The Blood Series

Picking up from where we left off; here is the second quality of the Blood as we study the scriptures.

2. It Cleans:

With the entry on sin into this world through the disobedience of man, sin permeated throughout this world taking grip of all things living. It brought with it the penalty of sin, which is death Rom 6:23. 

So what is the importance of Blood throughout scripture? In Heb 9:22 we see that Blood cleanses sin and that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. This means that forgiveness of sins is by the shedding of blood. This is the one of the reasons why Jesus had come in the flesh to die. Then one might ask why kill animals if Jesus would in the end come to die on the cross. Why subject such cruelty to animals (in today's scenario) and financial strain upon the people of Israel to provide themselves with the sacrificial animal during the feasts and the daily offerings in the Temple.

                      In the Old Testament, animals were used for various ceremonial offerings that were instituted as a bridge between God and man relationally. Sin made man an enemy of God Rom 5:10! Animal sacrifice was used as a temporary solution for sin. Why? because it could not take away sins completely as seen in Heb 10:11. It is my  scripturally construed reasoning  that the blood of the sacrifices used to cover sins rather than cleanse them. You know like sweeping things under a rug so that it is not seen. We can see this in Rom 4:7, which actually is a quote from one of the Psalms of David (Ps 32:1). Another similar quotation can be found in Ps 85:2. The Hebrew word for ‘cover’ here is Kasah, which means to conceal or hide. I therefore believe that it is safe to say that the blood of the animal sacrifices concealed our sins from God. There is a big difference between covering and remission of sins. One hides it from sight while the other completely does away with it, leaving no remainder of sin. This is why the Bible states in Heb 10:1-4 that a remainder of sin remained after an animal sacrifice was made.

                    Sin remained because the blood of animals only covered it, and so with sin still intact within humanity, the Bible points to the need of a more perfect sacrifice to do away with sin once and for all. This perfect sacrifice was Jesus, who offered up Himself for the redemption of mankind.

                    I would like to ponder on a question at this time. Does sin exist anymore, since we are talking about the cleansing power of the Blood of Jesus. What do you think?