seeking once again the Lord's
help to grant me the words to speak to you to open up my understanding
to his holy word. I'd like us to turn to the chapters
that we read together specifically first John chapter 1 and the
text you'll find in verse 7. But if we walk in the light as
he is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. Really it's the last clause of
the verse, the blood Jesus Christ his Son cleanses
us from all sin. We have read together chapter
1 and chapter 2 and we read of the various ways in which the
Apostle sets before us those things by which we might be able
to know that we are found in Christ Jesus. we know that the
way in which a person is saved is only through the blood or
the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and he seeks to set before
us in this letter that that love and that sacrifice applied to
us by the Spirit of God is able to be seen and witnessed by ourselves
and also by others. You read as you go through the
first letter that there are certain things that he says by which
we might know that we are found in Christ Jesus. John we know
was an eyewitness to the Lord Jesus Christ and he begins his
letter by explaining to his readers that he has seen the word of
life, that which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and
our hands have handled of the word of life. the life was manifested
and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us. You notice that it's very similar
to the way in which he begins his gospel. In the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God
and the same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him and without him was not anything made that was made.
In him was life and the life was the light of men and the
light shineth in darkness. and the darkness comprehended
it not and as we go right back to the beginning of the Bible
again that similarity in the beginning God created the heavens
and the earth and so the apostle lays it on that Christ that was
there with God in the beginning creating the heavens and the
earth all things were made by him and there was not anything
made that was made all things were made by and through the
Lord Jesus Christ and also then it is eternal life granted through
the Lord Jesus Christ he is the the word of life for the life
was manifested or revealed and we have seen it and we have shown
it unto you that eternal life which was with the Father and
was manifested unto us. And so when this eternal life
is bestowed or given to an individual the Apostle says that there are
certain characteristics of that person which is going to change. He speaks specifically about
loving a brother and not walking in the darkness but walking in
the light. If we walk in the darkness or
in worldliness and sin we lie and the truth is not in us. And
so he comes down to this conclusion that if we walk in the light
have fellowship one with another in the light of Christ in the
light of the glorious gospel having our eyes opened and able
to see we will love one another and have fellowship one with
another and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from
all sin. So he has put this clause right
in the middle that The reason why someone is able to walk in
the light and have fellowship one with another is because of
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and that that blood or that sacrifice
has cleansed that person from all of their sin. We know that
that work is done by the Spirit of God by transforming the nature
and that person becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit and that they
are now driven by a renewed will, they are a new nature, a new
creation in Christ Jesus and they are are born again of the
Spirit. Now what I wanted us to look
at as we looked at on Wednesday as we saw King Solomon and the
the multitude of sacrifices that were shed at the dedication of
the temple and how he dug out the court floor so that they
could sacrifice all of the animals and the amount of blood and the
amount of death that would have been shed on that day and that
would have continued to have been shed throughout the existence
of the first and second temples. What is the significance of blood? Why does the Bible speak so much
about death and blood in the Old Testament and then the Lord
Jesus Christ here in the New Testament? Why is it speaking
about his blood and how does his blood enable someone to be
cleansed from their sin? What purpose does it have? And really we have to go right
the way back to the beginning of the Bible. And I noticed in
my Bible at home I used for studying that those pages are falling
out. Genesis 1, 2, 3. And it seemed
that I'm always turning all the way back to the beginning to
find the root cause of all of our problems. The root cause
of all of our sin goes all the way back to the garden of Eden
and Adam and Eve. We are told in the Bible that
Adam and Eve were created by God and God said to them you
can have all and eat from all of the trees of the garden everything
is before you but you shall not eat from the tree of knowledge
of good and evil. Genesis 2 Verse 17, but of the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of
it for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt die. And we know that Adam and Eve
disobeyed God and they sinned against God by listening to Satan
and taking from the tree of knowledge and of good and evil. and in
doing so they were separated from God and their bodies began
now to succumb to death. They were no longer able to live
forever but their lifespan was shortened and they became spiritually
dead, separated from God and their life was now limited. God said that that life that
is in you It is going to stop and your soul will be taken from
you and your body will be placed into the ground. Dust you are
he says to Adam and dust and to dust you shall return. And we know that the scripture
tells us that we are the children of Adam. By death, by one man
death came into the world and that is Adam and all have sinned.
