Life and Blood – The Connection
"For
the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the
altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an
atonement for the soul."
-- Leviticus 17:11
“The life of the flesh is in the blood…It is the blood that
maketh atonement for the soul.” The picture given in the Old Testament
sacrifices is that of blood atonement. Atonement could not be made, but by the
shedding of blood. As the life of the animal was sacrificed in the shedding of
its blood, the life of the worshipper was spared by the blood shed. So it is
with us. When our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, poured out his life’s blood
unto death as our sin-atoning Substitute, he obtained eternal life for us (Heb.
9:12). His life was sacrificed in the shedding of his precious blood. Our
eternal life was thereby obtained.
Levitical
Offerings
None of the sacrifices in the Old Testament were ever resurrected.
In fact, there is no reference to the resurrection in any of the sacrifices.
Why? Because the resurrection of our Substitute, and all that flows from it,
has nothing to do with the accomplishment of atonement, redemption, or
justification. All that is needed for a sinner's pardon, justification,
cleansing, and peace with God is fully set forth symbolically in the death of
the innocent victim at God’s altar.
The Old Testament sacrifices are a
symbolic exposition of the way sinners approach God and find acceptance with
him. – Blood Atonement!
Justification is not found in the experience of grace, but in the sacrifice of
Christ. Justification is not found in our sacrifices to God, but in God’s
sacrifice for us. Justification is not even found in the risen Christ, but in
the crucified Christ. Christ in us is not our justification before God, but the
assurance of it. Christ crucified for us is our justification.
Gospel Ordinances
The ordinances of the gospel in the New Testament point back to
the finished work of Christ by which we are justified, in much the same way
(though for different reasons) as the sacrifices of the Old Testament pointed
unto it. In believer’s baptism, there is reference to both death and
resurrection because in baptism the believer confesses both his faith in
Christ’s accomplished redemption by his death for the fulfilment of all
righteousness and his own consecration to God in Christ, being raised from
spiritual death to spiritual life by the power of his grace. Therefore, in
baptism, we are both buried (immersed) with Christ and raised from the watery
grave to walk with him in the newness of life.
In the Lord's Supper, however, (as in the
passover) there is no reference to resurrection. The entire ordinance speaks of
death. The broken body and the shed blood, the bread and the wine, are reminders
of him who is our crucified Substitute, ever putting us in remembrance of him.
At the Lord’s Table we have communion (not with Christ as risen and glorified,
but) with the body of Christ and the blood of Christ (1 Cor 10:16), with “Christ
crucified.” The only object of justifying faith is “Christ crucified.”
We have life, eternal life, through his blood. AMEN.