The Vitality of the Atoning Blood

Part 2 The Vitality of the Atoning Blood

"The blood is the life." Deut.12:23

How much has the most deeply instructed believer yet to learn of the essential value, the sovereign efficacy, and the mighty power of the atoning blood of Jesus! Standing though we are in a dispensation- the last and the most complete- in which the Great Sacrifice has been offered, the atoning Lamb slain, the blood actually shed, it is yet a mournful reflection, that with regard to the experience of many professing Christians, it is to be feared that they have not even so vivid and realizing a view of the glory and power of that blood as the believers of the Old Testament had, who only saw it in the dim type, but who yet by faith firmly grasped the Great Antitype. Read for instance the penitential psalm of David.

And yet, beloved reader, the atoning blood is everything to us. It is the groundwork of our salvation- yes, it is salvation itself. It is the source of our peace- yes, it is peace itself. It is the open door of heaven- yes, it is heaven itself. All that is really holy and precious to a poor believing penitent is bound up in the atoning blood of Jesus. The particular view of the subject upon which we have now entered- the vitality of the atoning blood- will arrest the attention of some who may not have contemplated it in this light before; and will, with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, commend itself powerfully to the best feelings of all, as the most sublime and most precious theme which could possibly employ their thoughts or enlist their affections. In the truest and most comprehensive sense it may be affirmed of the atonement of the Son of God, and of the salvation of the Church, which springs from it, "The blood is the life." We propose to spread before the Christian reader two or three important views of this deeply interesting subject.

If we refer for a moment to the type, it will be seen with what distinctness and power the Holy Spirit has brought out this great truth in the word- THE ESSENTIAL VITALITY OF THE ATONING BLOOD. The references which we propose to quote, let it be observed, are designed to illustrate one especial view of our subject- the value which God set upon blood, because of its vital principle, and its being the symbol of a Divine atonement for sin. Whether it was the blood of the lowest, or of the most costly sacrifice, whether it was shed unintentionally or purposely, Jehovah threw around it His protecting shield, rendering the spot where it fell sacred and precious.

Thus, then, with regard to the type, it will be recollected that God issued a solemn injunction that blood should never form an element of food. Why this prohibition? because of the essential value of that blood- there was life in it. "Moreover you shall eat no manner of blood, whether it be of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings. Whoever eats any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people." Observe, on another occasion, after having given directions in reference to the sacrifice, God enjoins His command, "Only you shall not eat of the blood; you shall pour it out upon the earth as water." "Only be sure that you eat not the blood: for the blood is the life; and you may not eat the life with the flesh." Observe another occasion on which the eating of blood was expressly forbidden: "And whatever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eats any manner of blood, I will even set my face against that soul that eats blood, and cut him off from among his people. 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 makes an atonement for the soul."

This restriction was solemnly binding upon Israel's huntsmen: "And I will turn against anyone, whether an Israelite or a foreigner living among you, who eats or drinks blood in any form. I will cut off such a person from the community, 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, that makes atonement for the soul." Leviticus 17:10-11. One reference more and we pass on to the discussion: "Anything or anyone who touches the sacrificial meat will become holy, and if the sacrificial blood splatters anyone's clothing, it must be washed off in a sacred place. If a clay pot is used to boil the sacrificial meat, it must be broken. If a bronze kettle is used, it must be scoured and rinsed thoroughly with water." Leviticus 6:27-28

