The blood

Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. It’s the most

powerful evidence that Jesus is who He said He was…the

Messiah, the Savior of the world.

But in order to fully grasp the power of the resurrection, we must

first go back and understand why He had to die. With out His

death there is no resurrection. And in order to have a complete

understanding of why Jesus had to die, we will have to look into

the reason He came to live among us. Let’s go all the way back

to where the story begins.

It does not begin with the Christmas story of Jesus being born. It

begins all the way back in Genesis with the the first man God

created, Adam. God placed Adam in the garden of Eden and

gave him authority as God’s manager over the earth. God told

him there was only one thing he wasn’t allowed to do.

Genesis 2:15-17 “15 The Lord God took the man and put him in

the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16 And the Lord God

commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree

of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall

surely die.”

Now, this seems like a very short list of instructions. All Adam

had to do is not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil. But of course, it didn’t take long for Adam to rebel against

God. He decided to break away from God’s kingdom and issued

his declaration of independence.

He did this by disobeying God’s command and doing the one

thing that God said not to do. He ate from the tree of the

knowledge of good and evil. This act of rebellion triggeredsomething that God warned Adam about, and this morning we

will look into what that was.

Genesis 2:17 “17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and

evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall

surely die.”

The Hebrew word for rebellion is “sin.” Based on the verse we

just read, what did God said would happen if Adam sinned? He

would die. Did Adam know what it meant to die? No, death had

not been activated in the earth. Death was there, but was

powerless to do anything. Death was waiting in the wings to

begin its work. And it didn’t have to wait long. By the third

chapter of Genesis, Adam admits that he has done the one thing

God told him not to do.

Genesis 3:12 “12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to

be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.”

Adam and Eve eat from the tree, and in their act of rebellion from

the kingdom, they have now activated death. It is released to do

its work, which was to separate them from God. You see, the

work of death is not just to kill mankind physically, but to hold us

in order to keep us separated from God. This is the second or

spiritual death.

Romans 5:12 “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world

through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread

to all men because all sinned”

Now all mankind has a problem, we are all guilty of sin through

our bloodline going back, all the way to Adam. Sin has brought

death to everyone. Every human is born with the blood disease

called sin.So here’s the big question everyone asks: Why couldn’t God

just decide to ignore the sin problem of mankind? Or just declare

everyone is now innocent of sin?

The easiest way to understand the answer, is to say that God is

not only a God of love, but also a God of justice, and justice

demands that sin must be punished.

God Himself established the punishment for sin as being death

when He told Adam he would die if he ate the fruit. God cannot

go back on His word, that’s why the bible says again in Romans

6:23 that the “wages” of sin is death.” Sin and death are

eternally tied together. We’ve all earned death through our sinful

bloodline from Adam.

But look at what Adam and Eve do to try to cover their sin.

Genesis 3:7 “7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they

knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together

and made themselves loincloths.”

Adam and Eve used fig leaves to make clothes. But this was not

an acceptable sacrifice for covering sin. Blood is required to

cover sin. Look at what God does.

Genesis 3:21 “21 And the Lord God made for Adam and for his

wife garments of skins and clothed them.”

Something had to die in order to cover their sin. The blood of an

animal had to be shed. So God killed animals and covered Adam

and Eve’s nakedness with the skins..and their sin with the blood.

Leviticus17:11

“11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I

have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your

souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”Hebrews 9:22 “22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is

purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is

no forgiveness of sins.”

Blood is required to forgive the sin of mankind. But it cannot be

the diseased blood that was passed down from Adam. It has to

be perfect innocent blood.

Here’s the thing about blood…life is in the blood. And without it,

death is imminent. Clinical death is the medical term for

cessation of blood circulation.

Everything you need to live is supplied by the blood. All the

nutrients, all the oxygen, all the immunity from viruses. As a

matter of fact, All the major organs exist to serve the blood.

Without blood there is no life.

When ur heart stops beating they declare u dead, but it’s not the

heart that has the life in it. It’s the blood. You can survive with out

your heart functioning, but u can’t survive without having access

to what the heart does. The heart moves the blood around the

body. During a heart transplant surgeons use a machine to do

the heart’s job.

If you are shot, it’s not the bullet that kills you, it’s the hole that

allows the blood to drain from you. If you are stabbed, it is not the

knife that kills you, it’s the hole that allows the blood to drain from

you.

The blood carries life, but it can also carry death. When your

blood is poisoned, you have a problem. Cancer is a disease of

the blood. Diabetes is a disease of the blood. Kidney disease is

a problem because the kidneys clean the blood and without them,toxins build up in the blood..and those toxins are sent around the

body through the blood. Healthy blood is vital to humans.

