purple thread of His royalty, the scarlet thread of His shed blood, and the fine linen of His righteousness.
3) The high priest offered the blood of a bull to make atonement for his own sins (v. 6). In this offering he is not a type of Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ did not have to make atonement for His own sins, because He is the sinless One (Hebrews 7:27, 28). The Scriptures say that He “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22), that “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5), and that He “knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
4) Two goats were presented before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle. Aaron was to cast lots for them; one would be sacrificed and the other would be the “scapegoat” (vv. 7, 8).
a) The atoning blood of the sacrificial goat, which was sprinkled on the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people (vv. 7 9), is a type of Christ, our High Priest, who “entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11 14).
b) The scapegoat is also a type of Christ. Aaron, after atoning for the sins of the people with the blood of the sacrificed goat, was to take the live goat and lay his hands on its head, confessing all the iniquities and sins of Israel. Then he was to send it into the wilderness (vv. 21, 22), so that those sins might be lost and out of sight forever. Christ bore our sin in His own body on the cross, was placed in the tomb, and rose on the third day. Christ alone will wear the scars of His sacrifice in His holy body. In His resurrection He fulfills the type of the living scapegoat (Matthew 28:1¬7).
5) On the Day of Atonement the robes of glory and beauty were laid aside, and after the high priest had washed his body, he put on plain linen garments—plain yet “holy” (v. 4). On this day the priest humbled himself and became a servant. This is a type of Christ in His humiliation (Philippians 2:5 8; cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9).
20-6 The Day of Atonement in the New Testament
(John 20:17)
Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the risen Lord on that first Easter Sunday. God chose her for this honor—to show how great was the power of His atonement. At one time she had been lost, fallen, and even demon possessed (Luke 8:2). Through her tears she saw a man near the tomb, and thinking He was the gardener, said, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus answered, “Mary!” (John 20:15, 16).
Recognizing the risen Christ, she cried, “Rabboni!”—“Teacher!”—and reached out to touch Him. But Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’ ” (vv. 16, 17).
As the first person to see Jesus alive after His resurrection, Mary was privileged to see Him before He entered the Most Holy Place in heaven as our High Priest. With the shedding of His own blood He made atonement for our sins, obtaining eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). Simon Peter said, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18, 19). The sacrifice of God’s Lamb was:
1) Volitional. Jesus Christ willingly chose to be God’s sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). None of the Old Testament sacrifices could bring eternal redemption. The high priest had to repeat the sacrifice and enter the Most Holy Place once every year to atone for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:12 16). All the animal sacrifices were imperfect types of Jesus Christ, our perfect blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11 14).
2) Motivated by love. The love of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) for us is manifested in the vicarious death of Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
3) An act of rational obedience (Philippians 2:5 8). In God’s eternal economy He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Therefore, He knew beforehand every agonizing moment that He would endure on the cross, and the ignominious shame He would experience (Hebrews 12:2).
4) The end of all animal sacrifices. “For if we [Hebrew believers in Christ] sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26 29). “For Christ is the end of the [ceremonial] law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).
It was necessary for Christ, our High Priest, to enter the Most Holy Place in heaven after His resurrection and sprinkle His own blood upon the mercy seat to make atonement for the sins of Old and New Testament believers (Hebrews 9:11, 12).
20-7 Without the Shedding of Blood
(Hebrews 9:22)
“Without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (v. 22). This is one of God’s imperatives. Without the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus there is no remission of past, present, or future sins. Without His blood there is no remission of sins of action or neglect, nor is there remission of sins committed in ignorance, nor is there remission for the sin of doing the right thing in the wrong way. Unless the sinner is cleansed from sin by the blood of God the Son, there is no remission at all. Without shedding of blood there is:
1) No justification. To be justified is to be declared judicially righteous because you have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Romans 3:24 26; cf. Revelation 1:5).
2) No redemption. To redeem is to buy back. God’s only begotten Son shed His blood to redeem (buy back) sinful man (Ephesians 1:7).
3) No forgiveness. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).
4) No cleansing. The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin day after day (1 John 1:7).