Another opportunity is taken of solemnly charging Israel to remember the blood of atonement. The hunter, in his full occupation, must keep atonement in his eye; and when he has his prey in his hand, must reverently stand still and pour out its blood to Jehovah, and cover it from the gaze of man and the ravenous appetite of creatures of prey. God would have the sinner's soul send up his adoring thanks to Him for atonement amid their forests and in their wilds. Redemption should be sung by every man in every situation; and none should be found in any situation wherein he cannot sing the song of Moses and the Lamb. Israel's huntsmen were to be men of faith. They were not to hunt for the gratifying of fiery wild passions, but for food and necessity. The chastening solemnity of 'pouring out the blood' was a check on the huntsmen. None who would not stay in their vehement, eager, keen pursuit to realize redemption must engage in this employment. It is not for the gay, wild sports of youth; or if fiery youth engage therein, it must lead them to the most solemn views of sin and righteousness. Yes, it shall be even a way of life to them. Let them go- let them ride furiously over rock and chasm- let them shoot the arrow– but lo! the field becomes an arena to lead them to the presence of the holy God. They must stand still at the blood! How awful is atoning blood! Even things without life, such as garments, are held in dreadful sacredness if this blood touch them. No wonder, then, that this earth on which fell the blood of the Son of God, has a sacredness in the eye of God. It must be set apart for holy ends, since the blood of Jesus has wet its soil. And as the earthen vessel, within which the sacrifice was offered, must be broken- and not used for any lower end again, so must this earth be decomposed and new-molded, for it must be kept for the use of Him whose sacrifice was offered there. And as the brazen vessel must be rinsed and scoured, so must this earth be freed from all that dims its beauty, and be set apart for holy ends. It must be purified and reserved for holy purposes; for the blood of Jesus has dropped upon it, and made it more sacred than any spot, except where He Himself dwells." -Bonar on Leviticus.

Now all these solemn and minute injunctions were designed to shadow forth the vitality, solemnity, and costliness of the expiatory blood of Immanuel. And if such be the value in God's holy eye of the blood of the Levitical sacrifice, what must be God's estimate of the dignity and preciousness of the atoning blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ- the blood of the incarnate God! Observe, it was the life-blood of His pure and sinless humanity. It is an essential doctrine of our salvation that the only part of our Lord's two-fold nature capable of actually atoning, was without sin. The apostle Peter, speaking of our redemption-price, affirms, that it was the "precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." And the apostle Paul declares the same truth almost in the same words: "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God." Herein did lie, in part, its essential value and vitality- it was the blood of Christ's pure and spotless life. Had there been the slightest degree of sin in Jesus, it would have tainted every drop of his atoning blood.

But the stream while it flowed from the very fountain of life- for the soldier's spear pierced both the heart and the pericardium of the Savior, and "forthwith there came out blood and water "- flowed also from a pure fountain, a fountain as sinless as God Himself.O you who know the plague of your own hearts, you who mourn for sin, behold the truth upon which your faith may calmly repose! You see sin, the defiling touch of sin, upon your best, and purest, and holiest offerings, all your sacrifices tainted and defaced with it. Yes, at that moment that your tears of penitence for sin flowed the freest, and your confessions of sin were the most minute and humiliating, and your heart was most perfectly unveiled before the searching eye of God, there was enough sin in those tears, and in those confessions, and in that unbosoming of the heart, to banish you eternally from heaven. That tear of godly sorrow falling upon an angel's white robe would have sullied it. "I cannot pray, but I sin; I cannot hear, or preach a sermon, but I sin; I cannot give an alms, or receive the sacrament, but I sin; no, I cannot so much as confess my sins, but my confessions are still aggravations of them. My repentance needs to be repented of, my tears need washing, and the very washing of my tears needs still to be washed over again with the blood of my Redeemer." (Berridge)

But here exists the true consolation of the humble penitent- the atoning blood of Jesus, in which he bathes his soul, was without spot. There was no sin in Christ; "He knew no sin; " "in Him was no sin. " Satan came and found nothing in Him. Here is a sacrifice which the vilest sinner may plead with God and meet with Divine acceptance. Come, you who grieve for sin, who weep over your tears, who confess your confessions, who sigh over your sighs, and behold with believing eye the pure stream that flows from the very seat of the Savior's life- even the heart that never, never sinned. Cleansed in this fountain, you shall appear before God, "whiter than snow,"- all sin forever put away.

