THIS BLOOD . . .
TEXT: Colossians 1:20-23
Colossians 1:20-23 -- And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
l. INTRODUCTION -- BLOOD
A. General
-The human body is one of the greatest creations to ever exist. Designed and created by the Creator. Magnificent in origin, flawless in operation, amazing in study, and with an eternal soul. A soul that will live on forever someday.
-Blood. The forgotten body system. Blood is an organ that we often do not acknowledge. A drop of blood just small enough to fill in the letter "o" in your Bible contains 5 million red cells, 300,000 platelets, and 7,000 white blood cells.
-There is the pump. . . The heart. It beats on an average of 70 beats per minute or over 100,000 times in 24 hours. It ejects an average of 6 liters of blood every minute, 144 liters every day, 48,384 liters in a year, or in seventy years 3,386,880 liters.
-The heart requires no lubrication or maintenance. It never rests. It has an output that varies between .025 horsepower at rest and sleep and drives up to 1 horsepower in moments of stress. It’s valves open and close 4,000 to 5,000 times each hour.
-Sixty thousand miles of blood vessels is that pathway that the blood is limited to. Yet, the blood can be ejected from the heart and go to the heart and return in about twenty seconds.
-It is blood that carries oxygen, nutrients, waste products, and fights infection all at the same time. And all of that just happened. I was a mere flagellum, then an ameoba, then a tadpole, a frog, a monkey, and now me!!! I agree with David.
Psalm 139:4 -- I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
-When the body begins to lose the flow of life, the blood pressure will drop and the heart will began to strain to increase the output in an attempt to sustain the vital organs. IV fluids will work for a period of time to maintain that strain of blood loss but there comes a point in which only blood is able to replace the loss. A transfusion is what is needed.
Dr. James Blundell was a physician in the early 19th century who began to finally experience some success with blood transfusions. He saved the lives of eleven mothers who were dying in the process of giving birth.
-It was then that a clearer understanding came that life is indeed dependent on blood.
B. Biblical
-The Bible from it’s outset has always proved that blood is significant for life. Not so much the physical life but for eternal life. It is blood that has the power to cleanse sin.
Exodus 12:13 -- And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.
-The flight from Egypt. The hustle to get ready in the dark. The preparation of the Passover Lamb. The blood applied to the door post. The mark of the blood was necessary for the first born to be saved. That is not without significance in my own life. There must be a mark of Calvary somewhere if I am to be saved.
-Throughout the Book, we find the word "blood" 447 times in 375 different verses. It has numerous characteristics:
It has a voice -- Genesis 4:10 (Cain and Abel)
It is the life -- Genesis 9:4; Deuteronomy 12:23
It cannot be concealed -- Genesis 37:26
It has a mark when it is placed on things -- Genesis 37:31
It can become judgment -- Exodus 7:17-21
It may serve as a sign -- Exodus 4:9
It is a token -- Exodus 12:13
It seals a covenant -- Exodus 24:8
It has specific requirements -- Exodus 34:25
Only the chosen may use it -- Leviticus 1:5
It places limitations -- Leviticus 12:4-7
It is an offering -- Leviticus 14:25
It is allowed to touch the Mercy Seat -- Leviticus 16:15
It requires commitment -- Leviticus 17:3-4
It shows the marks of sin -- Leviticus 20:11-13
It serves as a sacrifice -- Leviticus 7:33
It shows signs of injury -- Deuteronomy 32:42
It is a sign of peace -- ll Kings 16:13
It is precious -- Psalm 92:14
-Yet the blood of Jesus Christ is greater:
It is the redeemer of sins -- Matthew 26:28
His blood is just and innocent -- Matthew 27:24
It was shed for many -- Mark 14:24
It has eternal life -- John 6:54
It came out of His side -- John 19:34
It is a declaration of righteousness -- Romans 3:25
It has the power to justify -- Romans 5:9
It has to be taken in Communion -- l Corinthians 10:16
It has the power to condemn -- l Corinthians 11:27
It supplies redemption -- Ephesians 1:7; Colossians 1:14; Hebrews 9:12
It brings us close to Him -- Ephesians 2:13
It supplies peace -- Colossians 1:20
It destroyes the power of death -- Hebrews 2:14
It purges the conscience -- Hebrews 9:14
It supplies boldness -- Hebrews 10:19
It is the sign of an everlasting covenant -- Hebrews 13:20
It is precious -- l Peter 1:19
It cleanses -- l John 1:7
It washes away sin --- Revelation 1:5
It provides whiteness -- Revelation 7:14
It is an overcomer -- Revelation 12:11
-That is what the power of the blood can do.
ll. HOW WE OBTAINED THE BLOOD
-This blood of Calvary was extended to us because of the love of God. That is the mystery of Godliness (Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. . . . l Timothy 3:16). It is a pattern throughout the Book, a loving God always reaching for a wayward man.
