Precious Blood Series

Feb. 8, 2004 Kim Huffman Goshen Christian Timeless Treasures Series

#2 “PRECIOUS BLOOD”

1 Peter 1:18-21

“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 forefathers, (19) but with the PRECIOUS BLOOD of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (20) He was chosen before the creation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him up from the dead and glorified Him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

INTRO.

From Daily Encounter comes this story by a Chaplain Robinson: “In 1949, my father had just returned from the war. On every highway you could see soldiers in uniform hitchhiking home to their families. The thrill of the his reunion with his family was soon overshadowed by my grandmother’s illness. There was a problem with her kidneys. The Doctors told my father that she needed a blood transfusion immediately or she would not live through the night.

Grandmother’s blood type was AB negative, a very rare type. In those days there were no blood banks like there are today. No one in the family had that type blood and the hospital had not been able to find anyone with that rare type. The Doctor gave our family little hope. My Dad decided to head home for a little while to change clothes and then return for the inevitable good-byes.

As my father was driving home he passed a soldier in uniform hitchhiking. Deep in grief, my father was not going to stop. But something compelled him to pull over. The soldier climbed in but my father never spoke. He just continued driving down the road toward home. The soldier could tell my father was upset as a tear ran down his cheek.

The soldier asked about the tear. My father began telling the stranger that his mother was going to die because the hospital couldn’t find anyone who could donate AB negative blood. My father explained that he was just heading home to change clothes. That is when he noticed the soldier’s open hand with the dog tags in that read AB negative. The soldier told my father to turn the car around and head back to the hospital.

My grandmother lived until 1996, 47 more years. To this day my family doesn’t know the name of that soldier. My father wonders to this day if that stranger really was a soldier or if he was an angel in uniform.”

I. THE PRECIOUS BLOOD REDEEMS US

1. Salvation can’t be bought or obtained by anything we do (Silver or gold- perishable things).

2. Salvation can’t be borrowed (Handed down from our forefathers).

3. Salvation has been God’s plan from before creation (Jesus was chosen before the creation of the world).

II. THE PRECIOUS BLOOD BELONGS TO CHRIST

1. It was impossible for the blood from animals to save us.

2. Hebrews 9:11-14, 22

3. It was Jesus Christ the perfect Lamb of God (without blemish or defect) who died on the cross in our place that saved us.

ILL> A young man in Scotland was afflicted with cancer of the throat and tongue. He was a professional singer, a tenor, well know throughout Scotland. Radical surgery was required.

He lay on the operating room table knowing that when surgery was finished he’d never speak again, much less sing. The doctor preparing to operate asked, “Do you have any desires we can meet before the anesthesia is administered?” The young man said, “Yes, I do.” He sat up on the operating table and began to sing- “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, loose all their guilty stains…”

He sang verse after verse, until there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. Then he came to the final verse which he sang even more triumphantly- “Then in a nobler sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save, when this poor lisping stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.”

How we thank the Lord for His precious blood that flowed for us!

III. THE PRECIOUS BLOOD GIVES US FAITH AND HOPE

1. Jesus Christ came in these last times for our sake (Revealed in these last times).

2. Jesus Christ came to show us God so we would believe (Through Him you believe in God).

3. We believe and have hope in God because He raised Jesus Christ up from the dead (raised Him up and glorified Him)

CONCLUSION

There is power in the blood of Jesus! It can save your soul. He paid a debt He didn’t owe that we might have salvation we couldn’t know.