But there is also a Divine vitality in the atoning blood of Christ. Here we assume still higher ground, and our subject opens in a more magnificent and important light. It was the blood, not merely of the human Son of the virgin, but of the Divine Son of God. In consequence of the union of the humanity with the Divinity, the blood of Jesus is expressly termed by the Holy Spirit, "the blood of God." "The church of God which he has purchased with his own blood." The Deity of the Son of God imparted a Divine vitality and value to the blood "which flowed from His human nature. So close and intimate was the mysterious union, that while the Deity effected the atonement by the humanity, the humanity derived all its power and virtue to atone from the Deity. There was Deity in the blood of Jesus- a Divine vitality which stamped its infinite value, dignity, and virtue. Observe in two instances how strikingly the Holy Spirit has coupled these two truths- the Deity, and the atonement of Jesus- "Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins." "Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man that is my fellow, says the Lord; smite the shepherd."

Here are brought out in the strongest light, and in the most beautiful and intimate relation, Deity and Atonement. It was not so much that our Lord was the Priest, as that He was the sacrifice; not so much that He was the offerer, as that He was the offering; in which did lie the value of His blood. "When He had by Himself purged our sins." "Who gave Himself for us." "When He offered Himself." What did He offer in offering Himself? He offered up His life- His twofold life. There was on Calvary the sacrifice of Deity with the humanity. The Deity not suffering, for it was incapable of suffering; nor of dying, for essential life could not die; but Deity with the humanity constituted the one offering which has perfected forever the salvation of those who are sanctified.

Profoundly and awfully mysterious as is this truth, faith can receive it. It towers above my reason, and yet it does not contradict my reason. While it transcends and baffles it, it does not oppose nor supersede it. Christian reader, the blood upon which you depend for your salvation is not ordinary blood- the blood of a more human being, however pure and sinless; but it is the blood of the Incarnate God, "God manifest in the flesh." It is the blood of Him who is Essential Life- the Fountain of Life- the "Resurrection and the Life;" and because of the Divine life of Jesus, from thence springs the vitality of His atoning blood. Oh, that is a Divine principle that vivifies the blood of Christ! This it is that makes it sacrificial, expiatory, and cleansing. This it is that enables it to prevail with God's justice for pardon and acceptance; this it is that renders it so efficacious, that one drop of it falling upon the conscience crushed beneath the weight of sin, will melt the mountain of guilt, and lift the soul to God. Hold fast the confidence of your faith in the essential Deity of the Son of God, for this it is which gives to His atonement all its glory, dignity, and virtue.

But let us take yet another view of our subject. The vitality of the atoning blood of Christ constitutes the spiritual life of the living soul. Thus is it true in a pre-eminent sense that "the blood is the life." The blood of Jesus is the life of the believing soul. There is a palpable and an awful death in the soul of an unconverted man. His prayers are dead- his duties are dead- his works are dead- his hopes are dead, yes, he himself and his whole religion are "dead in trespasses and in sins." It is the theological creed of some that to those who are spiritually dead, we ought neither to write, nor to preach. But with all meekness would we say, we have not so read God's word, nor have we "so learned Christ." The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to prophesy over the 'dry bones'; and Jesus himself not only warned the impenitent, but wept over them! Who can tell while we are writing and preaching, warning and inviting, the "breath of the Lord" may come forth and breathe over them, and they live!

But the life-possessing and life-imparting blood of Jesus is the life of the quickened soul. His blood not only purchased life for His people, but the application of His blood imparts it. It was necessary that the Son of God should die, that we might live. It was essential that Jesus should bleed, that life might flow from His wounds to our souls. The life must be offered: "I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep." But for the shedding of the heart's blood of Jesus our heart had been forever a stranger to a single throb of spiritual life. One drop of the life-blood of Immanuel, as we have just observed, falling upon a soul dead in sin, in an instant quickens it with a life that will never die- such is the essential vitality of the atoning blood.