-He worked through the sacrifices of the Old Testament trying to re-establish the relationship. He worked with human government, with promise, with Law, and finally with Grace. The work of Calvary keeps on reaching. It occurred almost two thousand years ago and yet it’s power never grows dim.
-When I have a clearer view of Calvary, it is much easier to accomplish things in life that God has intended for me to fulfill. There is nothing that motivates me like the power of the Cross.
A. Bethlehem
-Mary and Joseph had traveled approximately 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Mary in the last days of pregnancy with the Holy One of Israel, had ridden a donkey while Joseph had walked alongside. He had gently coaxed both Mary and the donkey the entire way.
-The sad fact was that Bethlehem had no room for the Messiah. They were busy with the cares of this life and the busyness of their own schedules. They had no room for a Savior, no room for a Healer, no room for a Miracle Worker, and ultimately no room for salvation.
-There that night in the lonely little stable, Joseph the carpenter helped his frail, gasping bride as she travailed and brought forth the Savior. It did not matter to the couple that an audience of cows and chickens and sheep were also interested in the excitement.
-Their joy was not dimmed by the snoring stupor of the drunk who lay only a few yards outside the shuttered doors of the stable. It did not matter that there was no family around to share the joy with. What mattered was that God had saw fit to use their home for thirty-three years to base a ministry out of.
B. Twenty-Five Questions for Mary--Max Lucado
-Mary was aware that this Boy was different from the others. But did she know that God had robed Himself in flesh to live with her and Joseph for the next few years. Did she really understand the mystery?
-Mary’s world changed with this new addition to her home. I wonder if Mary ever considered any of these questions:
What was it like watching Him pray?
How did He respond when He saw other kids giggling during the service at the synagogue?
When He saw a rainbow, did He ever mention the Flood?
Did you ever feel awkward teaching Him how He made the world?
When He saw a lamb being led to the slaughter did He act differently?
Did you ever see Him with a distant look in His eyes as if He were listening to something you couldn’t hear?
How did He act at funerals?
Did the thought ever occur to you that the God to whom you were praying was under your roof?
Did you ever try to count the stars with Him and succeed?
Did He ever come home with a black eye?
How did He act when He got His first haircut?
Did He have any friends named Judas?
Did He do well in school?
Did you ever scold Him?
Did He ever have a question about Scripture?
What do you think He thought when He saw a prostitute offering to the highest bidder the body that He had made?
Did He ever get angry when someone was dishonest with Him?
Did you ever see Him looking at the flesh on His arm while holding a dirt clod?
Did He ever wake up afraid?
Who was His best friend?
When someone referred to Satan, how did He act?
Did you ever accidentally call Him Father?
What did He and His cousin John talk about as kids?
Did His brothers and sisters understand what was happening?
What was it like watching Him die on the Cross?
-This Jesus of Nazareth walked through life and forever changed His world. He brought sermons and parables, miracles of nature, and miracles of healing. He overturned the religious world with their pious platitudes. Yet that was how we received the Blood.
-Caiaphas and Annas, the religious leaders of the Pharisees and Sadducees, were at the point of attack. They first condemned Him among the people and then in the midst of Pilate and Herod. They won their battle, He had to go to Calvary.
lll. MUST JESUS BEAR THE CROSS ALONE?
-We often say that Pilate condemned Him, the soldiers mocked Him, and that crowd jeered at Him, forgetting that He went to Calvary for my sins as well as their sins.
-So let’s look at Calvary like we never have before. Let’s make it personal.
He stood trial in front of me. I had no evidence of His wrongdoing. There was nothing wrong with Him. I stood back and could not find any fault anywhere. No mars on His character. Nothing concerning his ethics. No dishonesty. . . nothing. But that crowd down there, what do they want me to do? So I will simply shift the blame and let them make the decision, besides it’s election year. I give them a choice, Barrabas or the Christ? I am shocked by their choice, they want Barrabas. He stood trial in front of me and I failed Him. Yet, He turns and looks at me with great compassion and says, "My blood will be for you."
