Postmodern people after the Enlightenment (1600-1800+) do not like the bloody part of Christianity. Of course this is shortsighted. This post lays out the efficacious benefits of the blood of Christ for our salvation. It also answers whether it is biblical to “plead the blood.”
If we leave Christ on the cross and walk by him, merely showing him condescending sympathy (“poor man!”), then we miss the point. His undeserved death through his shed blood on the cross paid the penalty (death) for our sins. He took our deserved place on the cross. His blood means our forgiveness. Now we can have a guilt-free conscience, sprinkled by his blood.
I.. Old Testament Background
A.. Brief intro.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and the noun for blood is dam (pronounced dahm and used 361 times), and it has six meanings:
1.. Blood represents shedding it, like murder (Gen. 9:6; Lev. 17:4; Ezek. 22:9; 39:19).
Here is a clear passage against bloodshed (murder).
6 “Whoever sheds human blood,
by humans shall their blood be shed;
for in the image of God
has God made mankind. (Gen. 9:6)
No illegal sacrifices away from the temple:
3 Any Israelite who sacrifices an ox, a lamb or a goat in the camp or outside of it 4 instead of bringing it to the entrance to the tent of meeting to present it as an offering to the Lord in front of the tabernacle of the Lord—that person shall be considered guilty of bloodshed; they have shed blood and must be cut off from their people. (Lev. 17:3-4)
No immoral bloodshed:
9 In you are slanderers who are bent on shedding blood; in you are those who eat at the mountain shrines and commit lewd acts. (Ezek. 22:9)
The next verse speaks of judgment which God is preparing for degenerate people.
19 At the sacrifice I am preparing for you, you will eat fat till you are glutted and drink blood till you are drunk. (Ezek. 29:19)
2.. Blood signifies judgment, as in the plagues on Egypt (Exod. 7:19).
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff and stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels of wood and stone.” (Exod. 7:19)
3.. Blood is important in sacrifice.
The sacrifice is associated with cleansing and consecration (Exod. 23:18; 34:25; Lev. 4:7; 7:14; 8:14-15, 25-30).
No mixed offerings, which would be unconsecrated:
18 “Do not offer the blood of a sacrifice to me along with anything containing yeast. (Exod. 23:18; see 34:25)
Here the priest is sacrificing and applying the blood properly:
7 The priest shall then put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of fragrant incense that is before the Lord in the tent of meeting. The rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering at the entrance to the tent of meeting. (Lev. 4:7)
Once again the priest is sacrificing and applying the blood properly. It is consecrated.
14 They are to bring one of each kind as an offering, a contribution to the Lord; it belongs to the priest who splashes the blood of the fellowship offering against the altar. (Lev. 7:14)
Next, Moses and Aaron applying their hands on the sacrifice does not transfer sin to the animal, but instead their laying on of hands mean consecration of the sacrifice. Atonement means to pacify God’s judgment and to wipe away human sins:
14 He then presented the bull for the sin offering, and Aaron and his sons laid their hands on its head. 15 Moses slaughtered the bull and took some of the blood, and with his finger he put it on all the horns of the altar to purify the altar. He poured out the rest of the blood at the base of the altar. So he consecrated it to make atonement for it. (Lev. 8:14-15)
4.. Blood is also considered impure, as ceremonial uncleanness for womankind (Lev. 15:19).
We no longer teach that womankind is unclean and disqualified to attend church because of the monthly issue. But in the OT sacrificial system, blood brought to the tabernacle without priestly control and consecration is improper:
19 “‘When a woman has her regular flow of blood, the impurity of her monthly period will last seven days, and anyone who touches her will be unclean till evening. (Lev. 15:19)
5.. Israel is not to consume the blood of a live animals
The reason: “the life of every creature is its blood” (Lev. 17:14; see Lev. 3:17; 7:26-27; Lev. 18:10).
This is a key belief for the sacrificial death of Christ:
14 because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.” (Lev. 17:14)
6.. Blood appears in a covenant context.
Moses sprinkles the blood of young bulls on the Israelites. “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you” (Exod. 24:8). Recall that Jesus said this is the blood of his covenant (Matt. 26:28 // Mark 14:24 // Luke 22:20; cf. John 6:54; 1 Cor. 11:20).
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exod. 24:8)
7.. Blood expresses family ties (2 Chron. 19:10).
