Jesus died TO SHED His blood. This may, at first, appear to be a duplication of the first point discussed. It IS closely related yet it deserves special attention. Jesus died upon the cross IN ORDER TO SHED His blood.

The SHEDDING of the blood was of great importance. In order for there to have been atoning power in the death of Christ there must have been the actual shedding of His blood. His death was a means to the shedding of the blood. Had Jesus not shed His blood when He died upon the cross there could be no remission of sins. Although He stirs our emotions by His sacrificial death yet were His blood not shed there could have been no remission of our sins.

Therefore, I suggest that among other things Jesus died to make it possible for Him to shed His blood. Hebrews 9:22 says . . . "Without the shedding of blood is no remission." Now as we know that one of best ways to learn about something, we need to go back to the beginning. As it says in Romans 15:4 that we learn from what was written in times past, we are going to go back to the Old Testament.

I now intend to show the importance of this shedding of blood, first, by pointing out how the blood was made important according to the Old Testament. For, following the flood God said to Noah, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat." (Genesis 9:3-4). Here God forbade Noah to eat the blood of an animal and concluded stating that "the blood is the life." You know how a car has to have oil, coolant , and gas in order to run because those fluids keep the car running…and without those fluids, the car would, as we say, die. Those fluids are considered the life blood of the car. God at this point was explaining that the life of everything that lives on His earth has life through its blood in its body. This is one of the first indications that the blood is important. Remember that Jesus died upon the cross IN ORDER TO shed His blood. And, we learn that, as far back as the time of Noah, God brought blood and its importance to be connected to life to the attention of people by forbidding the ingesting or eating of it. The fact that this prohibition of eating of blood occurs just here may not of itself make it so important yet this passage WITH OTHERS will indicate its importance.

In Leviticus 19:26 we locate a law prohibiting the eating of blood. "Ye shall not eat anything with the blood." This meant that there was to be no blood in that which was to be eaten. Although these people may not have understood a reason for such a prohibition yet we today can see a vital reason. They were not like the wild animals of the world. So God told them ways to prepare food for consumption…and for them (meaning the nation of Israel), only certain things could they eat. God was then teaching the importance of blood. Jesus died to shed His blood for the remission of our sins (Matthew 26:28).

Again, just before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt God made use of blood. This time He instructed the Israelites to take a lamb without blemish of the first year and to keep the lamb until the fourteenth day of the month and then to slay it and take the BLOOD of the animal and put the BLOOD upon the door posts of their dwelling places (Exodus 12:6-7). The reason for this instruction is given in Exodus 12:13 which says, "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, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt." Here, the blood of an innocent animal serves as a means of saving. Remember that Jesus died to shed His blood and that as far back as the time of Noah and Moses the blood is made important. It is at this early time that the blood of animals is made similar to the blood that was to be shed by the real Lamb of God, and this shedding of blood was to pay for the sins of the world.

The shedding of the blood of animals was also incorporated into the law of Moses, the purpose of which we can see by reading Leviticus 17:11, "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 maketh an atonement for the soul." Now then, also during the time of Moses we see a special use made of the blood of innocent animals. The blood was to be a payment for sins…not a full payment…but nevertheless, a payment. The shedding of the blood of animals was the form of forgiveness for the children of Israel. And, whereas the blood of animals could not bring forgiveness as does the blood of Christ does for us today, the shedding of the blood of animals caused their sins to e forgotten for one year (Hebrews 10:1-4). Exodus 30:10 says, "And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements; once in the year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations ; it is most holy unto the Lord." This may sound as if the blood of these animals actually took away sins but this is not true since animals had to be offered for these same sins year after year. Hebrews 10:14 says among other things that "It is not possible for the blood of bulls and of goats to take away sins." These scriptures indicate the importance and use made of the blood for hundreds of years. If the innocent animals simply died and no blood was shed there could have been no payment for sins for it was the BLOOD that made the payment. The BLOOD was important and the death was a means to the shedding of blood. There could be death without the shedding of blood but there could not be atonement without the shedding of blood.

During the Old Testament times the high priest offered blood to make atonement both for the people and for himself according to Hebrews 9:7 which says, "But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people." Remember that earlier we had discovered that the priest were the only ones allowed to go into the second and innermost part of the temple to present a sacrifice, with its blood, unto God for Israel. And from this we gather that the shedding of the blood of animals had a definite purpose. And think for fifteen hundred years when animals were sacrificed, the SHEDDING OF THE BLOOD of the animal was necessary.

Now that we have good understanding of the blood and its importance to Israel in the Old Testament…we see that in the New Testament, blood is also brought to our attention. For, first, we are forbidden to eat the blood of an animal. Acts 15:20, 29 and Acts 21:25 prohibits the eating of blood. Just as I stated before, we are not like the wild animals of the world and we prepare meat for consumption and are forbidden to eat the blood as in pure raw meat. It was the life of the body then and it is the life of the body now. This indicates its importance.