Next, they push Him to the post. I grab His hands and tie Him to the post. I strip Him of His robe. I look at that back, broad and wide. Toughened by the work of being a carpenter. But it doesn’t matter to me, I have done this before. I reach over and take the whip, the one with the nine leather tails. In my spare time, I have woven in bones and metal so that I can really do my job well. I pop the whip once and then get down to business. The strips began to cut like razors through a thread-bare sheet. The blood is running and I am caught up in the heat of the moment. The rush of adrenaline flows while I punish this Savior. Then I am stopped dead in my tracks when He turns that noble head and gasps, not a curse, but a promise, "This blood is for you." He stood before me a second time to be scourged and I failed Him a second time.
Now, we move on. We mock Him and spit on Him. "Hey, Jew boy, save yourself." We blindfold him and slap him, "Hey, prophet, who hit you that time?" Then I send a wicked left to His nose and blood bubbles out. I want one more shot so I cross with a right and am rewarded by a grunt that knocks the breath out of His weary body. He stumbles and falls to the ground, but He boldly looks at me again and says, "This blood. . . . .for you." So now for the third time I have failed Him.
Now, it=s time to go up the Hill. The place of the Skull, Golgotha. I am behind Him as He struggles up the narrow road. Carrying the Cross, His instrument of death. He slips and falls but gets up before I can kick Him again. Again, He turns and says, "This blood is for you."
He goes on until He go no further. I jerk a man from the crowd that I recognize from Cyrene, Simon by name and I tell him to haul the cross up the Hill. Then Simon speaks to me:
Must Jesus bear the Cross alone, And all the world go free?
No there’s a cross for every one, And there’s a cross for me.
The consecrated Cross I’ll bear, Till death shall set me free,
And then go home my crown to wear, for there’s a crown for me.
Upon the crystal pavement, down at Jesus’ pierced feet,
Joyful, I’ll cast my golden crown, And His dear name repeat.
O precious Cross! O glorious crown! O resurrection day!
Ye angels from the stars come down, and bear my soul away.
Simon=s talk confuses me. I don=t want to hear about crosses and crowns. Simon, just stop your babbling and let’s get going. The fifth time, this Jesus of Nazareth, looks up with pain-filled eyes and says, "This blood will be for you." I can’t meet His eye anymore, I am too embarrassed. But more than that, this pathway of blood is starting to get through to me.
I lay Him on the altar and kick Simon out of the way and began the grisly task of nailing His hands and feet. I have never seen a prisoner like this one before. No fighting and struggling with the squadron who is nailing Him to the Cross. As we raise Him up to slip the Cross into the ground, He looks at me one last time, "This blood is for you." I flee for the office back at the Headquarters, I am sickened by all that I have participated in today. My mind will never rest because there is a continuous voice, reaching, wailing, whispering, begging, "This blood is for you."
lV. CONCLUSION -- O BROKEN LAMB
O broken Lamb of God
It was for me He died
For all my sin and shame
My Lord was crucified
But through His brokenness
I am made whole again
And I see loveliness
In Christ the Broken Lamb
The stripes upon His back
The thorns upon His brow
Because He suffered then
I can know healing now
It was an awful price
Yet He paid willingly
He gave His sinless life
To purchase life for me
The Lamb of God
Became the sacrifice
It was my debt and still
He paid the price
For every sin
And all iniquity
The precious Lamb of God
Was broken for you and me
They took Him from a Cross
And laid Him in a tomb
Their hope seemed all but lost
Their hearts were filled with gloom
But early Sunday morn
He rose triumphantly
And purchased for men
The hope to live eternally
The Lamb of God
Became the Lord of Lords
And He will reign
As King Forevermore
He conquered death
And now holds the key
The Lamb of God bought
Eternal life for you and me.
-Calvary keeps on reaching, regardless of what you are or where you have been.
-His blood is for the leper. The man whose face is not even recognized because of the extent of his leprosy. Sin may have scarred your life so badly that no one even recognizes who you used to be. But there is a Christ calling you from Calvary.
-His blood is for those like Peter. Fence-sitters. Men who cannot make up their mind which way to go. Then once they do make up their mind, it always ends in failure. Yet, Jesus met Peter after the Resurrection and washed all of those past failures away.
-His blood is for those like Judas. The one who will betray Him for money. His blood is for those who are spiritually blind, maimed, and deaf. His blood is for those who are at a crossroads in their lives.
Philip Harrelson
barnabas14@yahoo.com
