For us to gain insight into the power of the blood of Christ, we must first grasp what happened the first time the Priests presumed they could worship God as they wanted. Examine what Moses said in response to God’s reaction to the worship of Nadab and Abihu, who were dressed in their priestly garb, and acting as priests of Jehovah:
Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu each took his own firepan, put fire in it, placed incense on it, and presented unauthorized fire before the LORD, which He had not commanded them ⌊to do⌋. Then fire came from the LORD and burned them to death before the LORD. So Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the LORD meant when He said: I will show My holiness to those who are near Me, and I will reveal My glory before all the people.” But Aaron remained silent. Leviticus 10:1-3
Anyone who approaches (worships) God will know the holiness of God. We can never approach God as if He is common or accepting of sin or the flesh. He will always show His holiness to sinful man. And as He reveals His holiness, all will see His glory!
After this, Aaron is given by Moses exact instructions for observing the Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). Do you think Aaron was careful to do exactly as God said? Leviticus 16 details what the High Priest was to do to allow God’s glory to be revealed to sinful man. That glory could only be revealed after man’s sin was dealt with, for all who draw near to God will know His holiness, and His holiness demands that our sin be dealt with!
Notice in verse 16, “…and because of their transgressions in all their sins.” Then in verse 22, “And the goat shall bear upon him all their iniquities…” and in verse 21, “…and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel….” He will make atonement for all their transgressions, all their iniquities, all their sins! This was the best that the Law had to offer until Christ should come[1].
On the Day of Atonement, the Blood was sprinkled not only on the Mercy Seat, but throughout the Tent of Holiness. It was sprinkled in the courtyard, upon the altar. When it was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, who was observing.
When Jesus shed His blood on the cross, many were watching, but at about noon, something happened that continued for three hours. What was it? (Mt 27:45)
- The world was covered by darkness from noon to three.
- Why did God do this? I’ve heard multiple preachers say it was because God could not look upon His son as He became sin. Yest Scriptures says otherwise.
“For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, And He ponders all his paths.” Prov. 5:21
“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, Keeping watch on the evil and the good.” Prov. 15:3
“For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, nor is their iniquity hidden from My eyes.” Jer. 16:17
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.” Heb. 4:13
The darkness surrounding Christ as He bled out upon the Cross was to reinforce the truth of the importance of the blood sacrifice-it was first and foremost for the eyes of God!You may think it was for man’s sin, and you would be partially correct. But the truth is that the blood was for God. God’s holiness demanded cleansing and purification. And darkness fell upon the earth as Christ offered His Holy blood for His Father. Christ’s offering on the Cross was for His Father, so that His righteousness and holiness could be satisfied! God found eternal satisfaction in the offering of His Son!
Do you Value the Blood of Christ the same way?
- What is the difference between the Priests sacrifice and Christ sacrifice? (Christ offered with the strength of an indestructible life)
- What is the difference between dead works and living or eternal works? (Living works are done through the one who has Life-Jesus Christ)
REVIEW-Our key passages which are the foundation of understanding the value of the Blood of Christ
- Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. Hebrews 8:1-2
- But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. Hebrews 8:6
- Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. Hebrews 9:1
- (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. Hebrews 9:9-10
- For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9:13-14
Jesus Christ is the Mediator
- Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant
And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:15
1. Is Jesus Christ Your Mediator?
- For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; 1 Timothy 2:5
- But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. Hebrews 8:6
The word mediator is from mesites, which in turn comes from mesos which means middle, the midst. Thus a mediator is one who intervenes between two, either to make or restore peace and friendship, to form a compact, or ratify a covenant[2].
Can you name an example of an Old Testament mediator?
so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance,
- For the Benefit of the Called
- To Deliver the Promised Eternal Inheritance
since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Hebrews 9:15
- Death that redeems
- Voids the penalty of the first covenant
- The first covenant promised blessing or cursing
- Blessing was based upon obedience
- It set people up to fail, Romans 3 being the conclusion – all have sinned
Our mediator guarantees our blessing
Our mediator guarantees our presence before the majesty
Our Mediator allows us to live in the LIGHT!
Are you living in the Light? Are you Living in the Presence of the Majesty? If not, then you are not allowing Christ to be your mediator! You are not valuing His blood the same way God does.He can only be your mediator if you give Him your Heart and Life! For where He mediates, there is the Presence of the Majesty of God!
Questions for Discussion
- Why does this mediator guarantee the presence of God?
- Why does Jesus guarantee our blessing?
- What light does this shed on your efforts for blessing?
- What can you do to warrant God’s blessing?
- What brings Life and Blessing to your dead works? (refer back to vs 13, 14)
- What requirement must you and I meet to enjoy this guaranteed blessing?