The blood of Jesus is also the life of our pardon and acceptance: "Whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God," that is, the transgressions of the Old Testament saints; the life-giving blood of Jesus extending its pardoning efficacy back to the remotest period of time, and to the greatest sinner upon earth, even to him "by whom sin entered into the world, and death by sin"- such is the vitality of the atoning blood of God's dear Son. And if the pardoning blood thus bore an antecedent virtue, has it less a presentone? No! listen to the life-inspiring words! "In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace." Once more, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin." It has a present life, an immediateefficacy. The life of our pardon! O yes! the believing, though trembling penitent, sees all his sins cancelled, all his transgressions pardoned, through the precious blood of Jesus. Nothing but the life-blood of the incarnate God could possibly effect it. And when,after repeated backslidings, he returns again with sincere and holy contrition, and bathes in it afresh, lo! the sense of pardon is renewed; and while he goes away to loathe himself, and abhor his sins, he yet can rejoice that the living blood of the Redeemer has put it entirely and forever away.

And what is the life of our acceptance but the blood of Immanuel? "Justified by his blood." The robe that covers us, is the righteousness of Him who is the "Lord our Righteousness;" who, when He had by one act of perfect obedience to the law, wove the robe of our justification, bathed it in His own life-blood, and folded it around His Church, presenting her to His Father a "glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Not only is it the ground of our present acceptance, but the saints in heaven, "the spirits of just men made perfect," take their stand upon it. "Who are these," it is asked, "who are arrayed in white robes? And where did they come from?" The answer is, "These are those who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne." Thus pleading the justifying blood of Jesus, the believing, though distressed and trembling soul, may stand before God, "accepted in the Beloved." Wondrous declaration! Blessed state! Rest not, reader, until you have attained it. No, you cannot rest until you have received, by faith, the righteousness of Christ.

From where, too, flows the life of spiritual joy, but from the life-giving blood of Immanuel? There can be no real joy but in the experience of pardoned sin. The joy of the unpardoned soul is the joy of the condemned criminal on his way to death- a mockery and a delusion. With all his sins upon him, with all his iniquities yet unforgiven, every step brings him nearer to the horrors of the second death; what, then, can he know of true joy? But when the blood of Jesus is sprinkled upon the heart, and the sense of sin forgiven is sealed upon the conscience, then there is joy indeed, "joy unspeakable, and full of glory."

From where, too, flows peace-sweet, holy, divine peace, but from the heart's blood of the Prince of Peace? There can be no true peace from God where there does not exist perfect reconciliation with God. That is a false peace which springs not from a view of God pacified in Christ, God one with us in the atonement of His Son. "Spearing peace by Jesus Christ." "The blood of sprinkling speaks better things than the blood of Abel," because it speaks peace.

And from where do the ordinances derive their efficacy and power- but from the vitality of the Redeemer's blood? There could be no life, for instance, in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, but as that institution presented in a lively picture to the faith of the recipient the life-blood of the Savior. With what clearness and solemnity has He Himself put forth this truth: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him." Thus he who in lowly and simple faith drinks of the blood of Jesus partakes of the life of Jesus, because the life of Jesus is in the blood. And should the eye of an unconverted soul light upon this page, or should it arrest the attention of an unbelieving, and therefore an unworthy, recipient of the ordinance, let that individual seriously ponder these solemn words of Jesus- "Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you." The ordinance has no life of itself; the mere symbol possesses no spiritual vitality whatever; it cannot impart life, nor can it sustain life. But the life in the ordinance flows from the exercise of faith, through this medium, with the life-blood of Jesus. Therefore, if you rest only in the symbol, if in this ordinance you partake not by faith of the blood of Jesus, your soul is destitute of spiritual life. In the words of Jesus himself, "You have no life in you." Solemn reflection!

Part 2 The Vitality of the Atoning Blood

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