I may not see in front of me, But I can see for miles around when I look over my shoulder, and Lord, it`s clear. You`ve brought me here, So faithful every step of the way. What can I do but follow you, For You are the Way, the Truth, the Life, And You`ve promised never to leave me, My Savior, my friend, From beginning to end.
I Am Found In You
by
Steven Curtis Chapman
For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life. Leviticus 17:11 NIV
Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. Exodus 12:3 NIV
Without sounding irreverent, I want us to look at a bloody subject this week. I hope that won’t bother the weak stomached among us, but if we are really going to understand our Christian belief, we can’t get away without discussing blood. Perhaps today’s Scriptures, and the ones to follow this week, will help put it all into perspective. When you understand the purpose of blood, it really isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s actually very good!
Blood. The Bible talks a lot about it. My home’s children’s dictionary defines blood as: the red liquid that is pumped through your body by your heart. Going to a more adult dictionary I found a couple of definitions. One being: A fluid consisting of plasma, blood cells and platelets, that is circulated by the heart through the vertebrate vascular system, carrying oxygen and nutrients to and waste products away from all body tissue. The next definition simply says: A vital or life-giving substance. I think you get the idea. Blood is an essential element of our life.
It makes sense then that blood would be considered important to God as well. God decided, when He designed our bodies, that blood would be the substance to bring life to our bodies. Is it any wonder, then, that, since blood is necessary for life, that God accepted the sacrifice of shed blood, for the remission of sin, which if unredeemed, would bring an end to life? (The wages of sin is death. Romans 6:23)
So, the precedent was set, the Old Testament followers of God were called to sacrifice a life, shedding its blood, and this was an acceptable “temporary” payment for sin. Tomorrow we will look further at the shedding of blood for the remission of sin. For today, praise God that He at least allowed something to deal with our sin debt!
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