As i write this, a friend lies in the intensive-care ward of a large hospital where the most advanced types of cardiovascular surgery are performed. He has undergone, apparently successfully, a very difficult operation on two of his heart valves.
The blood supply was basic to his illness. And the objective of the operation and the surgeon’s procedures all centered in one element—blood.
To live, the body needs properly circulating blood. Life depends on adequate functioning of the heart. The surgery performed on my friend depended on the supply of blood to every part of the body throughout the operation.
A person may be completely healthy, with no disease of any kind. But an uncontrolled hemorrhage means certain death.
If the heart does not function properly, the circulation of blood is impaired, and the too familiar phrase, “died of heart failure,” appears in the obituary column.
Without an artificial heart pump and an extra supply of compatible blood, modern cardiac surgery would be impossible. Internists, cardiologists, and surgeons all recognize the vital role of blood in human life.
So, too, without blood there can be no spiritual life. Without the blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the Cross of Calvary, there is no remission of sins. A bloodless religion may appeal to the sophisticate and the esthete, but it has no power and offers no hope now or for eternity.
A look at some of the older hymn books reveals the place the blood of Christ had in the hymns of the past. Many of the newer and more vital churches continue to use these hymns. But in the hymn books of many major denominations, most if not all references to the blood have been eliminated. True, the music of some of the old hymns leaves much to be desired. But others are bright and theologically true. One may not care for the tune of the song that begins, “What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus,” but its theology is firmly grounded in scriptural teaching.
Just how serious is the questioning or denial of the “blood atonement”?
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews, calling to mind the bloody sacrifices with which the people were so familiar, goes on to say: “A man who has violated the law of Moses dies without mercy at the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think will be deserved by the man who has spurned the Son of God, and profaned [or “poured scorn on,” as Phillips translates this phrase] the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and outraged the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28, 29, RSV).
The vital importance of the blood atonement is expressed in such verses as: Christ “entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption” (Heb. 9:12); “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins” (v. 22b); “But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself” (v. 26b); and, “By a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (10:14).
Going back in history, we find that sacrifices are implied in the account of God’s giving coats of skins to Adam and Eve. And they are explicitly mentioned in the account of the Passover experience of the children of Israel in Egypt: “The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you” (Ex. 12:13a).
In the Bible, blood typifies life: “The life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it for you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement, by reason of the life” (Lev. 17:11).
All through the Bible the covenant of redemption is associated with blood. Moses said, “Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Ex. 24:8). Zechariah speaks of the “blood of the covenant” (9:11), and in the New Testament Christ and his apostles speak of the new covenant: “This cup is the new covenant in my blood” (1 Cor. 11:25a), and, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt. 26:28).
The death of the Son of God on Calvary is inseparably linked with forgiveness and cleansing from sin. The New Testament writers tell us that we have forgiveness and peace through his blood. We are told that there is no other way, that by Christ’s shed blood we have access to God, that for the one who believes it means justification and regeneration.
Many have said that there is no one satisfactory theory or explanation of the atonement. Be that as it may, the fact remains that Christ’s shed blood is basic to that doctrine, and we are saved from the guilt and penalty of sin because of his death on the cross. “Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures”—this is a categorical statement that all should heed.
Involved in the fact that the Son of God shed his blood and died for our sins is the enormity of sin itself. A low view of sin means a low view of the atonement. Once we look at the price paid for our redemption, we begin to realize the awfulness of our sin. The Apostle Peter states the fact in words no one can misunderstand: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet. 1:18, 19).
This recurring theme of a sacrificed and bleeding lamb, central agent in the Passover feast, coupled with John’s words, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) and the fact that Christ died at the Passover time, are overwhelming evidence of the significance of the shed blood of Christ on Calvary.
How can any speak of this as a “revolting” doctrine when it is the basic means of God’s redemption of the sinner? True, it convicts us of the enormity of sin; but at the same time it brings heavenly comfort as it reveals the love of God. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. That he did this by pouring out his life’s blood will be the theme of the redeemed throughout all eternity.
John, in his vision of the triumphant Lamb, writes: “Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals.…” Why? “For thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God …” (Rev. 5:9, 10).
Thank God for “Jesus Christ … who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood” (Rev. 1:5).
