How Christ’s Blood Transformed Forgiveness || New Phone, Who Dis? #5

A Life Giving System

Welcome back to “New Phone, Who Dis?”! We’re looking at the differences between the Old and New covenants and the sacrificial systems that come with it. In Part 4, we looked at the differences between these covenants being ministered on earth and being ministered in heaven. The things of the earth are short-term and temporary. These all being centered on the Mosaic Law and Levi lineage shows that these are built on temporary standards, because the human life is temporary when compared to eternal life. The new covenant, through Jesus, is based off of grace, faith and Christ’s sacrifice. God offers us a forgive and forget mindset when it comes to our past, so that we can focus on our transformation into becoming more godly.

In Part 5, it may be a little triggering and gruesome because we are talking about blood. The old covenant required the use of blood of animals across the altar for a proper atonement. The new covenant required the use of Christ’s blood, through His sacrifice, to offer an eternal atonement for humanity’s sins. I promise I will handle this delicately because of the use of blood, but I do want to do this justice to the original context and usage of what the original writers intended.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How do you feel about the usage of blood in the atonement process? How does this affect the bloodshed that we experience in our current society?

The Bloody Requirement

Let’s look at the blood of animals and how it was used in Leviticus 16:15:

AMP – “The he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for [the sins of] the people and bring its blood within the veil [into the Most Holy Place] and do with its blood as he did with the blood of bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat.

NRSVUE – “He shall slaughter the goat of the purification offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the cover and before the cover.

VOICE – He will then slaughter the goat for the purification offering on behalf of the community’s sin, take its blood behind the veil, and do the same thing with it that he did with the bull’s blood. He will sprinkle it on and in front of the seat of mercy.

Aaron, as we’ve mentioned, is the high priest that would perform the atonement sacrifice for the sins of the people. The goat is known as a substitutionary sacrifice, where the goat would take on the seriousness of sin and the methods of atonement. The veil separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place, which represented the barrier between God and humanity due to sin. Only the high priest (Aaron) could enter, once a year, representing the holiness of God and the separation that sin had caused. The blood of the goat was used for purification, which symbolized the cleansing power of the sacrificial blood. There is a biblical understanding that without this blood, there’s not forgiveness (see Hebrews 9:22.) Sprinkling the mercy seat (the cover of the Ark of the Covenant // God’s throne) with blood shows an appeasement of God’s wrath the movement towards reconciliation between God and His people.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: The Old covenant required the usage of blood in order to find forgiveness and reconciliation so that God’s wrath can be appeased. What feelings does that bring us?

Moving Through Life’s Changes

The intensity of the ritual and sacrifices represent the seriousness of our sinful behavior and the need for atonement. Sin, I’ve always understood it to be “missing the mark” from God. This may be an oversimplification of it, but I think it’s a simple understanding for a massive impact. Missing the mark of God is learning ways we miss out on sharing God’s love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and justice to the those around us. The more we expand on this topic, the more we can work to understand on how we can become more Christ-like in our society. We’re not going to be perfect, so we must remove the demon of perfectionism out of our way. The only perfect human that was and ever will be is Jesus. We need to focus on progression. For me, I try to take the day to be at least 1% better than where I was yesterday. It’s not an overachieving goal. It’s not a hyper-reactive goal. It’s one that is realistic, and allow us to have an intentional walk with Christ. Granted, we are not sharing or spreading blood in order to find the reconciliation – however, we may find hardships. We may find spaces that we need to break from, whether it’s family members, relationships, living spaces, jobs, or something else. The pain and grief that come from moving away what we once knew and felt comfortable with, and moving to an unknown and potentially uncomfortable space. This is a life-changing mindset. This is life-altering. Less so with blood – but more so with our internal mindsets.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: How have you missed the mark of living a godly life? What changes are coming to mind with how you can progress to be like Christ?

A Final Decision

Let’s go through how the blood of Christ changed this perspective, which we can see in Hebrews 10:10-12.

AMP – 8 After saying [in the citation] above, “You have neither desired, nor have You taken delight in sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin” (which are offered according to the law) 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” [And so] He dies away with the first [covenant as a means of atoning for sin based on animal sacrifices] so that He may inaugurate and establish the second [covenant by means of obedience]. 10 And in accordance with this will [of God] we [who believe in the message of salvation] have been sanctified [that is, set apart as holy for God and His purposes] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) once for all.

NRSVUE – 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired not taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “See, I have come to do your will.” He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. 10 And it is by God’s will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.

VOICE – 8 Now when it says that God doesn’t want and take no real pleasure in sacrifices, burnt offerings, and sin offerings (even though the law calls for them), 9 and follows this with “See, I have come to do Your will,” He effectively takes away the first – animal sacrifice – in order to establish the second, more perfect sacrifice. 10 By God’s will, we are made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus the Anointed once and for all time.

I want to really hone in Verse 10 because it’s in this verse that we see a deeper, more profound impact on the core foundation the Old covenant’s sacrificial system.

The will of God is connected to God’s plan for humanity’s salvation and redemption. The author of Hebrews focuses in on it as the fulfillment of God’s promises The word “sanctification” means to set apart as holy. In the Old Testament, sanctification came through rituals and sacrifices. In the New Testament, it happens through the work of Jesus. This is a definitive act accomplished only through Christ’s sacrificial death. The sacrifice of Jesus fulfills the original obligation of the Old Testament sacrificial system. The body of Christ emphasizes that Jesus was fully human, and also fully God. This sacrifice can be connected by to the Passover Lamb (found in Exodus 12). Jesus’ sacrifice is a one time event that fully atones of our sins for eternity. The finality of Christ’s sacrifice, emphasizes how superior Christ’s priesthood is and how this fulfills the prophecy of the new covenant.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: The sacrifice Jesus made for humanity was succinct and final. The old system is gone, and this sacrifice is forever. What impact would that have made for you if you had followed the old sacrificial system altogether?

A Bloody Act Leads to Eternal Forgiveness

The crucifixion of Christ is a once-for-all sacrifice. It’s sufficient. It’s final. There’s certain teachings and theologies that may encourage you to go out and do things in order to receive your salvation. However, Christ teaches us that He is the path that we can follow to find a relationship with God. Christ teaches us that through His sacrifice, we are forgiven. Our bondage to our sinful behavior is broken and we have been forgiven. God won’t shame us, as humans tend to do. God won’t guilt us, as humans tend to do. God forgives and forgets. There’s recognition in the harm and consequences from our sinful behavior and actions, and we may have to work to repair the damage in our earthly relationships. With God, we need to repent. We need to turn away from those past behaviors and turn towards behaviors that make us more like Christ. It’s a daily adventure. It’s a daily work that requires daily reflection. To find forgiveness for how we missed the mark, and how we can turn to be more like God.

REFLECTION CHECKPOINT: Christ’s blood was shed once and for all for us. We tend to reflect on this during moments when we take communion. How does this information change your perspective on communion, if at all?