And therefore death is worldwide. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God and therefore death is all around us because
we have sinned against God. And if you think of it, it's
not a nice thing to think about but we are born to die. As soon as somebody is born,
the moment of their death it is fixed. The body of that person will
be unable to live forever but their soul is eternal. And so the point will come when
the body will die but the spirit or the life or the soul of that
one will be carried away to its eternal destiny which will either
be with God or will be under the wrath of Almighty God in
hell. And so because of the sin of
Adam, death passed upon all men. Our life is limited. None of
us know how long we will exist upon this earth. But we do know
through the revelation of the scripture that our soul and our
body will be separated at death and our souls will then go to
that eternal state. And the book of Romans tells
us that that is our wages. The wages, Romans 6, for the
wages of sin is death. The wages of sin, that is what
we reap through living a life in rebellion against God or living
a life in rejection of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the wages of
sin is death. the gift of God is eternal life
through Christ Jesus our Lord. And so right from the beginning
we know that God promised a way in which that death would be
able to be overcome through the seed of the woman which we know
to be the Lord Jesus Christ and that he came to bring eternal
life to those who would believe in him. And through the sin of Adam as
we have seen that death was passed upon all men for all have sinned. But it's not just the death that
we see. We read the news, we hear of
one and another who die. We're actually three times dead. You see by our nature we are
spiritually dead. When Adam and Eve sinned against
God there was that barrier placed and there was that separation.
The scripture tells us we are in the darkness, we are spiritually
dead, unable to receive spiritual truths, we are spiritually separated
from God. We are unable by our nature to
believe in God and to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ until
spiritual life is breathed into us so we are spiritually dead. Then we are physically, we physically
die. Our lives are limited. No one is able to live forever
and we read of those wealthy people don't we who put their
bodies to science and try and freeze them and preserve them
until science excels to be able to bring them back to life but
this will never happen. The only time when the dead will
rise from the grave will be at the coming of the Lord Jesus
Christ and so we are spiritually dead, we are we physically die
but then there is that eternal death that the Lord Jesus Christ
tells us about which is hell. Eternal separation under the
wrath of God under the judgment of God because of the consequences
of our sin and rebellion against God and the rejection of the
Lord Jesus Christ and so it is three times dead spiritually,
physically and then eternally. And so death is the fine, if
you like, that we owe to God because of our sinful nature. Death is what the law of God
requires. The soul that sins it must die. We look at the laws of our land
and every law has a punishment. There is a maximum jail term
for certain sentences. Maybe if you're a thief you may
get a year. Maybe if you're a bank robber
20 years. If you're a murderer they say
life or double life or and such like and so every crime has a
law that is broken but then has a penalty for that crime. And the penalty for breaking
God's law is death. For God's law to be satisfied,
for him to be a righteous judge, his laws must be satisfied. He cannot allow people off He
cannot say well you're a nice person I'll let you off. No his law must be satisfied
and he has made a way through the currency we could say of
blood. You see sin is real. and sin incurs a real debt to
God. God has a real account where
which he records the sins of people and he cannot just say
it's okay. As he balances the books, as
he looks at the sins of James and as he looks at the punishment
that is there He says James must die. James's sin requires him
to be separated from me in eternal damnation in hell because of
what he has done. So he can't just let us off because
there would be an imbalance. The justice would not have taken
place. The law of God would not have
been satisfied. But God has said that blood can
be shed and that that law can be satisfied. Life can be shed. And so as sin is real as the
records of God are real. So the payment to cancel or to
satisfy the law must also be real. If you had a speeding fine and
you sent the government some monopoly money they would not
be satisfied. Your debt would still be there. because the currency by which
you paid was not a legitimate currency. If the debt is a hundred
then a hundred must be paid and the law cannot be satisfied with
anything less and so you must pay what is due. so God himself cannot be satisfied
with anything less other than a real payment to cancel out
the sins of his people. We know that the scripture says
that Christ was slain, the Lamb of God slain before the foundation
of the world and we know that when the plan of salvation was
