Few months ago, I had the opportunity to share the word at a church outside of the USA. At that time, I was asking the Lord what He wanted me to share with His people and the following message it what I felt the Lord leading me to share. 

1. Death: the result of sin

When God created Adam and Eve, God gave them direct orders about what would happen if the disobeyed and ate the fruit from the tree of good and evil. We all know the story of how sin entered the world through one man’s disobedience, and the consequences thereafter. Diseases, physical and spiritual death, cancer, poverty, violence, any kind of immorality.

In Genesis 2 we find this story after God has created everything.

Genesis 2.15-17 NLT 

¹⁵ The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. ¹⁶ But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— ¹⁷ except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

Genesis 3.20-24 NLT

²⁰ Then the man—Adam—named his wife Eve, because she would be the mother of all who live. ²¹ And the Lord God made clothing from animal skins for Adam and his wife.

²² Then the Lord God said, “Look, the human beings have become like us, knowing both good and evil. What if they reach out, take fruit from the tree of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” ²³ So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made. ²⁴ After sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of the Garden of Eden. And he placed a flaming sword that flashed back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Adam’s rebellion brought corruption, death, and sin to mankind and creation. Only a man, perfect, good, and in right standing with God, could undo what happened with the fall of Man. Only a man could fulfill the requirements of the law, but there was no one, who was perfect and could do it.

From the fall of Man until the death of Christ, it was the custom to offer the blood of an animal, pure and perfect, for the remission or forgiveness of sin.

Perhaps you are wondering why an animal? The animal was simply a substitute for the life of the one who sinned.

The Justice of God demands that whoever sins must die

Ezekiel 18.20 NLT

²⁰ The person who sins is the one who will die. The child will not be punished for the parent’s sins, and the parent will not be punished for the child’s sins. Righteous people will be rewarded for their own righteous behavior, and wicked people will be punished for their own wickedness. (Emphasis added). 

Romans 6.23 NLT 

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Emphasis added).

• The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)

Through the Law of Moses, God gave the people of Israel a temporary process for the

purification and forgiveness of the sins of individuals and the congregation in general.

Leviticus 16:1-2 NLT

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of Aaron’s two sons, who died after they entered the Lord’s presence and burned the wrong kind of fire before him. ² The Lord said to Moses, “Warn your brother, Aaron, not to enter the Most Holy Place behind the inner curtain whenever he chooses; if he does, he will die. For the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—is there, and I myself am present in the cloud above the atonement cover.

⁶ “Aaron will present his own bull as a sin offering to purify himself and his family, making them right with the Lord.^[a] 7 Then he must take the two male goats and present them to the Lord at the entrance of the Tabernacle.^[b]8 He is to cast sacred lots to determine which goat will be reserved as an offering to the Lord and which will carry the sins of the people to the wilderness of Azazel. ⁹ Aaron will then present as a sin offering the goat chosen by lot for the Lord. ¹⁰ The other goat, the scapegoat chosen by lot to be sent away, will be kept alive, standing before the Lord. When it is sent away to Azazel in the wilderness, the people will be purified and made right with the Lord.

The Day of Atonement, known in Hebrew as Yom Kippur, was the day on which the

High Priest of Israel would enter the holy place and appeared before the LORD, to ask for forgiveness and to present sacrifice for the sins of the people. This happened

once a year.

This day had two important elements, the first was the purification of the High Priest and his family, this would allow him to enter into the presence of God in the Most Holy Place. The second element was the ceremony of purification of the people of God, which was presented by the High Priest before the LORD.

On this day, a bull was sacrificed for the forgiveness of the sins of the High Priest and his family, and its blood was sprinkled on the ark of the covenant. Afterwards, two goats were presented, one as a sacrifice for the forgiveness of the people of Israel, and the other as a goat of escape. On the goat of escape the High Priest would put his hands on it and confess the sins of the people, and then they would release it outside the camp.

This goat carried the sins of the congregation, while the congregation was forgiven for a year.

This process was repeated every year, on the same day. And it was the only time the High Priest could enter the most holy place.

What does all this have to do with the topic of this blog?

Thank you for asking. This is just the introduction and background of the story so you can understand the reasons to why the sacrifices and the shedding of blood, and the function of the High Priest in the Old Testament, given by the Lord to the people of Israel were important and which pointed to Christ.

RECAP- We just read that since Adam and Eve sinned, we lost the presence of God, a sacrifice is needed to be forgiven (because blood is important for the forgiveness of sin), and part of the function of the High Priest.

• Three Benefits of the Blood of Christ

Hebrews 9.11-12 NLT 

¹¹ So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come.^[a] He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. ¹² With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

God’s law required that for the forgiveness of Sin there must be the shedding of

Blood.

Hebrews 9.22 NLT

²² In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

• First Benefit: The forgiveness of our sins

As one of my former pastors said, God already had a plan before Adam and Eve failed.

Adam and Eve’s first sin of disobedience brought about the separation of human beings from God, but He already had a plan from the foundation of the world to forgive our sins in order to have access to Him.

1 Peter 1.20 – Tells us that Christ was already prepared before the foundation of the world.

In other words, God had the plan of Salvation on the agenda before it would have been necessary. This means that God always had in mind to forgive us and that we would always be with Him.

The Blood of Christ not only cleanses us and forgives our sins, but the blood of Christ also cleanses our conscience.

• Second Benefit: Cleanses our conscience 

Hebrews 9:13-15 NLT (Emphasis added) 

¹³ Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. ¹⁴ Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds^[a] so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. ¹⁵ That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

I don’t know if this has ever happened to you, but there are times when you are praying or during worship, and a thought comes to your mind and it reminds you of something you did, and it distracts you?

Two things. First, if you have already repented and asked GOD for forgiveness, you should not waste your time on those thoughts or let them take space in your mind. And second, if you have not repented, then do so at the moment and remember these verses that we have just read, that the blood of Christ cleanses our conscience.

And as sons or daughters, we have the right to come before God with boldness and 

with a cleared conscience.

Sinful Actions

The blood of Christ not only cleanses our conscience from our guilt, but it purifies us from actions that produce or direct us to commit sin that results in spiritual death and physical death.

• Third Benefit: Entrance to the Most Holy Place (GOD’s Presence) 

Hebrews 9:24-26 NLT

²⁴ For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. ²⁵ And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the High Priesthere on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. ²⁶ If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age^[a] to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

We read in Leviticus that the High Priest under the law could only enter the most holy place once, and he had to be purified because otherwise the presence of God could kill him. At this moment, right now, you and I will be able to enter the presence of the most holy God, the one who lives forever, through the blood of Christ.

And not only enter, but the Word also says that we are seated in heavenly places

with Christ Jesus.

Conclusion 

It was necessary for Christ to die on the cross and shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins and to purify our life and conscience in order to have access to the Father, receive the Holy Spirit, and for us to have a full and abundant life.