Robert McLaughlin Bible Ministries
The Blood of The Lamb. Part 3.
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
“Blood of Christ” – the doctrine of redemption = the saving work of Christ on the cross by which He purchases our freedom or salvation. The coin of the realm for this purchase is called the “blood of Christ,” EPH 1:7.
“Blood of Christ” – the doctrine of propitiation = the Godward side of the work of Christ in salvation concerning the fact that God the Father is satisfied with the sacrificial ministry of our Lord on the cross,
ROM 3:24-25.
“Blood of Christ” – the doctrine of reconciliation = all believers are reconciled to God the moment they believe in Christ, but the work of reconciliation actually took place on the cross through the blood of Christ, COL 1:20.
“Blood of Christ” – the doctrine of justification = a judicial act of vindication, because we are born under condemnation, being spiritually dead, ROM 5:9.
“The blood of Christ” – must be defined as it is by Arndt and Gingrich, page 22.
Haima – blood = haima is used as being figurative in the case of Jesus Christ.
In the paragraph describing the figurative use of blood, it says haima means blood and life as the expiatory sacrifice of the Blood of Jesus as the means of expiation.
Theological Dictionary of the New Testament, Girhard Kittle vol 1 pg 175:
“The ideas which the New Testament links with the blood of Christ is simply a pregnant verbal symbol of the saving work of Christ on the cross.”
EPH 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood,
HEB 9:12-14 – we have a cleansed conscience through His blood.
REV 1:5b To Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood,
ROM 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood,
HEB 13:12 sanctified through His blood.
GEN 3:21 And the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them.
GEN 4:4 And Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;
GEN 8:20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
GEN 22:13 Then Abraham raised his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son.
Taking the form of the Levitical offerings in
LEV 1:5 and the special holy day offerings in Israel, Lev 23.
God in his awesome glory can never compromise any attribute of His character.
Of all the qualities of His essence the one characteristic that guards the others is His justice.
Man’s sinfulness is a maladjustment to divine justice and justice demands that justice be done.
The violence and bloodshed involved in the Levitical offerings was designed to shock the observers into recognizing the reality of God’s immovable character.
When the Bible mentions the blood of Christ, the purpose is to relate the cross to the animal sacrifices.
In the Old Testament, the blood was literal and the judgment was symbolic, but, on the cross, though His blood was minus the OSN, the blood was symbolic while the judgment was literal.
The Levitical offerings utilized animals to depict the unique person of Jesus Christ.
In physical death, there can be the shedding of blood.
In spiritual death, there is no shedding of blood.
This illustrated the perfection and impeccability of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He had to be without the blemish of the OSN or minus the imputation of Adam’s original sin.
LEV 1:4 the transfer of sins from the sinner to the sinless animal was performed symbolically in the ritual of laying the hand on the bull’s head.
2CO 5:21 He who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
1PE 3:18 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust,
Accepted – ratsah = to take pleasure in, to delight in, to graciously receive.
This pictured God the Father accepting the work of God the Son on the cross which is the doctrine of propitiation.
To make an atonement – kaphar = to cover, overlay, make an atonement.
Piel stem – intensive stem = reveals the intensity of Christ’s spiritual death on the cross.
A sharp knife would be used by the priest to cut his throat causing the powerful struggling beast to pump the blood which soon covered the offerer, the priest, the altar, and the ground.
1PE 2:22 who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
The burning of LEV 1:7-9 is a picture of divine judgment.
“The head” = the mental purity of TLJC, He never had one mental attitude sin.
The suet or the fat = overt prosperity in the ancient world, and so the outer purity and overt righteousness of TLJC.
The inwards = the internal organs of the body such as the heart, the lungs, the liver, the kidneys, the intestines.
The inward parts were offered first because Christ suffered a spiritual death inwardly before His physical death.
The water represented the principle of being sanctified or sanctification –
EPH 5:26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word,
Aaron and his sons were told to wash their hands and feet in the water from the basin,
EXO 30:19.
ISA 52:11 – all who bear the vessels of the Lord must be clean.
The New Testament commentary and application of this principle is found in
EPH 5:18 and 5:26, be filled with the Spirit, and having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word.
Symbolically this part of the ceremony taught that confession of sin and cleansing must always precede service.
HEB 10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
The “entrails” in verse 9 = our inner life and have to do with EPH 5:18, being filled with the Spirit.
The legs in verse 9 remind us of our walk in the spirit, GAL 5:16.
In our dispensation, the instructions for cleanliness is 1JO 1:9.
Out of the fire of judgment the smoke was a “sweet smell” to God or a soothing aroma to the Lord.
EPH 5:2 and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.
JOH 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
1PE 1:18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers,
1PE 1:19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
TLJC was not a lamb without blemish as described in LEV 1:3.
Then we have the sprinkling of the blood in LEV 1:5.
HEB 10:22 – we are to have our hearts sprinkled, but that’s not with literal blood.
The “blood of Christ” = New Testament phraseology for Old Testament prophecy concerning the work of TLJC on the cross.
The sheep pictured the perfect sinless humanity of TLJC.
The goat emphasized the sins to be born by TLJC on the cross.
JOH 1:29 The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
Most people in the ancient world were illiterate because they had been in slavery for hundreds of years and they learned not through reading but through repeated ritual.
These rituals pointed to the coming reality of their Messiah and the offerings had a two-fold purpose:
1. To evangelize Jewish unbelievers.
2. To teach believers the grace of God.
Ritual without understanding the reality is meaningless.