If you would, turn with me to
1 Peter 1. I want to read four verses here, which
should be very familiar. 1 Peter 1, beginning in verse 18,
for as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed
with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation,
received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious
blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,
who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do
believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him
glory, that your faith and hope might be in God." I'm going to
stop right there. What I'm going to try to speak
to you this morning is very simple, the blood of Christ. extremely
important But very simple But before I get really started.
I do want to clearly proclaim at the beginning of this one
definitive statement And that is this definitive statement
the blood of Christ is real It is absolutely real What do I
mean by that? Well, I mean that the blood of
Christ is not a metaphor. It is not a type. The blood of
Christ is not a picture. In the scriptures, where it says
the blood of Christ, it means the blood of Christ. It's not the most pleasant of
subjects to bring up on a Sunday morning. But it is one of the
most important, because it, the blood of Christ, is one of the
reasons why we're here right now. I'm not here to make the blood
of Christ pretty or less offensive. The cross, Paul told us, is offensive. And that's not only because of
the torture and the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's
not only because some people will look at you and say, you
believe God was killed? Your God died? Yes, he did. But also, one of the reasons
it is offensive to a lot of people is because of the blood of Christ. This book, by some, is called
a bloody book. And this book by some is called
a book of blood. And some certainly mean that
as an insult, as a jibe, as a derision. I can't believe you people call
that the good book. This is a book of blood. From
the beginning to the end, you will see blood in it. But all
of the blood offered in the Old Testament, all of the blood spoken
of in the Old Testament, all of the blood our Lord preached
about, everything in the epistles is talking about, was leading
up to, and is the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And it is
precious. It is precious to us. There are people, they don't
like bloodshed in the Bible. Now the Bible's not a history
book, but it is full of history. And it is actually full of the
accurate history of man. And I don't know where these
people went to school, but if you read Between the Lines, because
you had to when I was in school, in the history books, They made
us study wars, when they started, when they ended. This whole country
is nothing but bloodshed from then up until now. The Bible tells the truth about
man, but mostly what the Bible is for is to reveal the truth
about God. In the Old Testament and in the
New Testament, It is the blood that makes the atonement. And the blood of Christ is real,
absolutely real. But Peter starts off this statement
with a negative. Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers,
You are not redeemed by corruptible things. Now, he is speaking to,
he is writing to, in this case, two believers. It says it in
the very beginning, elect according to the foreknowledge of God.
They are strangers scattered. And it is mostly Jewish strangers. But they are the elect. This
is Peter writing to his brethren. That's who this whole epistle
is dedicated to, it's written to. So he says, you were not
redeemed with silver and gold. Why? Because silver and gold
have nothing to do with redemption. Period. Money can't help you, and idols
can't help you. Not when it comes to redemption.
Nothing, has nothing to do with it. By your vain conversation
received by tradition from your fathers. Your fathers. have nothing to do with redemption. Your fathers have nothing to
do with being redeemed. Whenever I look at stuff like
this, Mason, I always look at it this way. Tradition is a nice
way of saying unscriptural. For the most part, when they're
talking about traditions in the scriptures, they're talking about
traditions that go against the scriptures. Silver gold didn't redeem anyone
the traditions of men have never redeemed a single soul never But even through this negative
statement, you'll see that there is redemption He's going to say
it in the next verse ye were redeemed, but not by these There is the truth of redemption
in the Old Testament in types and shadows and figures, but
not in the traditions of the fathers. Not in the traditions. Because there is no work of men
in redemption in any way, shape, or form. Redemption is the solo act of
God. Father, Son, and Spirit, but
one God. And here he tells us in the next
verse, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot. This is the positive side. Ye
were redeemed. Rejoice. But ye were redeemed. Notice very carefully, it is
in the past tense. Totally and completely in the
past tense. But ye were redeemed with the
precious blood of Christ. Not silver, not gold, not traditions
of men, of fathers. The blood of Christ. Now blood
redemption was shown in the Old Testament, like I said, in types,
shadows, and figures. Christ the Messiah was foretold
from the beginning. He's going to bruise the serpent's
head. The serpent was going to bruise
his heel. Abel offered a sacrifice, what, of a lamb. Cain did not. And you can just go on from there.
In Leviticus 17, I do want to turn there for just a moment.
