(This message series is inspired and excerpted from Heaven is Now by Andrew Farley)
“What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.”
(Nothing But the Blood, verse 1 – by Robert Lowery, Published 1876)
“It’s always been about blood. Whether it was Old Testament sacrifices and animal blood or the New Testament sacrifice and Jesus’s blood, there’s one thing we know for sure: heaven has a blood-based economy for sins. For thousands of years, Israel was keenly aware of heaven’s blood economy. Year after year, the Israelites offered blood sacrifices for their sins. On the Day of Atonement, they didn’t offer long lists of apologies or make promises to do better. Of course, they were sorry for their sins and they didn’t want to repeat the offenses. But they were well aware of what brought them forgiveness: blood, and blood alone. …Their God was not merciful to them because of their begging and pleading for forgiveness. No, for thousands of years an elaborate system had been in place to deal with sins. It involved an altar, the slaughter of hoofed animals, and a special Day of Atonement on which all this took place, once a year. That was the God-ordained way to feel better about your sins — through blood.” (loc. 1034 of 2138)
Then the Lord said to Moses, 27 “Be careful to celebrate the Day of Atonement on the tenth day of that same month—nine days after the Festival of Trumpets. You must observe it as an official day for holy assembly, a day to deny yourselves and present special gifts to the Lord. 28 Do no work during that entire day because it is the Day of Atonement, when offerings of purification are made for you, making you right with the Lord your God. 29 All who do not deny themselves that day will be cut off from God’s people. 30 And I will destroy anyone among you who does any work on that day. 31 You must not do any work at all! This is a permanent law for you, and it must be observed from generation to generation wherever you live. (Leviticus 23:26-31 NLT)
“Heaven’s economy hasn’t changed; it’s still the same today. While it’s certainly healthy for us to be sorry for our sins, the blood economy is still the only system heaven honors today. Only blood brings forgiveness. Not apologies. Not asking for forgiveness. Not our pleading or begging. Now, take a minute to contemplate these questions:
- Which blood sacrifice makes me forgiven for my sins?
- For how many of my sins was it offered?
- Will the sacrifice ever be repeated?
- If not, then what should I conclude about its effectiveness the first time?
We are not people who are being forgiven progressively as we ask for it. We are forgiven people, period. Why? Because our forgiveness comes only through blood sacrifice, nothing else.” (1046 of 2138)
The old system under the law of Moses was only a shadow, a dim preview of the good things to come, not the good things themselves. The sacrifices under that system were repeated again and again, year after year, but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. 2 If they could have provided perfect cleansing, the sacrifices would have stopped, for the worshipers would have been purified once for all time, and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. (Hebrews 10:1-2 NLT emphasis added)
Do you still find yourself begging and pleading because you don’t feel forgiven? How does the way you forgive others effect the way you perceive God’s forgiveness?
“Jewish priests couldn’t sit down on the job. For thousands of years, a chair was not even permitted in the tabernacle or temple. God’s intent was to forever imprint on the Jewish mind the image of ongoing work, unfinished business.
Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins. 12 But our High Priest offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. (Hebrews 10:11-12 NLT emphasis added)
Israel never felt that their sins were completely hidden from the eyes of God. There were always more sins to atone for, more sins to cover. And the priest was continually standing, offering the same animal sacrifices over and over. Then came Jesus, who did the unthinkable—he offered the sacrifice of himself, once, and then sat down at the right hand of God. The significance of this is astronomical. For the first time in human history, a priest who had offered a sacrifice for sins was sitting down on the job!
The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3 NLT)
Christ is seated right next to God, and they both know full well that all sacrifice for sins is over. …While the sacrifice of Jesus Christ was two thousand years ago, its effects were all-encompassing. Our past, present, and future sins were all taken away at the cross. Heaven looked down the timeline of human history and, seeing our sins, took them away through the blood of Jesus.
…How many of your sins were in the future when Christ died? …Is there any verse that says sins before salvation and sins after salvation are treated differently by the cross?
By that flawed logic, the gospel gets worse after salvation, with the cross having a weaker effect on sins after conversion. Ridiculous! By that thinking, we’d be better off becoming Christians on our deathbeds so that we don’t build up too many sins as saved people. The finished work of Jesus is simpler than all of that. The fact is that our entire lifetime of sins was taken away two thousand years ago. We are not people who can be forgiven or might be forgiven or will be forgiven. We are forgiven people, forever:” (loc. 1100 of 2138) How does this change your view of confession?
For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:14 NLT)
As the end of summer break nears, take time to contemplate the Master plan. Enjoy the relationships with which God has blessed you. Jesus wasn’t born to die so that we would feel guilt and obligation to a repayment system.
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Glory! Glory! This I sing—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus,
All my praise for this I bring—
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
(Nothing But the Blood, refrain & verse 6 – by Robert Lowery, Published 1876)
How will you guard your heart against worldly trappings and celebrate the salvation afforded you in heaven’s blood economy?
Heaven Speaks (What Jesus might say if He was sitting right here)
“You don’t picture me offering myself over and over again for your sins. But you do sometimes fall into the trap of thinking that I’m forgiving you little by little on an ongoing basis. That’s the same as thinking I die again and again. After all, only my blood brought you forgiveness. The whole idea of the cross was that it’s finished. So now I’m asking you to sit and relax with me. Behold my finished work! Take in all that I’ve done for you. You don’t have to ask for I’ve already given. I carried out my plan to forgive you before you even knew to ask. While the sacrifices of old were done over and over in man-made temples, I suffered outside the city gate and then entered heaven itself. When I sat down it was something no former priest could do. For thousands of years they remained standing, performing their religious duties over and over. But after I made purification for your sins, I sat down at Father’s right hand. So you can see the difference between the old way and my new way for you? You are a totally forgiven person, no strings attached. That’s the simple and profound truth of my finished work. I will never sins again, not now and not when I return. I’m coming back to give you salvation, the redemption of your body. Nothing else. Not judgment or punishment. I already judged your sins, and the punishment was death. I died in your place to take the judgment and all the punishment too. It’s simple accounting. It’s payment in full with no debt remaining. If you haven’t settled into the finality of my one-time death for you, how will you move on to enjoy the reality of my resurrection life in you? I gave you peace with me, so you can now experience peace in me and my peace in you. I love you. Believe in my love and be happy. – Jesus” (loc. 1123 of 2138) (inspired by Heb. 1:3; 4:10; 9:22, 25-26, 28; 10:10-12; 13:11-13; John 16:33; 19:30; Luke 10:41-42; Rom. 5:1, 8, 10; 6:23; 8:23; 1 Peter 2:24; Col. 2:13-14)
Awakening (a sample closing prayer)
“Jesus, my one and only high priest, I see clearly now that you are not up in heaven dying over and over again. Instead you are at the Father’s right hand. I accept your invitation to sit down with you and rest in the sufficiency of your one-time sacrifice. I agree with you, confessing that I am a forgiven person. Never again will I equate your blood with that of Old Testament animal sacrifices. My forgiveness is not ongoing, day after day. It was finished, once for all. I Thank you for showing me the finality of the cross so that I can enjoy the reality of your resurrection life in me!” (loc. 1123 of 2138)
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