He is our Mediator ONLY when we answer His Call! (Hebrews 9:15)
2. Is Your Name in His Will?
A New York writer, wanting to will his body to science, selected Harvard as the recipient – because…I quote…“my parents wanted me to go there & this is the only way I could get in!”
A wealthy French Industrialist(capitaine Furrer) being disturbed by the impatience & greed of his heirs adopted a blood-sucking leech & bequeathed his fortune to it!
For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hebrews 9:16-17
Are you named in His will?
Have you heard of a Holographic Will (from law.com a dictionary of terms) – a will entirely handwritten, dated and signed by the testator (the person making the will), but not signed by required witnesses. Under those conditions it is valid in about half the states despite the lack of witnesses. A letter which has all the elements of a will can be a holographic will, as can a will scratched in the dust of an automobile hood of a person dying while lost in the desert.[3]
Here Jesus writes a holographic will for us, not in the dust, but with his own blood! It is recognized as legally binding in the greatest court of all time-Heaven!
Jesus writes in bold crimson letters across our lives…Forgiven!
What Must be involved for a Will to Be Empowered?
- There is only one way for a will to be in effect-the one who made the will must die.
There is only one way for you to know the power of this will…you must die to your own will. Do you want to be named in this will, this will that promises you the blessing of God for all eternity? Then die to your will at the Cross, grab hold of the feet of our crucified Savior, and let His blood be sprinkled upon you.
This Will is in effect now…the testator has died…You can live in His will even today! Even better, His will can become your will! You can work to leave this will with others…
3. Are you Living in the Power of His Blood?
Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:18-22
“ALMOST”
The apostle says almost, because a very poor person could bring an offering of flour instead of an animal. (Lev 5:11-13 But if he be not able to bring two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, then he that sinned shall bring for his offering the tenth part of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering; he shall put no oil upon it, neither shall he put [any] frankincense thereon: for it [is] a sin offering. 12 Then shall he bring it to the priest, and the priest shall take his handful of it, [even] a memorial thereof, and burn [it] on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire unto the LORD: it [is] a sin offering.
Inanimate objects: because in some cases certain vessels were purified by water, some by fire, Numbers 31:23, and some with the ashes of the red heifer, Numbers 19:2-10, but it was always understood that every thing was at first consecrated by the blood of the victim.
Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22
(Exodus 24:6-8 KJV) And Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. {7} And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. {8} And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.
Kent Hughes maintains that, “During the thousand plus years of the Old Covenant, there were more than a million animal sacrifices. So considering that each bull spilled a gallon or two of blood and each goat a quart, the Old Covenant truly rested on a sea of blood.” During the Passover, a trough was constructed from the Temple down the Kidron Valley for the disposal of blood – a sacrificial plumbing system.”(5)
4. Do you know the Full Power of His Blood?
Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Hebrews 9:23-24
A. God required His Blood in Heaven
“The earthly tabernacle, as God’s dwelling, might have been supposed to be hallowed by His presence and to need no cleansing, but being also His meeting-place with men it required to be cleansed. And so our heavenly relations with God, and all wherewith we seek to approach Him, need cleansing. In themselves things heavenly need no cleansing, but as entered upon by sinful men they need it. Our eternal relations with God require purification[6].
B. His Blood only need be applied once.
Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Hebrews 9:25-26
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:7-8
No need to be washed in the blood. We need to say thank you for the blood, for the power of the blood will continue as we walk with the light giver!
5. Are You Aware of How Late it is?
A. The Power of the Blood is Your Only Hope
“it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” Hebrews 9:27
(1) Men/women/children need to be reminded of their appointment with God…their date with Eternity!
- Put it on your calendar…IT IS ON GOD’S!
(2) “He is the Great Divider, & He does not divide men horizontally (high-class, middle class, low-class) – but vertically, to the right & to the left.”(7)
And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Hebrews 9:27-28
B. Is Your Life Focused on Jesus Christ?
- A Past appearing for our Salvation
(26b) “He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.”
- A Present appearing for our Sanctification
(24b) “now to appear in the presence of God for us”
- A Future appearing for our Glorification
(28b) “To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”
6. Are you Still Defeated by Your Sins?
You will be if you do not learn to value the Blood of Christ the same way that God does. Your conscience will continue to nag at you, and you continue to drown out its voice through your default escapes-alcohol, drugs, pleasure, music or what ever you do.
So, how do we value the Blood the same way that God does?
(1) What? (WAY) What about this passage has drawn us into the mercy and love of God?
- My worse sins are forgiven through the blood sacrifice of Jesus
- My best sins are forgiven through the blood sacrifice of Jesus
- I am in the presence of the Majesty through the ministry of Jesus made possible by His blood sacrifice.