Sin is a blood disease passed down to all humans from Adam.

We need a spiritual blood transfusion because of our blood

disease. But it can’t be from another person who has the same

disease. It has to be from someone who doesn’t have the

disease.

So let’s recap for just a second. Death was activated by sin,

so as long as you have sin, you are under the authority of

death.

In order to release you from the authority of death you have

to deal with what gives death its power. And that is sin.

The sin problem can only be dealt with by the shedding of

innocent blood.

But God loved us so much that He didn’t want to kill us over

our sin. But sin still demands the justice of death.

This is really the main thing we have to deal with. If we had a

way to get rid of our sin problem, we would no longer have a

death problem. The answer is found in the second half of this

verse.

Romans 6:23

“23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift

of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Jesus has provided the way to overcome this death problem.

But how was He able to do this? He became a man born of the

Holy Spirit, with innocent blood that could be sacrificed to forgive

sins.Hebrews 2:14-15 “14 Since therefore the children share in flesh

and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things,

that through death he might destroy the one who has the power

of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through

fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

The fear of death is the one thing that keeps us in bondage. So

Jesus used death to defeat the devil and release us from the fear

of death. Now we can be free.

Romans 5:17-19 “17 For if, because of one man's trespass,

death reigned through that one man, much more will those who

receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of

righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all

men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and

life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the

many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the

many will be made righteous.

Jesus came to fix the sin and death problem that Adam created,

by dying in our place. Well that sounds just great. But there’s a

snag that most of us never consider. Remember earlier when we

talked about what activated death? It was sin. You see, without

sin, death can’t take you. And according to 1 Peter Jesus didn’t

have any sin.

1 Peter 2:22 “22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found

in his mouth.”

So Jesus needs to die so He can shed His blood for the

forgiveness of our sins, but death can’t take Him because He

has no sin. It seems we are at a stalemate. Death wants to kill

Jesus, but it has no power over Him.2 Corinthians 5:21 “21 For our sake he made him to be sin who

knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness

of God.”

Jesus said, I know where I can get some sin. Mankind has plenty

of it, so I’ll take it off of them and put it on myself. And then

death can take me.

1 Peter 1:18-19 “18 knowing that you were ransomed from the

futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable

things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of

Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”

Innocent blood has now been shed for the sins of mankind. The

sin problem has been removed from us…so now death has

no power over us!

But that’s not the end of the story. Look what happens when

Jesus dies.

Matthew 27:50-53 “50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud

voice and yielded up his spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the

temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook,

and the rocks were split. 52 The tombs also were opened. And

many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were

raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection

they went into the holy city and appeared to many.”

The saints who had died were being held by death because their

sin had not been removed and death still had power over them.

But Jesus set the captives free when he died because he took

away the power of death to hold them…it was sin. Once their sin

was gone, death had no authority over them.Isaiah 61:1 ”The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because

the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has

sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the

captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are

bound”

The prison gates were opened when Jesus died, because He

took away sin which is the controlling power which allows death

to hold. Jesus has the keys of death, hell and the grave, and

used them to unlock the hold that death had on the righteous…

and that’s why they came out of the grave..when Jesus did.

Romans 6:9-10 “9 We know that Christ, being raised from the

dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over

him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the

life he lives he lives to God.”

Acts 2:24 “24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death,

because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

And it’s the same for you! Once you have trusted in Jesus for

salvation and he takes away your sin, death has no authority over

you.

Description of Jesus: Revelation 1:5-6 “5 and from Jesus

Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the

ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us

from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests

to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and

ever. Amen.”

Jesus, through the shedding of His blood, has satisfied the

punishment for our sin that justice demanded. And when He

rose again, the power of death was defeated forever.God established the price that our rebellion cost, and then He

paid it Himself. It’s paid for, but it’s up to us to accept His

payment. God doesn’t force anyone to accept His gift of

salvation through the blood of Jesus.

But if you would like to have His blood erase your sins, so that

death will not have a hold on you…you must believe and

confess.

Romans 10:9-10 “9 because, if you confess with your mouth

that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him

from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one

believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and

is saved.”

All you have to do is believe in your heart that God raised

Jesus from the dead, and confess Him as your Lord…and

you will be saved.

If you would like to accept this gift of salvation, the first step is to

decide you will put your faith in the work that Jesus did for you. If

you are ready then pray.

Father God, I believe Jesus died as the one and only perfect

sacrifice for my sins. And I believe You raised Him, from the

dead. I surrender my life completely to Your will, and from this

point on, I confess that Jesus is my Lord. I believe You have

released me from the power of death, and I will live with You,

and for You forever. Amen.