10 In every case that comes before you from your people who live in the cities—whether bloodshed or other concerns of the law, commands, decrees or regulations—you are to warn them not to sin against the Lord; otherwise his wrath will come on you and your people. Do this, and you will not sin. (2 Chron. 19:10)
8.. The blood of the lamb without defect halted God’s hand of judgment (Exod. 12:3).
In the grand finale of the plagues on Egypt, the lamb’s blood was to be put on the doorframes so the death angel would pass over that household where the blood was applied.
3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. (Exod. 12:3)
The blood of the lamb protected his people from God’s judgment.
13 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. (Exod. 12:13)
A lamb used in an offering must be without blemish (Lev. 3:6-7). Then the priest then splashes the blood properly on the altar.
6 “‘If you offer an animal from the flock as a fellowship offering to the Lord, you are to offer a male or female without defect. 7 If you offer a lamb, you are to present it before the Lord, 8 lay your hand on its head and slaughter it in front of the tent of meeting. Then Aaron’s sons shall splash its blood against the sides of the altar. (Lev. 3:6-8)
B. Summary
It is clear where the NT gets its emphasis on the blood of Christ. He sacrificed himself, not as an animal on an altar, as some polemical Jews say. He laid down his life as the living Lord and the Father and the Spirit were with him. His sacrifice was Trinitarian.
II.. New Testament Doctrine
A.. Brief intro
The New Covenant Scriptures (New Testament) was written in Greek, and the noun for blood is haima (pronounced hy-mah or hay-mah, and our words haem- or hem- comes from it), and it is used 97 times.
B.. This meaning is physical.
34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus’ side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. (John 19:34)
C.. The next meaning is that it stands for death.
Jesus said that this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets, which means that John the Baptist and Jesus himself are the culmination of all the preceding prophets (Luke 11:50).
50 Therefore this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning of the world, (Luke 11:50)
Paul referred to the blood of Stephen, meaning his death (Acts 22:20).
20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’ (Acts 22:20)
Judas’s thirty pieces of silver was “blood money” (Matt. 27:6). Jesus died and shed his blood.
6 The chief priests picked up the coins and said, “It is against the law to put this into the treasury, since it is blood money.” (Matt. 27:6)
The Sanhedrin (Jewish high court and council) rebuked the apostles for bringing on their head Jesus’s blood, i.e. death (Acts 5:28; see also Rev. 6:12; 12:11; 16:6; 18:24; 19:2).
The Sanhedrin is speaking to the twelve apostles:
28 “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” (Acts 5:28)
Combined with flesh, it is humankind’s natural state: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 15:50).
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. (1 Cor. 15:50)
D.. Most importantly, blood symbolizes the atonement and sacrifice.
That is, the sacrificial death of Christ that effects redemption and salvation and a new covenant. Christ bought the church with his own blood (Acts 20:28).
28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. (Acts 20:28)
Recall that Moses sprinkled the scroll of all the people with the blood of calves (Heb. 9:19).
19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. (Heb. 9:19)
Here’s why Christ sacrifice is better than the old system. Now the blood of Christ is spiritually sprinkled on his followers, to cleanse their consciences.
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9:14)
Peter says we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without spot or blemish (1 Pet. 1:18-19).
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18-19)
III.. Accomplishments of the Blood of Jesus
A.. He shed his blood on the cross. What did this accomplish? Many accomplishments follow.
1.. The blood of Jesus establishes the New Covenant.
In Matthew 26:28 // Mark 14:24 // Luke 22:20 (cf. 1 Cor. 11:20) we learn that Jesus was completely aware of the full and true significance of his imminent death on the cross, in a few hours from the Last Supper. As noted, above, Moses sprinkled the blood of a young bull on the Israelites and proclaimed that this blood signifies the covenant God made with his people (Exod. 24:8).
2.. The blood of Jesus justifies believers.
Romans 5:9 makes that great promise. In this case the believer is declared righteous; he does not have to work for his righteousness with the empty hope that he may become righteous enough before a thrice-holy God. His sacrificial blood is sufficient. And by faith—not literally!—it has been sprinkled on us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! (Rom. 5:9)
Recall that Moses sprinkled blood of an animal on the Israelites (Exod. 24:8).
8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” (Exod. 24:8)
3.. The blood of Jesus releases us from our sins.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. (Eph. 1:7-8)
Shedding of blood and forgiveness of sins are tied together. How? Hebrews 9:22 teaches straightforwardly that without the shedding of blood there is no remission (release) of sins.
