Sermon Central
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A Blood Walk
Contributed by James Groce on Aug 7, 2001 (message contributor)
Summary: When the High priest entered the Holiest of Holies, he had to pass the veil, which acted as a door to that room.
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Heb 9:7
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:
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The High Priest of the Mosaic ritual of sacrifice in the Old Testament was able to enter into the Holiest of Holies, where God’s presence manifested, partly due to the fact he carried BLOOD in with him.
The holiest of holies was that place in the temple into which none could enter, for God’s very presence was manifested in that room. It was the HEART of the Temple. It was separated from the rest of the building by a thick and heavy veil through which one could not look. Once a year, on the day of Atonement, the High Priest experienced much ritual and preparation in order to carry the blood of the sacrificial lamb of atonement into that Holiest room.
The blood of Jesus Christ is tantamount to our progress in God, too. But do we carry it? Yes, we do, but not in a literal sense. We carry the blood of Jesus with us that we might enter God’s unseen presence when we fully believe that what man needed to have accomplished for him to be able to see God was supplied in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Our exertion of faith in this work is akin to the literal act of the High Priest carrying blood into the Holiest of Holies. We do not enter an actual and literal room, but, no matter where we physically are located, when we pray in faith depending upon the work of God on the cross, we in effect carry the blood into the Holiest.
The blood is similar to a “ticket” to glory! Without it, we cannot enter.
Jesus flesh was said to be THE VEIL.
Heb 10:20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;
When the High priest entered the Holiest of Holies, he had to pass the veil, which acted as a door to that room. And since Christ’s flesh is the veil, we can say that we carry the blood of Jesus, by faith, and are positioned beyond the flesh of Christ, causing us to be then situated IN CHRIST. And the phrase “in Christ” is repeated throughout the New Testament scriptures! It refers to the BODY of Christ, which is actually the Church. The CHURCH is not a building nor is it a denomination. It is the Body of believers who have entered CHRIST through faith in His blood for their salvation.
We require faith in Jesus’ blood in order to see God. That faith gives us HIS HOLINESS and righteousness.
Rom 4:21 And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.
The above verses refer to Jesus’ sacrifice where His blood was spilled. To speak of faith in the blood is to figuratively refer to faith in the death of Jesus Christ for our salvation and reconciliation to God.
Without holiness no man shall see the Lord (Heb. 12:13).
We dare not enter God’s presence without the blood!
As we enter the Body of Christ we leave the world of sin. There is no sin “in” Him. We must have faith in order to enter Christ, for it is faith in Jesus’ blood and in His death for us that saves a person.
We are in Him! We are IN LIFE, for He said He was the way, the truth and the LIFE. Since we have entered Christ we can also say, according to Scripture, that we are BAPTIZED INTO HIM. We are immersed into His body when we enter. Thus the Lord has PASSED over us. As waters engulf a person who is immersed into that substance, and it passes over them, the Lord passes over us as we are baptized into Him.
The waters of baptism are not literally the Lord Jesus, Himself. However, baptism in water helps us understand how we are immersed into Jesus Christ. In fact, when we are baptized in water we must believe that we are entering Christ’s body in a real and spiritual manner.
Once we are inside LIFE, death cannot claim us. The Lord need not run to our doors and guard us from death any longer, as He did in Egypt. We are in Him continually so long as we maintain RELIANCE upon His death on the cross for our salvation. We must NEVER leave Him.