Leviticus chapter 17 and verse 10, I think. That's what I got
written down. And I hope it's right. It tells us a little bit about why the blood
is important. Leviticus 17, verse 10. And whatsoever
man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that
sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood, I will even
set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut
him off from the people." Then he tells you why. For the life
of the flesh is in the blood. I have given it to you where?
Upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls. It is the blood
that maketh an atonement for the soul. I don't want to get too scientific
or anything, but God said the blood is the
life of the flesh. You can't live without blood.
There's no way. The blood goes to every single
part of your body. It'll go to your ears, it'll
go to your cheeks to make them red when you blush, if you're
embarrassed. It goes to your fingers, it goes
to your toes, it goes to your heart, it goes through your lungs,
it goes through your kidney, it goes everywhere in the body. And this is what God has said,
the life of the flesh is in the blood. Don't eat it. I've given
it to you upon the altar. for sacrifice. This is a picture of Christ's
blood. This is what this is for. All these sacrifices in the Old
Testament. Now, not all of them had blood.
There were a few that didn't. You had the meat offering, which
actually seems more like a grain offering. You have the drink
offering, which was wine. But all the others start off
with an animal being killed, whether it's a ram, a bullock,
a sheep, a lamb, a turtle dove there's blood being shed and
placed upon the altar it is the blood that maketh the
atonement and right here Peter tells us ye were redeemed with
the precious blood of Christ and I do want to point out that
little word where it says we are redeemed with the blood. Peter writes that the blood of
Christ is the instrument, the means of redemption. We were
redeemed with His blood. It's a real thing. Like I said,
it's not a metaphor, it's not an illusion, it's not pretense. We were redeemed with His blood.
We don't have His blood. We are not given his blood, yet
it is with his blood we are redeemed. What does that mean? Well, firstly,
it means men have nothing to do with redemption. His chosen women, His chosen
from before the foundation of the world were redeemed with
His blood, the precious blood of Christ. And second, all of
this is in the past tense. Peter wrote this like 1900 years
ago and he wrote it in the past tense. The people who were alive
then Blood of Christ has been shed. The precious blood of Christ
was shed over 2,000 years ago or around 2,000 years ago. With that blood, that precious
blood, ye were redeemed. And it does say who verily was
foreordained before the foundation of the world. Christ is the Lamb
slain from before the foundation of the world. There was a covenant made from
before the foundation of the world. And that covenant was
between the Eternal Father and the Eternal Son. Now, it did
concern us, those who were chosen in Him, predestinated in Him.
But we didn't have a vote in this covenant. We didn't have
a part in this covenant. This is between the Father and
the Son and the Spirit. They decided, He decided, God
decided to save His people from their sins. And they decided that the Son
would come and shed His precious blood for the redemption of His
people. He would redeem His people with
His blood. This is for you, not by you. This is for you, not through
you. Paul states it in Acts chapter
20. I do want to read that because I don't trust my memory. He's speaking to the Ephesian
elders. He called them to Him. In verse 27 he says, For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Verse
28 says, Take heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the
flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. Take
heed to feed the church of God which He has purchased with his
own blood. The blood of Christ is the blood
of God. Literally. This is not, I'm not
going to spiritualize anything. I'm not trying to traumatize
anyone, but literally the blood of Christ is the blood of God.
It's what Paul wrote. If Jesus Christ is God, then
the blood of Christ is the blood of God. And he purchased his church,
his people, with his own precious blood. We had absolutely nothing
to do with that. And it says, who by him. Now
this who's different than the last who, because it says, was
manifest in these last times for you. Now that who is that
you, which is us, the redeemed, the believers, who by him do
believe in God. We're saved by grace, through
faith, and not of yourselves. We are kept. by the power of
God through faith. We believe through the working
of His mighty power, who by Him do believe in God, that raised
Him up from the dead and gave Him glory, that your faith and
hope might be in God. These are the elect, the redeemed,
and sanctified by the Holy Spirit under belief of the truth. Those
that believe believe by him and guess what they were redeemed By his precious blood Redemption has results Big results wonderful results
but above all gracious results and You were redeemed. You, who were
redeemed, will believe. And you'll believe by Him. You're
not going to believe by yourself. I don't care what anybody says.
