To: Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From: "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date sent: Wed, 19 Jun 2002 22:08:49
Subject: [HF] Bible Study HF068 - The Blood and the Testimony
Hebraics,
This is Bible Study HF068 - The Blood and the Testimony.
As a beginning point for this study let's consider Hebrews 9:18-23:
"Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without
blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses
to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the
calves and the 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 which God commanded you.' And in the
same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of
the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may
almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding
of blood there is no forgiveness."
But it didn't begin with the tabernacle. We have to reach back to
our first parents. Can you imagine the horror on Adam's and Eve's
face when they saw the sacrificial animal being slain, and its skin
given to them for a covering. No, the Bible doesn't say they saw
God make the sacrifice, but the skins had to come from
somewhere. In any event, they had never seen death.
What was the message? The message was about sin. Sin is a
terrible thing. But there was another message in the garden that
day. The sacrifice in Eden spoke of another garden, and of another
sacrifice in which God would deal a death blow to sin. From that
sacrifice God would again provide a covering. From that sacrifice
we would have the blood atonement and the testimony of faith.
The testimony of the blood is written throughout the sacred
Scriptures. Through the ages the blood message gets louder and
louder. It is because of the burdening of sin. And the tabernacle?
What a bloody place. The continual slaughtering of animals, with
blood splashing on the priestly garments, what a gory picture.
Perhaps the little Hebrew children wondered 'Why?' We know today
the why. A person can never know the preciousness of the blood of
Jesus, until he or she has a full sense of his sin and of his guilt.
Man needs a full measure of conviction. Without that sense of guilt,
man will continue with sin as a playmate. And the playmate is
deadly.
As for the name given to the blood of Jesus Christ, it is called
"the
blood of the covenant." This term reaches back to before there was
a world. The apostle Peter explain it thus; "Knowing that you were
not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your
futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious
blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.
For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has
appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him
are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him
glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." (1 Peter 1:18-21)
However, the story is encoded in eternity. Before there was a
creation, God planned man. Man was to fit uniquely into God's
family. He would share God's image, God's likeness, God's
attributes, and would enjoy unrestrained fellowship with God
Himself. But in making man in His own image, God foreknew that
man would fall into sin. Our question might be, "Then why did God
not make man less?" Less would have meant no attributes and no
fellowship. It would also mean that man could not share in the
greater glory to come. Only by way of the cross does man enter the
greater glory.
So God's plan from the beginning was for the blood of the
covenant. Out of the prison house of sin would come the redeemed of
every kindred, nation and tongue. And how would we know the
redeemed? We know them by the testimony of their faith. 1 Peter 1:8,
describes the attitude of the redeemed; "And though you have not
seen
Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in
Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory."
Of course that speaks to the New Testament believer, but what of
the ancient people of God? What about those who trusted in God in
the Old Testament? The testimony is quite similar. Job gives us a
perfect picture of the faith of an Old Testament saint. Job says, "As
for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take
His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from
my flesh I shall see God; Whom I myself shall behold, And whom
my eyes will see and not another. My heart faints within me!" (Job
19:25-27)
Notice that Job says, "My heart faints within me." This saint
of old is
describing the testimony and wonder of faith. Faith has always been
a present reality in the hearts of God's people. For all who possess
it, it carries its own witness. True believers have always been
known by their faith in God, and especially in God's promise of a
Redeemer. The Redeemer and the Messiah are one and the same.
The Old Testament saints also knew that the Redeemer would be
God's Son. According to the ancient testimony, God had a Son, and
this Son was always God's delight.
It is interesting that the testimony of faith was never restricted to
Israel. Job was not an Israelite. Neither was the Centurion soldier,
of whom Jesus said, "I have not found such great faith with anyone
in Israel. I say to you that many will come from east and west, and
recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom
of heaven; but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the
outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth." (Matthew 8:10-12)
So, how do we know the redeemed in our time? We know them by
their faith in Jesus, by their love for one another, and by their
obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. These people carry in their
hearts the testimony of the blood. And this brings us to the blood of
the covenant. The blood of the covenant was shed by man's
reckoning, almost 2000 years ago.
Hebrews 9:19-21 gives a preglimpse of the blood of the covenant. It
says that Moses sprinkled the blood on 'the book,' on 'the people,'
on 'the tabernacle,' and on 'the vessels of ministry.' The tabernacle
speaks of the true tabernacle in heaven. The sin of the world was
put away. No person will be judged on the basis of Adam's sin. The
judgment will be on the rejection of Jesus Christ.
Why the book? The book is Torah, or the writings of Moses. It
would expand to include the prophets and the apostolic writings.
Whatever the blood is sprinkled on becomes holy. The Book is
holy; its words are holy; its truths are holy; its message is holy. And
God speaks to us from the book.
The prophet Isaiah said, "On that day the deaf will hear words of
a
book, And out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will
see." (Isaiah 29:18)
The blood of Jesus has been sprinkled on the book. That's why it is
a living book. The words that come from the Book are full of the life
of Jesus Christ. This is why the Bible is so precious to the
redeemed. Jesus meets us in the Book.
What of the vessels of mercy. The blood was first sprinkled on the
mercy seat, and then on all the furnishings. Actually the blood
made a trail from the altar of sacrifice right into the holiest of holies.
This shows us that the path of the righteous is sanctified by the
blood of Jesus. We walk a blood trail. And its the blood trail that
carries us into the deepest of communion with our Redeemer God.
But how about the blood sprinkled on the people? It is the blood of
the crucified One that is sprinkled on the hearts of all who believe in
Jesus Christ. Peter explains this; "Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ,
to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the
Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May
grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure." (1 Peter 1:2)
The sanctifying work of the Spirit is the separating work of God in
bringing the sinner to the cross. When repentance is in place, and
faith has taken its place, somewhere in this process the Spirit takes
the blood of God's Lamb, sprinkles the human heart, and when this
blood touches the heart, it leaves its own testimony. This is why no
one can be saved and not know it. The blood that is sprinkled on
our heart is the blood of God Himself.
Paul said, "Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock,
among
which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the
church of God which He purchased with His own blood." (Acts
20:28)
So, when the blood of Jesus comes upon the heart the effect is
miraculous. Before the blood is applied a sinner is distracted in his
sins. As his sins are laid bare before his own eyes, he begins to
shutter. When this person turns to the Lord in repentance and faith,
the blood is sprinkled, and instantly he or she is transformed into a
new creature. And it all happens in the quietness of the inner man.
What is the result? Remember Adam and Eve and the covering
that God provided. They were covered. It is the same with the
believer. Paul said, "For all of you who have been baptized into
Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." (Gal3:27) Believers are
covered by the sacrificed Lamb. His righteousness is our
righteousness. His life is our life. His resurrection is our
resurrection. His future is our future.
What is our final word on the blood and the testimony. It is recorded
in God's final book; "And they overcame him because of the blood
of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they
did not love their life even when faced with death." (Rev12:11)
The study is open. Feel free to offer your thoughts.
Shalom in Christ,
Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org
Web: http://www.ChristianChallenge.org
"See to it that no one comes short of the grace
of God; that no root of bitterness springing up
causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)