22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22)
Recall this verse about the blood making atonement:
11 For 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. (Lev. 17:11)
Revelation 1:5 says that Christ has freed us from our sins by his blood, which means his blood through his death stands in for our death. We should have died on that cross because we are unrighteous, and he was righteous and guiltless. But he took our place and now his death releases us from our sins.
5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, (Rev. 1:5)
4.. The blood of Jesus offers us redemption.
Hebrews 9:12 teaches us the Jesus the Messiah entered the Most Holy Place in the heavenly tabernacle through his own blood, not that of a young bull or goat. Now he has obtained for us eternal redemption.
12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. (Heb. 9:12)
Recall that Aaron on the Day of Atonement could not enter the earthly tabernacle until he sacrificed animal for a sin offering and a burnt offering (Lev. 16:3).
3 “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. (Lev. 16:3)
Redemption means that we were once living in slavery through our own sins and debts (Exod. 6:6; 15:13; Is. 51:10), but God sent his Son to go and redeem us or buy us out of slavery. He bought us with his blood, brought us out—redeemed us—and transformed and reconstituted our whole lives so we can now live for him. He paid the debt for our sins. Who was paid? Who was the slave owner? Sin was our slave owner, and Jesus paid the debt in our place. He became the sin offering which released us from our having to pay our own price (2 Cor. 5:21). This is why redemption is so wonderful.
21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)
These verses are also relevant for redemption.
[…] Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Titus 2:13c-14)
18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:17-19)
5.. The blood of Jesus effects (brings about) our atonement.
A key verse in all of the Bible is Romans 3:25, for it contains the word atonement, which literally means in English at-one-ment or reconciliation or being right with God (the -ment suffix means “the result of”). In Greek and Hebrew, it also means to “wipe clean” and “to appease.” Appeasement means that God’s justice-wrath-judgment has been turned away and placated. This offends modern man because he does not understand the attribute of justice in God. He is holy, and his creation falls short with sin and degradation, so his justice demands satisfaction or payment. We either do this, or someone specially called does it. That somebody is his Son.
25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished […] (Rom. 3:25)
6.. The blood of Jesus brings reconciliation.
Ephesians 2:13-16 teaches us that we were separated from God. He did not move away. We did. Now he draws us closer to him. Step by step we come. When we receive by saving faith Jesus Christ and his sacrificial blood on the cross, which substituted for our blood, we come back next to him and snuggling on his chest, like John the Beloved disciple did (John 19:26; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). That’s the picture of reconciliation. We are in right relationship and intimacy with him.
13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, 15 by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, 16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Eph. 2:13-16)
7.. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from our sins.
Hebrews 9:14 tells us that his blood cleanses our guilty consciences. His blood does this by his eternal Spirit. This means that his blood is received by faith leading to salvation and then applied by the infilling of the Spirit.
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9:14)
First John 1:7 says that as we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purifies us from sins. Once again, it is by faith that this happens. He launched his new covenant by his sacrificial blood, now let’s receive it.
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)
Revelation 7:14 teaches that those who have come out of the great Tribulation have washed their robes in the blood of Jesus, which has made them white. This proves that we have a miracle. Red blood does not make something literally white, unless a miracle happens. In this case applying the blood to the and the whiteness of the robe is all done by faith. In heaven this miracle can happen. On earth this miracle happens by faith.
And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:14)
8.. The blood of Jesus is our holiness.
Hebrews 10:29 tells us that those who have trampled under foot and treated as unholy the blood of Christ that sanctified them. In the reverse of that warning verse, the good news is that those who treat the blood of Christ as holy, will be sanctified by it.
29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? (Heb. 10:29)
In the reverse of that verse, Hebrews 13:12 says the blood of Christ makes us holy. The blood of Christ sprinkles our guilty consciences by faith. Receive it.
13 Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. (Heb. 13:12)
Sanctification literally means the process (-ion) of making (fic-) holy (sancti-). We are declared holy, and by virtue of Christ living in us, we are holy. However, working out holiness is a process. We will never achieve sinless perfection in these present bodies.
9.. The blood of Jesus is our new life.
In John 6:53-56, Jesus makes a startling statement. He says we must eat his flesh and drink his blood, so we can have life. He will raise them up at the resurrection, and those who do will live in him, and he in them. He is talking about the eucharist, the wine and bread.