5) No atonement. “For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
6) No sanctification. To sanctify means to set apart for God’s use. The blood of Jesus sets every cleansed believer apart for salvation and service (Hebrews 13:12).
7) No victory. The saints (all true believers) will overcome Satan, sin, and all the powers of darkness by the blood of Jesus Christ the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). No wonder Peter calls it “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Master Outline 20 – The Blood of Jesus Christ From Genesis to Revelation
[1] “The _______________________ of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon
the __________________________ to make ____________________ for your souls.”
(Lev. 17:11)
[2] The life of Christianity is in what?
[3] He is the _____________________ of God made ______________________ in the believer.
[4] We are children of God by the ________________________________.
[5] The person who rejects salvation by the blood of Jesus is guilty of what three-fold sin?
1.
2.
3.
[6] How do church members commit this sin?
[7] What is the will of the Father?
[8] What caused Adam and Eve to fear God and to hide?
[9] After judging the man and women what did God do before he drove them out of the garden?
[10] Peter told us we have been redeemed with what?
[11] Did God provide a cover up or a cover for Adam and Eve’s sin?
[12] For what four (4) reasons did God refuse Cain’s offering?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[13] For what four (4) reasons did God accept Abel’s offering?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[14] When Abraham and Isaac left the land of Moriah after seeing God provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, they knew what?
[15] Why did Abraham say “The Lord will provide?”
[16] Why did God test Abraham?
[17] The plateau on which Abraham built the alter later became what?
[18] In this account Abraham is a two-fold type or typology of what?
1.
2.
[19] Abraham had four (4) great personal crises that tested his faith. What were they?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[20] In this account Isaac is a two-fold type of whom?
1.
2.
[21] The ______________________ chapter of ________________________ is one of the
greatest chapters in the Bible. Why?
[22] The Passover Lamb is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in what three (3) ways?
1.
2.
3.
[23] What did God say He must see to pass over the children of Israel’s houses?
[24] The biblical meaning of the word “atone” is what?
[25] Give five (5) comparisons of the high priest with the Lord Jesus Christ.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
[26] What was Mary Magdalene privileged to see that no one else saw?
[27] What four (4) things do we know about the sacrifice of God’s Lamb?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[28] Why was it necessary for Jesus to enter the Most Holy Place?
[29] List the seven (7) things that cannot happen without the shedding of blood.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
If the atoning blood of Jesus is rejected, and the rejecter continues willfully to reject eternal life through the blood, after knowing the truth that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7), for that person “there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26-28). Christ atoned for our sins in His own body on the tree. Therefore, the person who rejects salvation by the blood of Jesus is guilty of a threefold sin:
1) He has “trampled the Son of God underfoot” (Hebrews 10:29; 6:6).
2) He has “counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing” (Hebrews 10:29).
3) He has “insulted the Spirit of grace” (Hebrews 10:29).
This threefold sin is committed by many church members who profess to know Christ as personal Savior, but deny salvation by the precious blood of Jesus. Jesus warned them in His Sermon on the Mount, when He said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). In that day they will point to their church membership, baptism, self righteous life, and all manner of religious works; but Jesus will declare to them, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). Thank God He will never say this to those who, by faith, have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:14).
Before you proceed with this study, read God’s warning to those who deny the validity of the atoning blood of Jesus (Hebrews 10:26 31). Now examine your faith: Have you neglected or belittled the doctrine of salvation by the precious blood of Jesus? Have you committed the threefold sin against the saving blood of Christ? (Hebrews 10:29). If you have, it is not too late to repent and by faith claim salvation through the shed blood of Jesus, and escape the Great White Throne of judgment (Revelation 20:11 15). God summed up His warning in Hebrews 10:31: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
20-1 The First Shedding of Blood
(Genesis 3:21)
“The Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them” (v. 21). When the first man and woman sinned, God did not drive them from the garden robed in their man made, bloodless religion. The Word says, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings” (v. 7). Adam and Eve experienced a new feeling; for the first time they felt guilt, which caused them to fear God and to hide.
