“God’s love is all about the blood of Jesus Christ.”

Last year for Easter we took a look at different characters surrounding the cross: the Roman Centurion, Peter, the thief on the cross, Barabbas, Joseph and of course none other than our Lord Himself. This year, I’d like to do a completely different study with you. I think it would be very profitable to study the blood of Christ with the theme of “It’s All About The Blood,” using the lyrics of the same song from Brian Free and Assurance as our outline.

A line in that song says, “God’s love is all about the blood of Jesus Christ.” Have you ever thought about what would happen if you took the blood of Jesus Christ out of Easter? (I’ll give you a hint – you wouldn’t have Easter anymore!) That’s a pretty strong statement, so let me explain…

Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”

One of the essential truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that sins can only be forgiven through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not only shed blood, but blood that is applied to our lives.

Take the Passover for example:

In Exodus 12 we read the instructions God gave to Israel concerning the Passover: “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb…your lamb shall be without blemish…and they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses…for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD.  And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.”

Notice that the blood had to be applied to the door posts.  What would have happened if the blood of the lamb had been shed, yet, not smeared on the door of the house?  Would the Lord have passed over that house?  We see through the Scripture in Exodus that the answer would be no.  Why?  Because the blood had to be seen on the house in order for the Lord to pass over it.  It’s one thing for blood to be shed, it’s another thing that the shed blood be used in the way that God instructed.

Let’s take that same principle to the cross.  Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on Calvary – why?  So it could be applied to our lives.  Each individual is like that house in Exodus – the only way for God’s judgment to pass over us is when He see’s the blood of His Son applied to our lives.  Christ died for everyone in the whole world – yet, not everyone will be in heaven.  Why?  Because not everyone will apply His blood to their lives.

Exodus 12 says that “every man” had to take a lamb – the Lamb of God is sufficient for every man who has ever lived…
It also said that the lamb had to be “without blemish” – 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “He knew no sin.”  1 John 3:5 says, “In Him is no sin.”  And 1 Peter 2:22 says, “Who did no sin.” Jesus Christ was without spot or blemish…

Yet, it is up to us to apply the blood.  You can admire the Lamb, you can say that it is a good Lamb, you can even shed the blood of the Lamb, but unless you apply the blood of the Lamb on your life, you are not safe from the judgment of God.  After all, He didn’t say when I see the Lamb I will pass over, He said, “when I see the blood…”

Conclusion:  This week I want to look at some facts on why the blood of Jesus Christ is so important.  Because Easter is fast approaching, I thought it would an appropriate study for the holiday.  After all, we just learned that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.  That’s a big deal!  So I think it would be good for us to know more about such an important subject!  There are a lot of illustrations and facts out there about the blood in our own bodies that can help us understand, in simple terms, why the blood of Jesus Christ is so important.  After all, it’s all about the blood…

“It’s the scarlet thread that ties the beginning to the end,
it’s the river of forgiveness to wash away our sin,
it’s a healing stream a fountain, an eternal cleansing flood,
and the heartbeat of the Gospel will forever be…the blood.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0RBxwYBWkk[/youtube]