53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. (John 6:53-56)
10.. The blood of Jesus allows us to serve God.
In Hebrews 9:14, we learn that Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences of acts leading to death, so we can serve the living God, implying that our acts in Christ leads to life and enables us to serve him.
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God! (Heb. 9:14)
11.. The blood of Jesus gives us power over Satan.
Revelation 12:11 teaches that believers have triumphed over the accuser of brothers and sisters who has been thrown down by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony. We are covered by the blood of the lamb, by faith. His blood was shed on the cross, which established the new covenant. When we stand inside this blood-bought covenant, we are in right relationship with God. And now we have authority and power to kick out Satan’s accusations. We no longer have to listen to them.
11 They triumphed over him
by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
as to shrink from death. (Rev. 12:11)
B. Summary
God was motivated by love. If you were the only person in the world and in need of his salvation, he would still send his Son to die in your place. Only he could pay the penalty that you owe.
IV.. Answering Questions about the Blood
A.. Is it biblical to “plead the blood“?
Yes, because it is short prayer for this long theological one:
“Father in heaven, I thank you for the cross of Christ, where your Son shed his blood for the remission of my sins. I thank you that you sprinkle the blood on my conscience, which cleanses it (Heb. 9:12-13). Today I plead and apply, once again, your Son’s blood on the atonement cover of my heart.”
Yes, the blood already was sprinkled. It has been sprinkled on the atonement cover of our heart when we first get saved and redeemed, but sometimes we need to remind ourselves of what was already effected. “Thank you, Lord, that you saved me! And your salvation is ongoing!”
B.. What about other situations?
Let’s say your family is under a spiritual attack. There is nothing wrong with pleading the blood. It is another shorthand way of repeating all the benefits, listed above, of the blood of Jesus that comes to me. Satan cannot cross the salvation blood line to the point of taking away your salvation, invisible to your unaided eye, but visible to God. Being in Christ who brought atonement and the blood covering over my life and heart is protection. Pleading it again is not unbiblical.
C. Personal note
However, for the record, I don’t myself plead the blood. I just pray something like, “Father, thank you for your blessings and protection and salvation.” You don’t have to pray “plead the blood”, either, if it bothers you.
V.. How the Death on the Cross Happened
A.. The death of Christ on the cross was planned by God.
On the road to Emmaus, a town near Jerusalem, Jesus appeared to two men and rebuked them for not know that hi suffering and crucifixion was predicted in the law and prophets (Luke 24:26). “Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” (Luke 24:26).
Peter proclaimed on the day of Pentecost that God in his foreknowledge and deliberate plan, but through the hands of wicked men, Christ was supposed to be put to death on the cross (Acts 2:23). None of this caught God by surprise.
This man was handed over to you by God’s deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. (Acts 2:23)
B.. The cross showed Jesus’s obedience.
When he came to earth and humbled himself in the form of a servant, he became full man, but without sin (Heb. 4:15), thanks to his virgin birth (Luke 1:35). His humiliation was so vast and expansive that he hung between the earth and the high reaches of the sky, by dying on the cross (Phil. 2:8).
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross! (Phil. 2:8)
C.. The death of Christ on the cross was carried out by humans.
As we just saw in Acts 2:23, the cross was planned, but unjust humans had to commit the injustice. Peter proclaimed before the Sanhedrin (Jewish high court and council) that Christ was put on the cross by their hands—by their decision. God will accomplish his purposes even through the hands of sinful humanity, but he will not let their wrongdoing go free, either. Justice demanded that they paid a price (Luke 21:6).
6 “As for what you see here, the time will come when not one stone will be left on another; every one of them will be thrown down.” (Luke 21:6)
VI.. Accomplishments of the Cross
A.. The cross put to death the curse of the old law.
Paul wrote to the Galatians that according to the old law, everyone who hanged on a pole was cursed (Deut. 21:23), so Christ became that curse in our place (Gal. 3:13). Now the curse of the law is broken over us, so God does not judge us in his justice-wrath-judgment. We are in Christ and are spared his wrath. In this context, a pole means a generic place of execution by suspension.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.”
B.. The cross took away our sins.
The power that the law and regulations was broken and canceled over our lives, by the cross. Those things used to condemn us but now through the cross we have forgiveness of sins (Col. 2:13-14).