This book is clear. We are saved by grace, through
faith, and that not of ourselves. We do believe, but we only believe
by the working of His mighty power. We believe by Him. If you've got a problem with
that, you've got a problem with God. Because that's what the
book says. That's what the book means. That's
what the book teaches. I'll quote it. Ephesians 1 and
19. And what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward? Who believes? According to the
working of his mighty power That's the result of the redemption
of being redeemed by the precious blood of Christ Which he wrought
in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at
his own right hand and in the heavenlies and heavenly places Excuse me Salvation the salvation
of the people of God is because is because of The redemption
with the blood of Christ the precious blood of Christ Forgiveness of sins is because
of the redemption with the blood of Christ because without shedding
of blood There is no remission No remission without blood. I
didn't say that. The book said that. I just said it. But that's only
because I believe it. I actually believe that. If Christ
had not shed his precious blood, we wouldn't be saved. A holy God's got to be satisfied.
A just God has got to be satisfied. He said he was going to punish
the sin. Matter of fact, he said he was going to punish every
sin. Not just the ones you know about.
I'm in bad enough trouble if I've got to take care of the
ones I know about. But there are sins of omission
as well as commission. And I'm bad at both of them. That's the way it is. I was born in sin, conceived
in iniquity. Who can bring a clean thing out
of an unclean thing? It ain't me, and it ain't you. But I know the one that can clean,
and you'll be whiter than snow. I know the one who redeems with
his precious blood. Now, I do want to be clear about
this. What you think and what I think
of the blood of Christ does not matter to the purpose of the
blood of Christ. The shed blood of Christ has
performed that for which it was shed. I wasn't there, and neither were
any of you. 1900 years ago, Peter wasn't
there. He was there when the blood was
shed, but he wasn't there when it was offered. What we think of the blood of
Christ does not make the blood of Christ effectual. The blood of Christ is effectual.
That's one of my next points. The people of God were redeemed
with His blood. Because it's the shed blood that
matters, not what we think about it. Jesus offering His blood
to the Father And the Father accepting that blood as the sacrifice
for sin forever is what matters in the matter of redemption. It is because of this completion
of that covenant between the Father, Son, and Spirit that
all the Father gave to the Son what shall come to the Son. His redemption, His shed blood,
has results in the child of God. I got five things here. Walter
made me do this. I wrote them down. Five things
about the blood of Christ I do want to point out very quickly. Number one, if you are redeemed, you were
redeemed. around 2,000 years ago. Redemption
is a past deed accomplished by the Son of God and offered to
the Father. Redemption and conversion are
not the same thing, just as election and conversion are not the same
thing. But because of the redemption,
there's going to be conversion. That's it. That's it. Because
what I'm saying here about the blood and about redemption being
passed doesn't do away with anything else this book says about conversion
and about regeneration and about life coming and about the gospel
coming and you believing the gospel. That's the way God has
decided to show us His redemption, to reveal it to us. It's in His
words. All that's still true. But this
part, the bloodshed upon which our hope salvation is based,
is on the precious blood of Christ. That part is done. There's nothing
to be put to it. There's nothing to be taken from
it. God does it. God did it. And it shall be forever. Redemption number two redemption
is only by his precious blood with his precious blood Now like
I said in the old testament the Passover lamb A lamb the lamb and then take
your life And that blood was shed and that blood was put up
on the doorposts And he said when I see the blood Will pass
over you I'm up to here to tell you about this with the precious
blood of Jesus Christ When he sees the blood he'll pass over
you Because that blood shed that blood was offered that blood
was given to the father The sin offering the day of atonement
all the way to what I There's a lamb slain as it had been slain
in Revelations. From Genesis all the way to Revelations,
there's a lamb slain. And there's blood shed. And all
of that is a picture, is a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. That lamb in glory is our Lord
Jesus Christ. Redemption is only by His precious
blood. I give you the blood upon the
altar. What to make atonement for you? Third thing about the blood of
Christ. Those redeemed and brought in
are justified by His blood. Romans 5 and 9 says, much more
than being now, now, now justified by his blood. We shall be saved
from wrath through him. Now we're justified. If you're
a believer, you're redeemed, and you're a believer, now you
are justified. Oh, I'm hoping to be justified
in the end. You better hope it happens before then. You better
hope it happens before then. Because those at the end, I didn't
say it last week. I thought about it after I left.