Moving to Hebrews 9:22 again, we know that Christ had shed His blood for us so that we would have forgiveness of our sins. Had Jesus not shed His blood His death would have been worthless so far as atoning for sins. We’d love Him because He died so willingly for us but His effort would have been futile without the shedding of His blood. Why would I say that?? Because His blood is the price required for the forgiveness of our sins and without it, we could not have been forgiven! He definitely shed His blood upon the cross. John 19:34 says, "But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side and forthwith came there out blood and water." Such was no accident! The BLOOD paid the price and the sacrificial death was the means used for the shedding of the blood.

Another importance about the blood of Christ was made when Jesus spoke of His shedding of blood when He instituted the Lord's Supper. Mark 14:23. “And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many.” The bread signified His body given, the cup His blood shed. By His blood He ratified the New Covenant.  Jesus said His BLOOD would be shed and He gave us a memorial so that when we partake of the fruit of the vine we are induced to recall the sacrificial death of Jesus. Some, unaware of this fact, do not partake of the supper every first day of the week. And even though some do partake of it every week, they do so in vain. And in the church of Christ, we have some who come and think that if they perform this act, but do so in the uncaring manner they constantly do it in, they think that they are worshipping God but they are the ones worshipping God in vain. For some are talking, laughing, passing notes and doing anything and everything else but having their minds centered on the One who died for them. Do you realize that when the prayer is offered for the Lord’s Supper and it is said that we pray those who partake of this to examine themselves, have clean hands and a pure heart, there are many that don’t care about their condition when receiving the communion??

Whether you realize it or not, we preach the blood of Christ by our partaking of the Lord's Supper. Examine yourself means to look at yourself and your life and see if you have done for God what He commanded you in your life. To have the clean hands is not saying that you need to wash your physical hands, but see what your spiritual hands have done and are the deeds that you did in your life pleasing to God or not. And to have the pure heart…look at yourself and see if your actions and thoughts make you worthy to take the bread and the fuit of the vine. No one here will stop you from taking the communion, for your decision will be between you and God. And know that through this remembrance…you are saying that you know full well the consequences of failure to exercise self-judgment resulted in God’s disciplinary judgment upon some in the church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 11:30) Many were weak and sick, and also many were removed from this life. In other words, physical illness had come upon some, and some were taken. Because the church at Corinth did not judge sin in their lives, the Lord was required to take disciplinary action against them…meaning not the entire congregation, but each every individual member. And don’t think He can’t do the same with us today here at Redbird, either

Now, although the blood of animals could not take away sins the blood of Jesus could (Hebrews 10:1-4; 9:22). I John 1:7 says, "And 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 cleanseth us from all sin." Revelation 1:5. "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood." Hebrews 13:12 says, "Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered." Romans 5:8-9 says, "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." Revelation 5:9 says, "The art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof : for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."

We can read of many who were faithful to God in Heb. chapter 11 that lived faithfully. We know that many good people have died. Many have shed their blood in their death. But only Jesus died and shed His blood in His death purposely to atone for the sins of the world. His love draws us and His blood atones for our sins. But even as Hid blood draws us toward Him, what is required of us to get in touch with that life saving blood??

It is God's will that all men should turn to Him: 2 Peter 3:9;

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

We must have faith, and be willing not to just seek out truth, but THE Truth: Hebrews 11:6; But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

We must be willing to hear God's Word: Matthew 11:15

He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

True Faith will cause us to render obedience to God's will: John 14:15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

We have to take an active part in achieving salvation: John 6:27;
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

So then, what are these acts of obedience, steps of salvation, that are an active proof of our faith?
a. As already mentioned, we must first hear God's Word - Romans 10:17
b. We must believe - Acts 10:43; 16:31
c. True belief will produce repentance - Acts 2:38; 3:19
d. This change of life & attitude will produce in us the desire to confess Jesus as Lord - Romans 10: 9-10; Matthew 16:15-16
e. As an act of humility, faith and obedience we will immediately submit to baptism - Acts 22:16; Galatians 3:27; 2 Corinthians 5:17.

Now, as "New Creatures" it will be up to us…our desire…to remain faithful at all times (not just on Sunday mornings or half of Sunday, or every other Sunday) but at ALL times, rising to walk a new life (Romans 6:4). Because in the book of Revelation, chapter 2 and verse 10, God tells us that He expects us to remain faithful, even unto the point of death. And He will give us a crown of life after we have lived such. That is why Jesus died and shed His blood.

Lesson prepared by Dwayne White
The church of Christ at Red Bird, OK