God judged the man and woman, and before He drove them from the garden He sacrificed animals; the innocent shed their blood for the guilty. What an excellent type, or illustration, of the Lord Jesus “who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). Peter also tells us that we have been redeemed “with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Adam and Eve must have watched as God selected the animals; and so they witnessed the first shedding of innocent blood, knowing that it was because Adam had failed God (1 Corinthians 15:45 49). As they watched, they learned that God in His sovereign grace provided a covering, a propitiation for their sins. Not a cover up, but a cover—a promise of payment in full to blot out sin and to make atonement for mankind (Leviticus 17:11). They departed from the garden knowing that “without shedding of blood there is no remission”—no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
Verse 21 gives us a perfect picture of salvation by the grace of God apart from works (Ephesians 2:8, 9). Just as the animals shed their blood in Eden, to provide a covering for the nakedness of Adam and Eve, so the blood of Jesus Christ covers the sins of the believer and robes him in the righteousness of Christ (Romans 10:1 4).
20-2 Abel’s Blood Offering
(Genesis 4:3 7)
Why did God reject Cain’s offering and accept Abel’s? A careful examination of the two brothers and their offerings will answer this question, and will give you a fresh glimpse of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
1) Cain’s offering was not an act of saving faith. He believed that God existed, and had come to worship Him. But he had the wrong offering, the wrong attitude, and the wrong motive (Matthew 7:21 23). Cain did not do the will of God; he acted according to his own will. He had “a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5). Abel’s offering, on the other hand, was an act of saving faith (Ephesians 2:8, 9). “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness [from God] that he was righteous” (Hebrews 11:4). By faith Abel offered a lamb for the remission of sins, and God declared him righteous.
2) Cain’s offering was bloodless; it may have been equal in cost to Abel’s but it was without the shedding of blood (Hebrews 9:22). Abel’s offering was a blood sacrifice; it was a type of the Lamb of God who shed His blood to redeem lost souls (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
3) Cain’s offering was a type of salvation by works (Titus 3:5): Abel’s offering was a type of salvation by grace (Ephesians 1:7).
4) Cain’s offering was a type of dead religion. Abel’s offering was a type of life: “The life of the flesh is in the blood [the life of Christianity is in the blood of Christ], and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your soul; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
5) Cain’s bloodless offering was rejected by God. Abel’s blood offering was accepted by God, and Abel was made righteous with the righteousness of Jesus who would atone for his sins (2 Corinthians 5:21).
20-3 The Offering of Isaac
(Genesis 22:1 19)
This chapter is a treasure of spiritual wealth, and awesome in many ways. We can never reach its height or depth, nor exhaust its spiritual significance. Gradually we see beneath the surface, and slowly begin to discern the purpose of God in this unique picture of Jesus Christ, our substitute. When Abraham and Isaac left the land of Moriah, after seeing God provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, they knew that “the eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). How can anyone read of this amazing event and not stand in awe of Jehovah Jireh. “And Abraham called the name of the place, The Lord Will Provide” (v. 14). And God did provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, because Abraham believed God and obeyed Him without asking, “Why, Lord?”
Verse 1 tells us that “God tested Abraham.” God did not tempt him toward evil in the sense of luring him to fall, because “God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone” (James 1:13). Rather, He tested Abraham to show the quality of this man who was His friend. In this chapter God put Abraham’s faith to the supreme test. He said to Abraham, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you” (v. 2). The mountain in the land of Moriah, where Abraham built the altar to sacrifice Isaac, is believed to be the plateau on which Solomon built the temple. Some believe that the Most Holy Place stood over the exact spot where Abraham built his altar. This chapter is also rich in typology; in it we have Abraham as a twofold type, Isaac as a twofold type, and the ram as a single type.
