A woman once wrote that at a garage sale she had spotted a handsome antique copper kettle for only $2.50. It was badly tarnished, so she asked the woman running the sale if the discoloration would come out.
She cheerfully offered to try some copper cleaner on it and disappeared with it into the house. Reappearing with the gleaming kettle, she handed it to the buyer for inspection. It was indeed a more attractive item, plus it also had a new tag attached. It read: "Like new-$10."
APPLY: Interesting. When the copper kettle 1st went on sale, it’s owner practically gave it away.
But something changed its worth. What made the kettle more valuable? A simple cleansing.
When the owner took the trouble to clean away the grime/ removed the discoloration and stains it was worth 4 times as much
Almost everything IS more valuable once it has been washed and cleaned up - and so it is with us.
The Bible tells us we are stained with sin. The guilt and shame of our past behavior takes away our value Romans 3:23 tells us “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”
And that has created a unique problem for us... because Habakkuk 1:13 tells us God’s “eyes are too pure to look on evil; (He) cannot tolerate wrong….”
But the Bible also tells us: God loved us so much, He offered us a way to “wash away” our sins. A way to cleanse our souls so that we might regain the value He created us to have.
I. What is intriguing is, that in cleansing us, God has chosen a VERY UNUSUAL method of cleaning us up.
Look at Hebrews 9:22 “…without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Blood sacrifices happened all the time throughout the Old Testament. And here in Hebrews, we find that the Blood of Jesus is what purifies us.
What is there about blood that would make it a “cleansing agent?” If I recall, blood is one of the most difficult stains to get out of your clothes.
ILLUS: I’ve even read of a new police technique using a chemical called “Luminal.” In a particularly heinous crime in Northern Indiana, a man who had ruthlessly killed several people in his own house had attempted to cover up the signs of his crime by using soap and water to remove the blood stains and then applied fresh paint to the walls. However, when the police arrived, they sprayed “luminal” on the walls and floors. Every blood stain again became apparent.
In researching this sermon on the Internet, I ran across one site sponsored by an atheist who mocked the very idea that blood could clean anything.
As harsh as the atheist’s arguments may have been, he raised a reasonable question: how could blood remove grime from our souls, when blood itself is a stain producing agent and can ruin many of the things it comes in contact with?
ILLUS: As I thought about this question, my mind drifted to thinking about the many soaps and cleansers I have in my home. There a mild soaps for washing our hands and our dishes. We can use them for just about anything.
But there are stains that are more difficult, which require stronger detergents and abrasives.
(read a couple of labels - bleach, etc.)
The stronger the cleanser, the more damage it will do to materials it wasn’t meant to clean.
The Bible tells us the most powerful cleansing agent in the world is blood.
In fact, God created blood to be a cleansing agent. In your body blood takes oxygen and other supplies TO cells AND REMOVES waste and impurities from those cells. Blood literally cleans out the filth from your body. That is one of it’s major responsibilities. There is NO OTHER cleansing agent known to man that can purify our bodily system as well as the blood that courses thru our veins.
So also there is no other cleansing agent known to man that can rid your soul of its filth and shame than the Blood of Jesus.
Blood was designed by God to be used to forgive you and I of our sin.
II. God used blood for several reasons.
1st = “life is in the blood”
Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life.”
In other words, God intended for blood to take away our sins because life is in the blood. The Bible also teaches us: Sin brings death. Romans 6:23 tells us “… the wages of sin is death…”
But God desired to give us life – and since blood was identified with life - Blood was the most natural substance for God to use.
During the Passover, an innocent lamb was slaughtered and its blood smeared on the doorposts and lentils of the entrance of every Israelites home to remember when death “passed over.”
Blood constantly reminded the people that their sacrifice was to deal with death’s power, and to give life.
2ndly = blood indicated that a price had been paid.
In order for a blood sacrifice to be given to God something had to die. God meant for his people to know HOW TERRIBLE their sins were. Every time they sinned, they were required to offer up a blood sacrifice. In the Old Testament, very day at the temple you’d see people lined up at the Temple gate with their sacrifices being offered for things they had done.
Day, after day, after day sacrifices were offered up to God. And these sacrifices cost the life, and the blood, of an innocent animal to pay for THEIR SINS
· A price had to be paid – and blood was the dearest price that could be paid.
III. (pause…) But sooner or later, somebody had to wonder how the blood of bulls & goats could take away their sins.
Let’s face it, the only link these animals had to the sins of the offerers was that these animals were owned by the sinner. These goats and bulls and lambs (etc.) had no tie in to what was going on in the lives of their owners.
There was nothing inherently powerful in the blood of these animals that would offer forgiveness to sinners.
That’s why Hebrews 10:4 tells us “… it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” Their blood couldn’t forgive anybody.
But God used their blood (the blood of animals) to help us realize that there would come an Ultimate Blood Sacrifice that WOULD remove all of our sins, and that ultimate blood sacrifice was the blood of Jesus. As I John 1:7 tells us, it’s “the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin”
IV. The reason Jesus’ blood had the power to remove sins was because it was HIS Blood.
Look to Heb. 9:12 “He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Now, why is it important that it was Jesus’ blood? It was important because all our sins are committed against God.
ILLUS: If I sin against (name a couple of people) I sin against God.
They are owned by God.
They are created in God’s image.
In offending them, I have offend God. And only God can give ultimate forgiveness
The Blood of God can cleanse away my sins, because in every sin I might commit, it is God that I have offended. Unlike the blood of bulls and goats that had nothing to do with the sin of the offerer. The Blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us because He has the right to forgive us.
V. Now, someone might ask – Jeff, why are you preaching on the blood of Jesus on Easter? Easter is supposed to be about the “resurrection of Christ” not about His death, …isn’t it?
Yes, Easter is about the open tomb and the resurrected Christ. But it IS also about the blood of Jesus. For it is the blood of Jesus that gives the Resurrection its power.
That’s why in baptism we’re told:
“…don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.” Romans 6:3-7
In our salvation, we had to take part in Jesus’ death - we had to come in contact with His blood.
THEN, having been touched by His blood by being buried with Jesus through baptism, we can be share in His resurrection.
CLOSE: It’s at the cross that our sins are removed, cleansed, purified. Because that is where we come into contact with Jesus’ blood
This morning at the Sonrise service, we had a very special worship atmosphere. We spoke of the things that stand between ourselves and God. The sins, the wrong attitudes and so on that complicate the lives of even the most dedicated servant. At the end of that service many of us wrote those things that stand between ourselves and God on pieces of paper and nailed them to this cross.
To help us visualize how the blood of Jesus removes our sins, I’ve asked my son to come and burn these sins and remove them from our presence.
(I used a deep metal kettle to hold the papers and kept a glass of water and a fire extinguisher close at hand - in case of difficulties. The only drawback was when the fire burned down, the scent of smoke did bother some parishioners. If I did this again, I would either have the materials removed out the back door, or covered the kettle as soon as the flames had done their work).
SERMONS IN THIS SERIES
Better than Angels - Hebrews 1:1-2:9
The Jesus Fixation - Hebrews 2:14-3:14
The Only Priest - Hebrews 7:1-7:28
New and Improved - Hebrews 8:6-8:13
The Better Blood - Hebrews 9:11-9:28