put together it was done in eternity past but there the mind and the
will of God they knew that Christ would come and when God wills
something into being that plan cannot be altered and so it is
as though it is done already but that was not good enough
Christ had to come The law of Jesus Christ had to come. It
would be no good just to have kept our thoughts in eternity
past but the actual plan of God had to be fulfilled and worked
out in Christ Jesus so that his law could be satisfied. Every
line and every dot of that law satisfied and that Christ could
then become the perfect substitute for sinners. and that his blood
was literally shed. That's why Christ came, so that
he could be that perfect substitute, that Lamb of God that takes away
the sin of the world, and that the blood of Jesus Christ, his
Son, cleanses us from all sin. that literal blood, that literal
life, that real life that Christ had, had to be shed because sin
is real, God's law is real and the punishment of sin is real
and therefore that payment had to be a legitimate payment not
of fake monopoly money but real blood by a real Christ shed upon
a real cross falling underneath the real wrath of God so that
real people may be able to have their real sin cleared and cleansed. In John chapter 10 the Lord Jesus speaks to us there. He says in verse 10, So Adam,
through his disobedience, brought death. we are three times dead spiritually
physically and can be eternally but Christ has come that they
might have life and he didn't come to save us from the physical
death the physical death but he came to save us from the eternal
death the eternal wrath of almighty God which is due to each and
every one of us because of our rebellion and our sin against
him. He says I am come that they might
have life that they might have it more abundantly an abundant
life not as the health and wealth people say your best life now
but our best life in eternity to come He says, I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life
for his sheep. So Christ came to give his life
as an offering, as an atonement, as a payment for sin. In the chapter that we read,
chapter 2, 1 John chapter 2. My little children, verse 1,
these things I write unto you, that ye sin not. If any man sin,
we have an advocate, a mediator, a reconciliator with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins or the payment, the atoner. the one who atones, makes
the payment for our sins as our mediator and he reconciles man
and God together through the payment of what they owe. God. Sin is what separates and
therefore Christ removes sin by the payment of his perfect
life and through his experiencing the wrath of Almighty God. In Hebrews chapter 9 11 to 14, which I think we looked
at on Wednesday, but Christ 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 neither by the blood
of goats and calves but by his own blood he entered in once
into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us if
the blood of bulls and of goats and of the ashes of a heifer
sprinkling the unclean sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh
how much more shall the blood of Christ who through the eternal
spirit offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. And so as we looked
at on Wednesday all that blood under that death that was shed
under the old covenant could never literally take away the
sins of a person but Christ the sacrifice of Christ was able
to take away the sins of his people how much more shall the
blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offer himself
without spot to God purge your conscience from dead works. Purging
is that removing of the sin from dead works to serve the living
God and so all of those Old Testament types,
those bulls and those goats, that shedding of the blood was
pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. That still leaves us with that
same question. Why blood? Why is it the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin? Why is it when
we go into the Old Testament there is that continued bloodshed
at the temple Why is it that there was that barrier of death
between God and man and only reconciliation could take place
through those sacrifices there at the temple and then ultimately
through that sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ as God looks
to his Son and as we look to his Son there is that bringing
together but why is it surrounded? Why is that clash where those
gazes combine? Why is it death? Why is it blood? Because that is what God's law
required God's law required that the soul that sins it should
die physically and then eternally and the only way in which that
reconciliation could take place is that if God's law was fully
satisfied and it is so in his Son the Lord Jesus Christ and
the blood is spoken of is the life of Christ being poured out
as an atonement for, as a payment for the sins of his people. His life poured out so that we
might be enabled to live his death for our life. Leviticus 17 tells us something of how God
sees the blood running through our bodies and the blood that
is in the animals. He says 17 and verse 10 and whatsoever
man there be in the house of Israel or of the strangers that
sojourn or stay among you that eateth any manner of blood I
