THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB ATONES AND WASHES
And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to
open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by
Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Rev
5:9.
It was not the “death” of Jesus that redeemed us; it was His blood (provided
by the death).
Before sin Adam and Eve were covered with the Glory of God. They were naked,
but the Presence of God in them hid their nakedness. “ And they
were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Genesis 2:25.
When they sinned the glory of God departed from them and they were exposed.
Indeed they became conscious of their nudity; and were filled with shame;
so they looked for a place to hide. We know the rest of the story: their
worthless attempt to cover themselves with fig leaves left them lacking before
the Face of the merciful God who called them out of their hiding place.*
So the One who created them provided the covering they needed. The covering that
God provided was the skin of an animal that – being innocent of the sin of
humanity - had to be killed in order to provide a type of blood that had “life”
in it. (Genesis 3:21).
Adam and Eve had died (the wages of sin is death), so they could only be
covered with LIFE again by the blood (uncontaminated by sin), because “Life is
in the blood”. It was the Blood that covered Adam and Eve, not the skin. The
animal had to be killed to provide the blood and the blood was in its skin.
Here we find the first awareness of the cost and the ugliness of sin and the first
understanding that it is the blood that atones (covers).
The word “atonement” is an interesting one and it means to bring together, to
join, to reconcile, to make one, …at-one-ment . The same word in Spanish
is “adunar” and in Italian “adunare” or to bring together, “UN”meaning
uno or “one” as in “at-one-ment”. It is the Blood of Jesus that reUNites
(reconciles) us to God.
“Atonement” was possible because of the blood in the animal skin that had
been cut off from life to provide it. So then, Atonement is LIFE poured out.
The death of the innocent animal, points to the Reconciliation by the Life of
Jesus poured out through His death.
Romans 3:25-26, referring to Jesus, says: “ Whom God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his
righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the
forbearance of God … that he might be just, and the justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus..
Propitiation is that which makes peace. Jesus is our Propitiation or our
Peace Maker. He made peace by expiation in that He compensated (appeased) the
injury done to God by satisfying the demands of His justice.
Sin had to be punished. Justice had affirmed that the wages of sin is death.
Only the satisfaction of justice could compensate for the great damage
received: the loss of the crown of His creation: you and I. Nothing outside the
blood of His Son could pay that cost!
Because the Blood of His Son accomplished what the Law required, God
demonstrates His righteousness by accepting people who put their faith in
Jesus. In other words, He can be righteous in showing mercy to the sinner,
because justice has been done, and to be just, He must accept them when
they repent of their sins and put their faith in the Lord.
When the penitent looks to Jesus as his/hers propitiation receives the
warranty that his salvation is not merely based on God’s grace and mercy, but
also on His righteousness and justice.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins…” I Jn 1:9
I have read somewhere that there was a time when the life of a slave was
worth so little that a slight compensation atoned for taking it away. We too
were slaves of sin, BUT your life and mine is of so great worth to God that only
the greatest compensation could atone for it! My friend, you are precious to
God. How great is His Love!
The Blood Washes
After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could
number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne
and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands
and crying out with a loud voice, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits
on the throne, and to the Lamb!"
All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living
creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:
"Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and power and
might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen."
Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, "Who are these arrayed in
white robes, and where did they come from?"
And I said to him, "Sir, you know." So he said to me, "These are the ones who
come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made
them white in the blood of the Lamb. Rev 7:9-14
M.R. DeHaan, a medical doctor, in his book “The Chemistry of the Blood”,
gives a very simple and clear explanation of the characteristics and the
functions of the human blood. When we examine them they teach us volumes-by
analogy-regarding the virtue of the blood of Jesus that bestows not only
physical life but also the Eternal one.
He points out that the blood is fluid and mobile, therefore it is free to
move to every part of the body, transporting nourishment to every cell and
carrying off the waste products. If the blood doesn’t reach cells and organs of
the body, they die. Truly the life is in the blood! This is also true for Church
of the Living God. Every member of the Body of Christ received and maintains
life from Jesus, the Head; so every member is related to one another through
that same blood. When the flow of this precious fluid is stopped by bondages and
uncoffessed sins toward one another, some members get sick or even die.
For example, when a very tight band around the arm restricts the flow of
blood, for a while the muscle operate, but then pain sets in. As soon as the
band is loosened, relief is experienced because of the washing of the
blood. What happened? In order to work muscle need to transform oxygen into
energy. When this process takes place, waste products are eliminated in
the blood. When the blood is not present, the toxins accumulate in the cells,
causing pain and – if the pressure is not released – atrophy sets in and the arm
weakens or even dies.
In the same manner, sin and bondage cut off the life flow of the Spirit by
the blood of Jesus and the process of spiritual and even physical death sets in
the Body of Christ. That’s why, Paul admonishes the believers about partaking of
communion unworthily (with uncoffessed sin against one another) in I Corinthians
11:23-32. But thanks be to God, when the sin is confessed and repented of, the
flow of life can be re established by partaking of the table of the Lord in
faith.
The original word for “washed” is the Greek “Luo”, a primary verb which means
to loosen, to break, to destroy, to dissolve, to melt and to put off.
When we confess our sins (the toxin), the blood of Jesus eliminates
them by breaking them, dissolving them melting them and putting them off from
us.
What a beautiful illustration of the powerful ablution in the blood of our
Redeemer.
As I reflect on this truth, the words of an old song rings in my ear:
“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus
…How precious is the flow that makes me white as snow
No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus!
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be
not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor
effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind. Nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And such were some of you: but ye are washed…..”1
Cor 6:9-11
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