Purpose: To describe the importance of Christ’s shed blood.
Aim: I want the listener to extol the glories of Christ’s work of salvation.
INTRODUCTION: When evangelist John Wesley (1703–1791) was returning home from a service one night, he was robbed. The thief, however, found his victim to have only a little money and some Christian literature.
As the bandit was leaving, Wesley called out, “Stop! I have something more to give you.” The surprised robber paused. “My friend,” said Wesley, “you may live to regret this sort of life. If you ever do, here’s something to remember: ‘The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin!’” The thief hurried away, and Wesley prayed that his words might bear fruit.
Years later, Wesley was greeting people after a Sunday service when he was approached by a stranger. What a surprise to learn that this visitor, now a believer in Christ as a successful businessman, was the one who had robbed him years before!
“I owe it all to you,” said the transformed man.
“Oh no, my friend,” Wesley exclaimed, “not to me, but to the precious blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin!” [Our Daily Bread, October 1, 1994 10,000 sermon illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Dallas: Biblical Studies Press.]
➽What do we know about the Blood of Christ?
➽ #1 The Blood of Christ is blameless
Judas declared, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” … (Matthew 27:4 NAU)
Jesus was virgin born so His blood was not tainted by sin because the sin nature is passed on through the man.
John 19:6 So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” (NAU)
➽ #2 The Blood of Christ is precious
1 Peter 1:18-19 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. (NAU)
The blood of Christ is our treasure! It looks ugly or maybe worthless to the world, but to a Christian there is nothing more precious.
➽ #3 The Blood of Christ is necessary
Hebrews 9:22-23 22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. (NAU)
➽ #4 The Blood of Christ is final
Hebrews 9:24-28 24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him. (NAU)
➽Why do we need the Blood of Christ now?
➽ #1 The Blood of Christ relieves our conscience
Do you want to put your head on the pillow at night without have guilt or feeling any guilt? Only the Blood of Christ can do that. Jesus paid for ALL of our sin.
Erich Fromm, a psychologist, said “It is indeed amazing that in as fundamentally irreligious a culture as ours, the sense of guilt should be so widespread and deeply-rooted as it is.” [Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (363). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
Hebrews 9:13-14 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? (NAU)
False religions tell us to serve God in hopes that our conscience will be clean. Christ, on the other hand, clears up our conscience so we can and also want to serve Him.
➽ #2 The Blood of Christ gives us access to God
2 Corinthians 5:18-19 18 …God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. (NAU)
Ephesians 2:13-16 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. (NAU)
Notice that God does ALL the reconciling. He brings us into a right relationship with Him—we don’t (we can’t) meet Him halfway.
Hebrews 10:19-20 19 Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, (NAU)
➽ # 3 The Blood of Christ is washing away our sin
1 John 1:7 if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. (NAU) Revelation 1:5 Jesus Christ… who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— (NAU)
Matthew 26:26-28 26 While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.” 27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; 28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. (NAU)
There is a story that one night Martin Luther went to sleep troubled about his sin. In a dream he saw an angel standing by a blackboard and at the top of the board was Luther’s name. The angel, chalk in hand, was listing all of Luther’s sins, and the list filled the blackboard. Luther shuddered in despair, feeling that his sins were so many that he could never be forgiven. But suddenly in his dream he saw a pierced hand writing above the list these words: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” As Luther gazed in amazement, the blood flowed from the wounded hand and washed the record clean.[W. Hershel Ford, Simple Sermons for Saints and Sinners (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1954), 9.Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (363). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
➽ #4 The Blood of Christ frees us from sin’s power
Jesus paid the price so we could be free from the slave market of sin. Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (NAU)
Hebrews 2:15 might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. (NAU)
So now we don’t have to sin. We have the power to please God—a power we never had before. Romans 6:11 Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (NAU) Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace. (NAU)
➽ #5 The Blood of Christ frees us from Satan’s power
The problem is that we are born enslaved to Satan. 1 John 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. (NAU)
Colossians 1:13 For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, (NAU)
Hebrews 9:12 and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. (NAU) “This word for redemption is found only here and in Luke 1:68; 2:38. Its original use was for the release of slaves by payment of a ransom.” [MacArthur, J. J. (1997, c1997). The MacArthur Study Bible (electronic ed.) (Heb 9:12). Nashville: Word Pub.]
Believers can overcome Satan because of their trust in Christ’s blood. Revelation 12:10-11 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death. (NAU) They overcame Satan’s accusations by trusting in Christ’s blood for forgiveness. They did NOT rely on their good works.