will set my face against that soul that eateth blood and will
cut him off from among his people for the life of the flesh is
in the blood and I have given it to you upon the altar to make
an atonement for your souls for it is the blood that makes an
atonement for your soul. Verse 14 for the life of all
flesh the blood of it is for the life there thereof. And so
God says that the blood is the life or what sustains the body
and when that blood is poured out upon the altar that is that
life being given wages of sin is death but God has also made
a way in which that payment may be made by another. If you have a fine and you don't
have any money to pay and a friend comes and says I'll pay for you the law is still satisfied because
the fine has been paid although it didn't come from you yet the
law is satisfied And so God has said that he will take a substitute. Although we deserve to die, yet
he will take the life of another to pay for the sins of his people. And all of the old covenant,
all what takes place in the Old Testament is symbolic for the
Lord Jesus Christ. Their blood could never take
away sin, but their life was given as blood is poured out
for the life of the flesh is in the blood and so the Lord
Jesus Christ that is why he put on flesh the scripture tells
us born of a woman under the law made a little lower than
the angels because of death he had to put on a human body so
that his life could be laid down as a perfect sacrifice for sinners. His life had to be given, his
blood had to be poured out and made as an offering, as a payment
for his people. And so the blood showed that
death had come The life had been taken away, judgment had taken
place. If God says death is the penalty
then death must be the payment. And so the blood of Christ settles
the law of God. Christ through his life He says
that he came to fulfil the law of God. We are unable, completely
unable to fulfil the law of God. The scripture tells us you sin
once, you break the whole law. Conceived in sin, David says,
we go forth from the womb speaking lies. We are unable. to obtain a righteousness that
will ever satisfy a holy God. But because God is love, he made
a way by giving his Son who is able to achieve what you and
I are not able to achieve by fulfilling the law of God in
action and in mind. Love the Lord your God with all
of your heart, soul and mind and your neighbour as yourself.
The summary of the whole of the law of God. And none of us have
ever ever ever for one second of a day ever loved God with
our whole being. It's impossible for us for we
are corrupted by sin. So we need a substitute. We need the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ to be shed on our behalf. His life poured out. His death so that we may have
life. And so the perfect life of Christ
and then the death of Christ with God pouring out His anger
upon His Son, He who made sin for us who knew no sin. He paid in full the accounts of each of His people. So the blood of Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all sin. So the blood is the life being
poured out and presented to God and God sees that it's death
has come. Death has taken place. Judgment
has been poured out. The law that is satisfied. How then does it clean? How can somebody who's so contaminated
by sin be cleansed from all sin? If we confess our sins he is
faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness. The blood of Christ and the life,
the perfect life of Christ pays the debt that you and I owe. At the cross, when Christ was
on the cross and that darkness overshadowed the world, the rocks
trembled when Christ died and he said, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. He said, my God, my God, why? hast thou forsaken me and then
he said it is finished and he gave up the ghost his work or
he died in other words his work that he came to do was done that transaction of the payment
of debt was made death that the law required had
been done. Physically and spiritually Christ
suffered under the eternal wrath of God for the sins of his people
contracted into a space of a few hours. For a person to pay the
debt that they owe to God would take them an eternity in hell. That's what God's law requires. You sin, you die, not one death
but an eternal death forever and ever but Christ being the
God-man, God manifested in the flesh, was able to absorb the
wrath of Almighty God, the eternal wrath of God in the space of
a few hours. It is satisfying God's law, it
is finished. And then rising again on the
third day to prove that his work was accomplished and now he ever
lives in heaven with the Father. so on the cross the transaction
took place, payment was made as he wiped out and the sins
of his people, his death for our life and by faith, by faith
it can be applied that that finished work of Christ can be applied
and credited to our account. If you are in debt and you know that you have an
inheritance waiting that is no good while that money
is outside of your bank account. The bank will not be happy. You
are still in debt. The only way that the bank can
be satisfied is if that money is credited to your account before
you become into a positive, before you have money in your account.
