IT IS THE BLOOD THAT MAKETH AN ATONEMENT

Pastor James J. Barker

Text: LEVITICUS 17:1-16




INTRODUCTION:


  1. The book of Leviticus was written by Moses. The name Leviticus is derived from the contents of the book, which presents the law of the Levites, the descendants of Levi, the priests.
  2. Leviticus is the book of atonement and holiness. These are two of my favorite subjects and would like now to stress the doctrine of the blood atonement (cf. Lev. 17:11). The word "atonement" occurs 45 times in the book of Leviticus.
  3. And though I will stress atonement, I will also refer to God’s holiness because they are closely linked together.
  4. It is like this: Genesis, the first book of Moses, presents man lost and ruined by sin. Exodus, the second book of Moses, presents man redeemed from sin. Leviticus, the third book of Moses, presents man separated from sin and walking in holiness before God.
  5. Christians, especially new believers, often read through the book of Leviticus and get confused or bored. This should not be the case. Nothing in God’s Word should bore us or confuse us.
  6. The minute ritual of the Levitical system serves the purpose of effecting a keen awareness of sin as an offense to God and as a barrier between man and God.
  7. The closer man gets to God, the more man hates sin. Show me a so-called Christian with a cavalier, indifferent attitude towards sin and I will show you a pagan who attends church.
  8. The doctrine of salvation is very simple: man is a guilty sinner and deserves to go to hell. God sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for our sins and if man repents of his sins and trusts Him He will be saved.
  9. Atonement is the means of salvation, and this is carefully set forth in the book of Leviticus (cf. 17:11; cf. I John 1:7-9; Rev. 1:5).
  10. Man cannot save himself, for man is fallen and sinful. Therefore, man needs a Saviour; man needs a substitute; and this is all dramatically acted out in the pages of Leviticus.
  11. The blood of bulls and goats did not actually take away sin. John the Baptist said: "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). All of these OT sacrifices pointed to Calvary.
  12. The blood of these sacrifices covered over sin until Christ came and died on the cross (cf. Rom.3:25).

 

I. THE BASIS FOR THE BLOOD ATONEMENT.

    1. The principle behind atonement is life for life (Lev. 17:11,14).
    2. This principle is carried over into the NT and is emphasized in the book of Hebrews (cf. Heb.9:22). These Scriptures, and there are many others as well, teach the doctrine of blood atonement.
    3. There is a popular radio preacher, pastor and author out in California who teaches that we are not saved by the blood of Christ but only by His death. This is nothing but heresy.
    4. It is probably a good time to stop and define our terms. Vicarious atonement simply means that Christ suffered and died in our place (cf. II Cor. 5:18-21; I Peter 2:24; 3:18).
    5. The Gospel centers on the death of Christ. Today is February 6, 2001 A.D. ("The Year of Our Lord"), so history also centers around the death of Christ.
  • Christ’s death was a substitution for sinners.
  • Christ’s death was a redemption in relation to sin.
  • Christ’s death was a reconciliation in relation to man.
  • And Christ’s death was a propitiation in relation to God.
    1. D.L. Moody used to tell a true story about a lady who told her servant to cook a lamb a lamb. She told him how she liked it cooked but she didn’t tell him what to do with the blood. So he went to her and asked, "What are you going to do with the blood of the lamb?"
    2. This lady had been under conviction for some time, and this question went like an arrow to her soul. She went to her room but felt uneasy because the question kept coming back to her, "What are you going to do with the blood of the lamb?"
    3. She kept thinking about this and before the morning came she was on her knees asking the Lord to save her.
    4. What about some of you? What are you going to do with the blood of the Lamb?

 

II. THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SUBSTITUTIONARY ATONEMENT.

    1. To understand the concept of atonement, we have to go further back than the book of Leviticus. Substitutionary atonement has always been the only way to approach God.
    2. Adam and Eve tried to approach God by their self-righteous works, signified by their garments of fig leaves. God corrected them by showing that the guilt of sin could only be covered by the shedding of blood.
    3. Remember "the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect" (Gen.4:4,5).
    4. Why was this? Because Cain brought a bloodless sacrifice. He brought of the fruit of the ground, and Abel brought an animal sacrifice.
    5. Next we read that Noah built an altar unto the LORD, as did Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And so it was right on down to the Passover.
    6. And so we see that the principle of substitutionary atonement is taught all the way from Genesis through Revelation (Rom. 5:6-9; Rev. 5:8-12).

 

III. SALVATION THROUGH CHRIST’S ATONING DEATH.

    1. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. We cannot be saved through our Lord’s sinless life. We cannot be saved by our Lord’s good example. We can only be saved through His substitutionary death on the cross.
    2. Here is the problem. Probably the vast majority of Americans would agree that Jesus Christ was the greatest man who ever lived. They would probably agree that His teachings are on a higher plane than any other teacher. Perhaps most would even agree that He is God.
    3. But the problem is that they have never had their sins cleansed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
    4. Beloved, the Bible teaches that man is at enmity with God. Sinful man needs to be reconciled with a holy God. God’s hot wrath must be propitiated. This can only come through Christ’s death on the cross.
    5. Study the great religions of this world: Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on. They have their rules and their rituals but they know nothing about forgiveness of sins through the atoning death of a Saviour.
    6. A preacher was preaching on this subject one day and a heckler yelled out: "How can blood cleanse sin?" The preacher yelled back: "How can water quench thirst?" The heckler replied, "I don’t know how, but I know that it does." The preacher then said: "Well I don’t know how the blood of Christ cleanses sin, but I know that it does."
    7. It is sad but true that few churches proclaim the Gospel these days. Surveys have been taken and the response has been startling. There are millions of professing Christians who cannot even explain the Gospel (cf. I Cor. 15:1-4).
    8. The heart of the Gospel is that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures" (15:3).

CONCLUSION:

  1. One of the greatest writers England ever produced was William Cowper. Cowper wrote great books of poetry and even translated Homer into English.
  2. Cowper’s father wanted him to be a lawyer and the stress at the prospect of studying for his bar examination caused a mental breakdown. He even considered suicide and asked the carriage driver to take him to the river. He planned on jumping in. But it was a foggy night and after driving around in the fog, the driver dropped him off right at his front door step.
  3. Cowper considered this the providence of God and went to bed. Soon he started seriously reading the Bible and he came to Rom. 3:25. He realized the blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient to cleanse him from all sin, and he was gloriously saved.
  4. He went on to write some wonderful hymns and his most famous is "There Is A Fountain Filled with Blood." The fourth and fifth stanzas are on Spurgeon’s tombstone. The first stanza is the most familiar:

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains.



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