Abraham is a type of:
1) All who are justified by faith (Romans 5:1). Abraham lived by faith (Galatians 3:11), and his faith was “accounted… to him for righteousness” (Genesis 15:6; cf. Galatians 3:6, 7). God tested Abraham’s faith in four great personal crises. In each crisis God called on him to surrender by faith something or someone whom he loved. If faith is to grow to greatness, it always requires sacrifice.
a) The first crisis. God called on Abraham to leave his country and relatives and to go by faith, “not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8; cf. Genesis 12:1).
b) The second crisis. God called on him to separate himself from Lot, his brother’s son. Abraham had no heir but Lot. Then, “after Lot had separated from him,” God promised him the land and “your descendants as the dust of the earth” (Genesis 13:1-¬18).
c) The third crisis. God called on him to abandon all plans for his firstborn son Ishmael.. Abraham pleaded with God to make Ishmael his heir: “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!” (Genesis 17:18, 19).
d) The fourth crisis. In his greatest crisis of faith, Abraham was commanded by God to offer up Isaac, his God appointed heir, as a burnt offering (Hebrews 11:17 19). Abraham’s faith stood the test, and God gave him the victory. Anyone who lives by faith will be tested many times, because it is only through discipline that Christian character is developed.
2) God the Father (John 3:16). Abraham was told, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love.., and offer him there as a burnt offering” (v.2). This type was fulfilled when God the Father gave His only Son to become our sin offering. “For He [God the Father] made Him [God the Son] who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Isaac is a type of :
a) The Lord Jesus Christ, God’s only begotten Son, who came into the world to do the will of His Father. Just as Isaac obeyed his father, and was willing to become a burnt offering, so the Lord Jesus obeyed His Father, and “humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8).
b) The whole human race, which is born in sin (Psalm 51:5; Romans 3:23 25). Isaac needed a substitute to take his place on the altar of sacrifice, and God provided a ram. The rain is a type of Christ, who became our substitute. This type was fulfilled in Christ almost two thousand years later, when He freed us from sin’s penalty and power (Romans 8:1 3).
20-4 The Passover Blood
(Exodus 12:1 36)
The twelfth chapter of Exodus is one of the great chapters of the Bible. It displays deliverance from slavery for Israel, but judgment of Pharaoh and all Egypt. The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt” (Exodus 11:1). The “one more plague” was death for the firstborn, wherever there was no Passover blood on the doorpost and the lintel.
1) The Passover lamb is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, who redeems, not with silver or gold, but with His own life giving blood (1 Peter 1:18, 19). Paul reminds the Corinthian church that Christ is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7).
a) The Passover lamb “shall be without blemish, a male of the first year” (v. 5). The Passover lamb is a type of Jesus, “who knew no sin.” He was without blemish (2 Corinthians 5:21), and even challenged His enemies to find sin in Him: “Which of you convicts me of sin?” (John 8:46).
b) The Passover lamb was to be separated from the sheep or goats, from the tenth to the fourteenth day. This separation period was a time of examination, to make certain that the Passover lamb was without blemish. The Passover lamb is a type of Jesus, “who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens” (Hebrews 7:25 28).
c) The Passover lamb was to be killed: “And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel [the crossbeam] and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin” (v. 22). The blood of the Passover lamb is a type of the blood of Jesus, who hung upon the cross and shed His precious blood for the remission of our sins (John 19:28 37). The blood on the crossbeam and on the two doorposts is a picture of the blood stained cross.
2) God said to Israel, “The blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). Now God did not say, when I see your good works, or your moral character, or your self righteousness, or your religion, or the laws you keep, I will pass over you. No! He said, “When I see the blood, I will pass over you” (v. 13). Remember, without the blood of Jesus there is no forgiveness of sin (Hebrews 9:22).
20-5 The Day of Atonement in the Old Testament
(Leviticus 16:1 34)
This chapter is rich in typology, with Christ as the fulfillment of each type. He is our atonement for all our sins. The biblical meaning of the word atone is to cover, to expiate, and to pay the penalty for sins. To reconcile, or to achieve “at one ment” with God, is a part of the atoning death of Christ. To atone is to bring the sinner from a state of enmity with God to a place of union or oneness with Him (2 Corinthians 5:18).