And so you may know about the Lord Jesus
Christ. You may be able to read about
him and you may know about him and you may know about his death
and his resurrection. But that work, that finished
work of his, it is not credited to your account therefore you're
still under the wrath of God. You're still in debt to God.
But it is faith to see your need of him and to lay hold of him
that that transaction that took place on Calvary can be credited. your account that that eternal
life can be placed into your account that you will be forever
with the Lord and you'll be able to come here with this that the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all
sin. There's a lovely text in the
book of Colossians chapter 2 verse 12 it says, buried with him in
baptism wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of
the operation of God who hath raised him from the dead and
you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh
has he quickened together with him having forgiven all your
trespasses Sin is the stepping over the trespassing of the law
but blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us which was contrary to us or against us and took it out of
the way by nailing it to his cross. You see he says being
dead in your sins he's made you alive having forgiven your sin by blotting
it out blotting out that handwriting that written rebellion that was
there witnessing against you he's blotted it out by nailing
it to the cross that the blood of Christ may cleanse you from
all of your sin and it's applied to your account
it's credited to the believer's account you remember when on
the Passover that they put the blood upon the doorpost and he
says when I see the blood I will pass over you. Death had already
come there was no need for it to come again and if the blood
of Christ is credited to your account God sees it and passes
over because death has already come judgment has already fallen
not upon you but upon the Lord Jesus Christ as your substitute,
as your saviour. And so we can say that he has
blotted out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against
us, nailing it to the cross and that the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ showing that his perfect life poured out upon the cross,
his blood was shed, his life given so that we may be enabled
to be cleansed from all of our sin. God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes on him,
lays hold upon him, grasps him by faith may have everlasting
life. And so there it is we are three
times dead there is eternal life to be found in Christ Jesus where
he's able to cancel out two of those deaths. That spiritual death he's able
to give eternal life and that eternal death he's able to through
his eternal life give us eternal life which is in heaven at last. At physical death he says I've
still I've taken the sting away But there is no sting now. The wages of sin is death. The sting has been taken away.
The sin has been taken away from physical death. For the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen. Our closing hymn is hymn number
116 from Hymns of Worship. And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Saviour's blood? Died he for me who caused
his pain, for me who him to death pursued? Amazing love, how can
it be that thou, my God, should die for me? Hymn number 116 from
Hymns of Worship. that I should gain an interest
in the Saviour's blood. Thanks be for me who wills His
way, for me who Him today pursues. Amazing How can it be that Thou,
my God, shouldst die for me? Amazing love! How can it be that
Thou, my God, shouldst die Who can explain this strange
design? In vain the firstborn sacrifice
To sound the depths of love divine ? Dismasio et afado ? ? Et egiut
nobis inquanamu ? ? Dismasio et afado ? ? Et egiut nobis inquanamu
? So free, so infinite is grace. Unmoved himself and out of love,
Has bled for his own chosen grace. It's mercy all immense and free,
For all my God, it found of me. It's mercy all immense and free,
For all my God, it found of me. was bound in sin and nature's
laws. And I diffused the quickening
rain I woke the dungeon flamed with light My chains fell off,
my heart was free I rose, went forth, and followed with thy words went forth and
conquered thee. The condemnation now I dread,
Jesus, thou Lord, I approach the eternal throne
and claim the crown through Christ my own. Lord, I approach the
eternal throne and claim the crown through Christ my own. Dear Heavenly Father, Almighty
God, we do thank Thee for the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
that cleanses us from all sin. We pray that we may be enabled
to lay hold by faith of the promise of the Gospel, that we may receive
His perfect sacrifice and His perfect righteousness, credited
to our account, that we may have eternal life. We pray, Lord,
that Thou be with us now as we part from each other. We thank
Thee for the knitting together of the hymns and we pray that
we may return here this evening in peace and in safety to worship
Thee once again. Now, Lord, do part us with Thy
blessing and may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God the Father, with the fellowship and the communion
of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now and for evermore.
Amen.