Paul Harvey once told of a little boy, whom doting parents had spoiled into a brat. The boy carried with him a sack, and in the sack there was a most pitiful kind of stirring. He had captured some tiny birds. The sound of imprisoned wing-beats slapped hopelessly at the heavy manila walls. A pitiful chirping now and then issued from the little paper prison that he swung at his side. He met an old man as he walked along.
“Whatcha got in that sack?” asked the old man.
“I got a sack full of sparrows!” said the little boy.
“What are you going to do with them?” asked the old man.
“I’m going to take them out of the sack, one by one, and tease them—pull a feather out now and then, and then I’ll release them to the cat for his dinner.”
“How much would you sell the whole sack for?” asked the old man.
The little boy thought a moment and decided that he should put a lot of capital on the venture and dicker down if he had to, so he threw out the figure: “I’ll take two dollars for the sack!”
"Done,” said the old man; and he reached in his pocket, pulled out the two dollars, and gave them to the lad. The lad then handed him the sack. The old man held it far more kindly than the reckless youngster had.
In a moment he untwisted the coiled paper neck of the bag and pulled it open. In but a little bit, the sky connected brilliantly with the open inside of the bag and the birds were gone.
And so it happened one day that God met Lucifer with a huge bag. Inside the bag were the most hopeless sounds of life struggling to be free—the sounds of young and old alike wailing in pain.
“What have you got in the bag?” asked the Father.
“People,” smirked Lucifer.
“And what will you do with them?”
“I will torment them one by one, and when they are all worn out with trials, I will throw them into hell.”
“And what will you take for all of them?”
“Your only Beloved Son.”
“Done!” said the Father. And He reached down to earth and gave us the gift of His Son.[Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (167). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
➽ #6 The Blood of Christ gives us eternal life
John 6:53-56 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. 54 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. (NAU)
“Only one act of pure love, unsullied by any taint of ulterior motive, has ever been performed in the history of the world, namely the self-giving of God in Christ on the cross for undeserving sinners.” John Stott [Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (167). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
➽Why will we need the Blood of Christ later?
➽ #1 So we won’t have to pay for our sin.
Hebrews 9:26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (NAU)
1 John 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. (NAU) Sometimes, when carpets are cleaned, the stains are so deep that they reappear a couple of days after they are cleaned. When Christ washes away our sin—it never comes back!
➽ #2 So we can avoid the wrath of God
The Bible calls this PROPITIATION which means “a sacrifice that bears God’s wrath to the end and in so doing changes God’s wrath toward us into favor.” 1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (NAU)
Hebrews 2:17 Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. (NAU)
1 John 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (NAU)
This explains Isaiah 53:10-11 10 But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, …11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. (NAU)
Romans 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. (NAU)
Romans 3:24-25 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, … (NAU)
His blood is so sufficient
He tells us in His word
On the mercy seat in heaven
It was put there by our Lord.
It stops the accuser of the brethren
As he walks before the throne
Our God just points to the blood
And Satan knows He cares for His own.
It’s sufficient for any situation
To nourish, to cleanse, and keep.
Oh, magnify Your name my Lord
My soul with rapture leaps.
Can my sins though oh so many
Make this blood of no avail
Once I’ve named the name of Jesus
In my heart, I cannot fail.
His word has proclaimed it
The work begun in me
Will someday be completed
When His dear face I see.
And when I dwell in heaven
As the ages roll along
Oh, that precious blood of Jesus
Will be my victory song.
[Source unknown. 10,000 sermon illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Dallas: Biblical Studies Press.]
CONCLUSION: Think back for a moment over all that Jesus has done for you. What are you doing for Him?
Nicholaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf was born into one of Europe’s leading families in the year 1700, and he grew up in an atmosphere of prayer, Bible-reading, and hymn-singing. He excelled in school, and seemed to possess all the qualities for national leadership. After finishing his university studies at Wittenberg, Germany, Zinzendorf embarked on a grand tour of Europe, attending lectures and visiting museums, palaces, and universities.
It was while visiting the art museum at Dusseldorf that the young count had a deeply moving experience that stayed with him the rest of his life. Seeing Domenico Feti’s Ecce Homo (“Behold, the Man”), a portrait of the thorn-crowned Jesus, and reading the inscription below it—“I Did This For Thee! What Hast Thou Done For Me?” Zinzendorf said to himself, “I have loved Him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for Him. From now on, I will do whatever He leads me to do.”
His life was never again the same, and he went on to found a spiritual community on his property, Herrnhut, which provided hundreds of Moravian missionaries over the next several decades and sparked the modern missionary movement.[Adapted from Christian History Magazine, Vol. 1, No. 1, “The Rich Young Ruler Who Said Yes,” 7ff.Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed.) (168). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.]
➽“Only the blood of Christ can remove the stain that sin left on the heart.”