The Day of Atonement was to be repeated on the tenth day of the seventh month, year after year. It was a day of rest; the Israelites were to do no work. It was a day of repentance. God said, “You shall afflict your souls” (v. 29). On the Day of Atonement the high priest entered the Most Holy Place and sprinkled the atoning blood upon the mercy seat, to atone for all the sins of the congregation, including those sins committed unintentionally or in ignorance (Leviticus 4:1 35).
Compare the high priest with the Lord Jesus Christ:
1) He is a type of Christ in his office as a mediator. He was the “go between”; he alone stood between God and man. Once each year he was to go alone before God with atoning blood, while the congregation waited to be reconciled to God (vv. 16, 34). Christ fulfilled this office of the high priest as recorded in Hebrews: “He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death” (Hebrews 9:12 15). “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).
2) His priestly garments are a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. God told Moses to “make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory and for beauty.” The garments were to be made of “gold, blue, purple and scarlet thread, and fine linen” (Exodus 28:1 5). Christ fulfilled the type of the holy garments. When the angel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus, he said, “That Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35). The writer of Hebrews said, He “is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” (Hebrews 7:26). The gold thread speaks of His deity, the blue thread of His heavenly character, the purple thread of His royalty, the scarlet thread of His shed blood, and the fine linen of His righteousness.
3) The high priest offered the blood of a bull to make atonement for his own sins (v. 6). In this offering he is not a type of Christ; the Lord Jesus Christ did not have to make atonement for His own sins, because He is the sinless One (Hebrews 7:27, 28). The Scriptures say that He “committed no sin” (1 Peter 2:22), that “in Him there is no sin” (1 John 3:5), and that He “knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21).
4) Two goats were presented before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle. Aaron was to cast lots for them; one would be sacrificed and the other would be the “scapegoat” (vv. 7, 8).
a) The atoning blood of the sacrificial goat, which was sprinkled on the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people (vv. 7 9), is a type of Christ, our High Priest, who “entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Hebrews 9:11 14).
b) The scapegoat is also a type of Christ. Aaron, after atoning for the sins of the people with the blood of the sacrificed goat, was to take the live goat and lay his hands on its head, confessing all the iniquities and sins of Israel. Then he was to send it into the wilderness (vv. 21, 22), so that those sins might be lost and out of sight forever. Christ bore our sin in His own body on the cross, was placed in the tomb, and rose on the third day. Christ alone will wear the scars of His sacrifice in His holy body. In His resurrection He fulfills the type of the living scapegoat (Matthew 28:1¬7).
5) On the Day of Atonement the robes of glory and beauty were laid aside, and after the high priest had washed his body, he put on plain linen garments—plain yet “holy” (v. 4). On this day the priest humbled himself and became a servant. This is a type of Christ in His humiliation (Philippians 2:5 8; cf. 2 Corinthians 8:9).
20-6 The Day of Atonement in the New Testament
(John 20:17)
Mary Magdalene was the first person to see the risen Lord on that first Easter Sunday. God chose her for this honor—to show how great was the power of His atonement. At one time she had been lost, fallen, and even demon possessed (Luke 8:2). Through her tears she saw a man near the tomb, and thinking He was the gardener, said, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus answered, “Mary!” (John 20:15, 16).
Recognizing the risen Christ, she cried, “Rabboni!”—“Teacher!”—and reached out to touch Him. But Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’ ” (vv. 16, 17).
As the first person to see Jesus alive after His resurrection, Mary was privileged to see Him before He entered the Most Holy Place in heaven as our High Priest. With the shedding of His own blood He made atonement for our sins, obtaining eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). Simon Peter said, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (1 Peter 1:18, 19). The sacrifice of God’s Lamb was:
1) Volitional. Jesus Christ willingly chose to be God’s sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29). None of the Old Testament sacrifices could bring eternal redemption. The high priest had to repeat the sacrifice and enter the Most Holy Place once every year to atone for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16:12 16). All the animal sacrifices were imperfect types of Jesus Christ, our perfect blood sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11 14).
2) Motivated by love. The love of the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) for us is manifested in the vicarious death of Jesus Christ (John 3:16).