- I do not have to focus on my sins. I do not have to let my conscience drag me down
- Do not focus on your sin, Focus on His Blood and His coming for you!
- I don’t have to do works for the sake of doing works. Dead works are produced by people still focusing on their sins. Their conscience is clouded, evil or seared.
- I can do Living Works by living in the power of the Blood. They are living in the Minister, enjoying the Mediator and eagerly waiting for Him.
- To build the Word into my life, I must die to my will, and submit my will to my minister, and enjoy living works held by Him!
(2) SO WHAT? (TRUTH)How is this to build this Word into my life?
Learn to apply the Blood of Christ to those sins that haunt you, those regrets that eat at your soul. Daily thank God for the Blood of His Son, and profess your faith in the value of His sacrifice. Imagine God looking upon your life as though He was looking upon HIs Son as He bled out upon the Cross, and know that He values you as much as He values Jesus. Confess your feelings to Him, but assure Him , Father, not my will, but thy will be done! Thank you for the blood of Christ that makes me white as wool before your eyes! I place my sins and my regrets and my failings under that blood, and know that because you value His Holy blood, because you are satisfied with His blood, you see me in Him, forgiven and pure, righteous and justified. I lay everything at the Cross and confess my need for Christ to be my Life!
You must daily value the Blood of Christ as much as God values it! Learn to see the power of His blood over your sins and failings. Focus on Him and His provisions for you! Change that ‘stinkin-thinkin’ that causes you to focus too much upon your sins and failings. They are continually forgiven, and you are continually cleansed, so live like it and walk in the Light!
(3) NOW WHAT? (LIFE) How does this empower me to live righteously this week?
1) Take your pulse. Are you alive or are you dead?
2) Look above you. Is your name written on the Will?
3) Look behind you. Do you see your dead self lying on the ground?
4) Look at your clothes. Is there any blood sprinkled on them?
5) Look at your hand. Is it being held by your heavenly minister?
6) Look in front of you. Can you see the Majesty?
7) Look all around you. Is there anything that you hold more dear than the coming of your Savior? Get rid of it and eagerly look for Him!
8) Focus on His coming and get excited!
9) Commit your life to living works!
The Power of the Brazen Altar
Walking into the Tabernacle, you immediately see the Brazen Altar. You smell the flesh, the blood. You are reminded of death and the awfulness of sin. We must all begin there. We must realize God’s Holiness and hatred of sin. Sin is awful, a blight upon our soul and conscience. But we must not dwell there. The Cross of Christ rose from the ashes of the Brazen Altar. It must daily touch our lives, but we must go on, for we belong in the Holy of Holies. We belong in the presence of the Holy One! That is where our High Priest is. That is where He ministers and mediates. If we dwell at the altar of sin, we will never know the beauty of the majesty.
Just as the fire of the Brazen Altar was used to light the candles and burn the incense, we must take that fire with us, and go into the Majesty. The fire of the Holy Spirit burns only when we have first laid at the Cross. We are to be “living sacrifices,” with the fire of the Holy Spirit burning within our souls, drawing us into the Light of the Majesty!
You will not see the Holiness of the Majesty unless you first go to the Cross. This is God’s way. The Cross is Glory to Him. If you approach Him any other way, He will reveal His Glory, but only as you learn His Holiness the hard way. You will learn that the flesh must be burnt away if you are to know God. It is so much better to learn the proper way to approach the Holiness of God, rather than learn the hard way, because you acted presumptuously.
Go to the Cross, be washed in the Blood. But take the fire from the altar and light the candlestick, light the fire of the incense, but go into the majesty and take your ministers hand. Focus on Him, walk with Him, and you will be continually cleansed through the power of the Blood!
[1] J. Vernon McGee, Thru The Bible with J. Vernon McGee, (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1983), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “Chapter 16”.
[2] Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies – Volume 1: Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1973), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 106.
[3] Law.com; Holographic will definition.
[4] Adam Clarke, A Commentary and Critical Notes, (New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1826), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: “Hebrews 9”.
[5] R. Kent Hughes. Hebrews: An Anchor For the Soul. Vol 1 (Wheaton: Crossway Books, 1993) pp. 233-234
[6] “Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies – Volume 2: Word Studies in the Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1973), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 167.
[7] Vance Havner; Day by Day Oct.6th.
[8] Vance Havner; Day by Day Oct.26th.
Related articles
- Now the Main Point is this…We Have a Minister – Hebrews 8 (mudpreacher.org)
- Do You Live in the Here or the There? Hebrews 7 (mudpreacher.org)
- The Power of the Blood of Christ – Hebrews 9:1-14 (mudpreacher.org)
- Leviticus 16. The day of Atonement (bummyla.wordpress.com)
- The Covenants and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (insightscoop.typepad.com)
Loving the Word with the MudPreacher 