BLOOD ATONEMENT

Lev. 17:11 “¦..for the life of any creature is in its blood. I have given you the blood so you can make atonement for your sins. It is the blood, representing life, which brings you atonement.”

This declaration from God is the key to understanding why blood sacrifices had to be made for sin. When God created physical life, He instilled blood as the carrier of life of every living creature. Blood is the one thing that no life can do without. There are ways in which life can happen without other parts of the body, but no life can happen without the blood. Blood represents life.

God gave people before Christ specific instructions regarding how their sins were to be atoned for, and it always required the shedding of blood. In order for life to continue with God, life had to be sacrificed. Without the shedding of blood, there could be no forgiveness. And since the blood shed was the blood of animals, it was not sufficient enough to take care of man’s sin problems. It would cover up man’s sin for a while, but it had to be offered repeatedly. Man’s inherent sin problem did not go away as long as there was a need for animals to be sacrificed.  The blood of animals was a temporary fix for an eternal problem.

When Jesus came and offered his life as the sacrifice for sin, it was good enough. He is eternal God. He became man for a season and lived a sinless life.  He was qualified to die a sinner’s death. He was able to take all of our sins upon himself and wash them away with His blood. His shed blood was an eternal fix for man’s sin problem. He provided a buffer between God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness. He is what God sees when He looks on the heart of His children. God can accept us as His own because He accepts the sacrifice of Jesus for our sins as sufficient.  Jesus becomes our righteousness and holiness before God.

God has always provided a way for man to be forgiven, for his sins to be atoned for. What the blood of animal sacrifices could not do, making our hearts righteous and holy before God, Jesus did for us at Calvary. Praise the Lord, oh my soul and all that is within me, Praise the Lord!