3) An act of rational obedience (Philippians 2:5 8). In God’s eternal economy He was “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). Therefore, He knew beforehand every agonizing moment that He would endure on the cross, and the ignominious shame He would experience (Hebrews 12:2).
4) The end of all animal sacrifices. “For if we [Hebrew believers in Christ] sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth [that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead], there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins” (Hebrews 10:26 29). “For Christ is the end of the [ceremonial] law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4).
It was necessary for Christ, our High Priest, to enter the Most Holy Place in heaven after His resurrection and sprinkle His own blood upon the mercy seat to make atonement for the sins of Old and New Testament believers (Hebrews 9:11, 12).
20-7 Without the Shedding of Blood
(Hebrews 9:22)
“Without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (v. 22). This is one of God’s imperatives. Without the atoning blood of the Lord Jesus there is no remission of past, present, or future sins. Without His blood there is no remission of sins of action or neglect, nor is there remission of sins committed in ignorance, nor is there remission for the sin of doing the right thing in the wrong way. Unless the sinner is cleansed from sin by the blood of God the Son, there is no remission at all. Without shedding of blood there is:
1) No justification. To be justified is to be declared judicially righteous because you have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb (Romans 3:24 26; cf. Revelation 1:5).
2) No redemption. To redeem is to buy back. God’s only begotten Son shed His blood to redeem (buy back) sinful man (Ephesians 1:7).
3) No forgiveness. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).
4) No cleansing. The blood of Jesus continues to cleanse us from sin day after day (1 John 1:7).
5) No atonement. “For it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul” (Leviticus 17:11).
6) No sanctification. To sanctify means to set apart for God’s use. The blood of Jesus sets every cleansed believer apart for salvation and service (Hebrews 13:12).
7) No victory. The saints (all true believers) will overcome Satan, sin, and all the powers of darkness by the blood of Jesus Christ the Lamb (Revelation 12:11). No wonder Peter calls it “the precious blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19).
Master Outline 20 – The Blood of Jesus Christ From Genesis to Revelation
[1] “The _______________________ of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon
the __________________________ to make ____________________ for your souls.”
(Lev. 17:11)
[2] The life of Christianity is in what?
[3] He is the _____________________ of God made ______________________ in the believer.
[4] We are children of God by the ________________________________.
[5] The person who rejects salvation by the blood of Jesus is guilty of what three-fold sin?
1.
2.
3.
[6] How do church members commit this sin?
[7] What is the will of the Father?
[8] What caused Adam and Eve to fear God and to hide?
[9] After judging the man and women what did God do before he drove them out of the garden?
[10] Peter told us we have been redeemed with what?
[11] Did God provide a cover up or a cover for Adam and Eve’s sin?
[12] For what four (4) reasons did God refuse Cain’s offering?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[13] For what four (4) reasons did God accept Abel’s offering?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[14] When Abraham and Isaac left the land of Moriah after seeing God provide a ram to take the place of Isaac, they knew what?
[15] Why did Abraham say “The Lord will provide?”
[16] Why did God test Abraham?
[17] The plateau on which Abraham built the alter later became what?
[18] In this account Abraham is a two-fold type or typology of what?
1.
2.
[19] Abraham had four (4) great personal crises that tested his faith. What were they?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[20] In this account Isaac is a two-fold type of whom?
1.
2.
[21] The ______________________ chapter of ________________________ is one of the
greatest chapters in the Bible. Why?
[22] The Passover Lamb is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ in what three (3) ways?
1.
2.
3.
[23] What did God say He must see to pass over the children of Israel’s houses?
[24] The biblical meaning of the word “atone” is what?
[25] Give five (5) comparisons of the high priest with the Lord Jesus Christ.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
[26] What was Mary Magdalene privileged to see that no one else saw?
[27] What four (4) things do we know about the sacrifice of God’s Lamb?
1.
2.
3.
4.
[28] Why was it necessary for Jesus to enter the Most Holy Place?
[29] List the seven (7) things that cannot happen without the shedding of blood.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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