A Blood Covenant

A Blood Covenant

Leviticus 17:11, Hebrews 9:12-14, 22

Intro: Blood, scary isn’t it. Many people are so scared and overcome by blood that they even faint at the sight of it. I have seen many grown men cower at the sight of a needle or of blood. Part of that is because blood is what gives us life. Without the blood, we die.

. Without blood we die both physically and spiritually.

. I read somewhere that many people describe the Bible as a bloody book.

. Someone said cut the Bible anywhere you want to and it will bleed.

. In our politically correct society, Many of our churches are moving away from the atonement for sin by the blood of Jesus Christ.

. I hear things like, “the blood offends people” or that it is just so “gory that our children should not hear about all this blood and suffering”.

.Folks without the shedding of blood, there would be no Christianity.

. The shedding of blood is always the vehicle that God used to purify mankind from their sin.

. God has always had a blood covenant with mankind.

. From the beginning, From Genesis through The Revelation, blood is required and is used as a covenant between God and man.

. From the first sacrifice where the animals that were killed so that God could give coverings for mankind to the final sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, shedding his blood for the sins of mankind.

.This morning, we are going to have communion so that we can share in and remember this blood covenant that God has with mankind.

. Before we do that though, I want to take a few minutes and make sure that we all understand what the Bible tells us about this blood covenant.

.You see, there is power in the blood of the Lamb.

. We sang this song this morning as our heritage song.

. If we want to be free from the burden of sin, it will take the power of the blood.

. If you want to win the victory of evil in your life, there is power in the blood.

. God told the Jewish people this in Leviticus 17:11

. 11for the life of the body is in its blood. I have given you the blood on the altar to purify you, making you right with the LORD. It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible.

. The only way to be purified, to be made right with God is through the shedding of blood for a sacrifice to God.

.The writer of Hebrews has much to teach us about the power of the blood.

. The writer is explaining to us that Jesus is now the one and only High Priest. Jesus has entered the perfect tabernacle which is in Heaven and that He gives us access directly to God through what He has done.

.Look at Heb. 9: 12-14:

. 12With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

13Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity.

14Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

. The original blood covenant was the blood of goats and calves and lambs, not any more the writer states.

. With his own blood, not the blood of animals, Jesus Christ became our sacrifice for our sins so that we may be in a right relationship with God.

. The writer of Hebrews tells us that the first blood covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal but now, that covenant is put into effect by the blood of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins.

. The writer sums it all up for us in verse 22 here in Hebrews 9.

. 22In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

. From the beginning, purification from sin came from the shedding of blood.

. Without the shedding of blood, there is No Forgiveness.

. Jesus Christ shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sin.

. All you have must do is believe this, believe that He shed his blood for you, and ask him to allow his blood to cover your sins and forgive you and place you in a right relationship with him.