I had it written down. I missed it. You know, I talked
about the wrath of God was not being revealed to the people
in this world. It was revealed to believers. The righteousness
of God and the wrath of God. When the wrath of God is revealed
to people in this world, what do they do? They cry for the
rocks in the mountain to fall on. Those redeemed will be justified
here, now. Fourth thing, the offering of
the blood of Christ was made by the Son to the Father totally
outside and completely away from the view of man. The offering with His blood once
was made, not here. Let me turn to it, because I
got scripture for this. I'm not just making up stuff.
Hebrews chapter 9 and verse 12. Speaking of Christ, verse 11,
being come a high priest of good things to come by a greater and
more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say
not of this building. It wasn't of the tabernacle on
earth. Neither by the blood of goats and calves but by his own
blood he entered in once where into the holy place having obtained
eternal redemption And it says for us We leave that out. He's obtained eternal redemption
He'll tell you who it's for You can put it in there, it's
for us. It's for believers, it's for those that were chosen before
the foundation of the world. But you understand, Christ didn't
enter into the holy place, not the one made with hands. He entered
into the holy place of what that was a figure of on this earth.
He entered the presence of God with his precious blood. It says
he entered by his precious blood. That blood was offered to the
Father and none of us were there. Because this was a covenant between
the Father and the Son. And this is the fulfillment of
the Father and the Son's covenant, the redemption of His body. The life of the body is in the
blood. The life of the flesh is in the
blood. Guess what? The life of Christ's body here
on earth is His blood. With His blood we are given life. I guess that is more metaphor. Redemption is done. He entered
in once into the holy place. Those in the Old Testament were
looking forward to this time right here when the Son took
His blood to the Father. And right now we are looking
back toward that. Like I said, that one offering
has had, past tense, certain specific eternal results for
his people. Hebrews 10 and verse 10. By the
which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. Actually it just says once. Verse 14. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." That's
the offering in Hebrews 9.12. Jesus Christ once made one offering
to the Father and with His blood He has obtained eternal redemption
for His people. And He has perfected forever
His people. What? With the precious blood
of Christ. With His precious blood. The fifth thing, the last thing,
is where it started. The blood of Christ is real. The blood
of Christ is real. Like I said, this is not a metaphor,
this is not an illusion. This is what this whole book
was speaking to up until this point and on beyond it. Our Lord had to come, had to
suffer. It says through the offering
of his body. His body was broken and his blood was shed. When
we eat the Lord's table, take this bread. It's my body which
is broken for you. Take this cup and drink it. It's
my blood that was shed for you. That we do in remembrance of
what He actually did. His body was broken. His blood
was shed. And His blood was offered, brought
to the Father. And the Father, just like everything
else Jesus Christ did, the Father was well pleased with the offering
of His Son. It was exactly what they wanted. It's exactly what he wanted.
It's exactly what they talked about. The life of the flesh
is in the blood and I put it upon the altar to make an atonement
with his precious blood. The blood of Christ is real.
It is effective and it is efficacious. I like that word efficacious.
I look it up. totally successful in producing a desired or intended
result I Like that word efficacious It was exactly what the father
and son designed And it was exactly what the father and son accomplished They are completed this Covenant
is completed in the redemption There are things that are going
to be done because of this redemption Because of this offering to the
father, but it all feeds out of here Conversion is real regeneration
is real But and excuse me not but Christ's blood is real That's
why regeneration is real and conversion is real. Because of
his precious blood. He literally offered his body
and blood to the Father in heaven and by this, his offering, he
has obtained eternal redemption for us. And it's real and it's eternal
for us. You start looking into some of
these things and then you get these crazy ideas. How in the
world can anybody look at the blood of Christ and what he has
accomplished, what he has done, what he said he has done, and
then tell you, you can lose your salvation? What the heck does eternal redemption
mean? People are depraved. And they will not have this man
to reign over them. But I want this man to reign
over me. And I want his blood to have
been shed. And it was. And he has obtained
eternal redemption. And he's working it out now.
Walter said, just because redemption done doesn't mean the world stopped.
No, there's more stuff going on. And it's going to continue
to go on until everyone for whom that precious blood was shed
is called in and brought in to the Father by the Son. Our Heavenly Father, we are thankful
again this time and this place. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, for
everything you've done for us, everything you've done to us,
the things you've done in us, all through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who gave himself a ransom for many. In his name we pray, amen.