13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:13-14)
First Peter 2:24 says that Christ himself bore our sins in his body, which happened at the cross (Is. 53:5).
24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)
C.. The cross reconciled us to God.
Paul writes that humanity used to be divided by ethnic and cultural differences, but through the cross, all humans are made into one new human, united in Christ (Eph. 2:16). The fullness of deity lived in bodily form in Christ, and now God reconciled all things to himself by his cross and the blood that was shed there.
16 and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Col. 2:16)
D.. The cross brought us eternal life.
Jesus taught that when he was lifted up on the cross, so that everyone who sees him and believes can have eternal life (John 3:14-15).
14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 5 that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” (John 3:14-15)
E.. The cross triumphed over our enemies.
As noted, Col. 2:15 says all the decrees issued against us were canceled, and Christ dragged behind him all of his enemies like a roman emperor led captive people in his victory parade.
15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col. 2:15)
VII.. Our Response to the Cross
A.. Our sinful nature must die with Christ on the cross.
Our old self before Christ must die, so our body would not be ruled by sin (Rom. 6:6). When we belong to Christ, we crucify our passions and desires. This means our mammal impulses and instincts (Gal. 5:24). He bore our sins on the cross, so that we would die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds we were healed, from our life of sin.
24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Gal. 5:24)
B.. We pick up our cross daily.
This does not speak of sickness, but our own will must be surrendered to God. We pray, “Lord, not my will, but your will be done” (Matt. 26:39). When your will is surrendered to him, he will give you the desire of your heart. But he must come first—daily.
39 Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” (Matt. 26:39)
C.. We are crucified to the world.
Paul prayed or thought that he would not boast except in the cross of Christ, by which he died to the world, and the world to him (Gal. 6:14). So all the rewards the world has to offer are temporary and empty—over the long haul.
14 May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Gal. 6:14)
VIII.. Application
A.. Reject Postmodernism
Postmodern humanity does not like the cross. Too bloody and humiliating. God’s child abuse. Intellectuals think all the mention of blood and sacrifice is outdated and needless and just plain silly. There is a move afoot on social media nowadays that says all of this is nonsense. All we have to do is ask for forgiveness of our sins, and we get it. No need for sacrifice. This is partly true. All we need to do is ask, and we get it.
B.. Christians should be counter-cultural.
Have you ever looked around the cultures of the world? It is nearly (or completely) impossible to find one that does not have a sacrifice in some form. An ancient hunter makes a kill, and he offers a libation or goes through a brief ritual to show respect, as if he repays the world of nature. The awful Aztecs sacrificed humans, and human sacrifices were done in other parts of the globe. A Taoist priest also performs a ritual and gives or requires a small offering. Shintoists offer something that they have to sacrifice or give up, as they visit a temple. Somehow God has deeply built the concept of sacrifice into the human conscience and the universe, so to speak.
C.. Follow apostolic preaching
The apostles preached the cross (Acts 2:23; 8:32-35; 13:28-29; 1 Cor. 1:23; 2:1-2). Paul said that he determined not to know anything among the Corinthians except the cross (1 Cor. 2:1-2), not wisdom and eloquence, but Christ crucified (1 Cor. 1:17-18).
D.. Summary of the cross’s meaning
The cross was necessary because the sacrifices of the offerings in the Old Testament. The cross does not come out of nowhere without precedence. God’s justice and human’s sinfulness and wrongdoing clashed, and humanity had to pay for its sins, just like a criminal has to pay for his crime. But what if someone stepped in and paid the penalty? And what if the penalty was so high that it was death? Christ paid the ultimate price for mankind’s ultimate separation from God and to reconcile the two—man was reconciled to God.
All this happened on the cross, the method of execution in Christ’s world.
Now all we do is accept the purposes and benefits of the cross by faith.
Let’s never abandon Christ on the cross where he shed his blood. He did so much for us on Calvary that our condescension towards him is just plain arrogance.
E.. Personal word
This post is rich in meaning. Personally, I like how the blood of Jesus cleanses our guilty consciences from past sins. And I like that last point about the blood of the Lamb tramples underfoot the accusation of Satan. The thing is—when he accuses us he knows which sins we have committed. They are not life by our own experience. But in Christ we realize that Satan’s accusations are lies, because God already wiped clean and forgave and released our sins. They no longer apply. Now walk in the fullness of his forgiveness.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dr. Jim's Essential Bible Teaching 