Noun or Verb?

 

My dreams are often nonsense and I wake up laughing. The dream I had last night was like that. A woman kept asking people to answer a riddle with a verb instead of a noun. This dream ran through my mind when I read several hundred words in my devotional about the blood of Christ, ending with this statement: “Nothing is more practical, more important, or more delightful to the people of God than the blood, the precious, effectual, cleansing, redeeming blood of Christ.”

The dream made me think: is the blood (noun) what is stressed here, or is it the verb — Jesus died that all these benefits would be mine?

The reading begins with telling how those who heard the gospel and “When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.’ ” (Acts 11:18)

In English, the dictionaries say ‘repentance’ is a noun. In Greek, the dictionaries affirm it as a verb, an action word. I don’t think this is a riddle. It seems that all the verses quoted about the blood of Christ are using this noun as a euphemism for the verb that Jesus died for my sin, an action that is a riddle to those who are blinded by their sin.

The idea of atoning blood is first suggested in Genesis when God killed an animal to provide skins to cover Adam and Eve. Then His people were commanded to kill a lamb so the angel of death would pass over them when He destroyed the firstborn in Egypt. His law said “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” (Exodus 12:1–14) And the NT often points to the blood of Christ as vital to forgiveness, how God purchased His people and justified them. It says we were bought with a price, brought near to God, and can walk in His light because of the blood that cleanses us from all sin.

While the Bible clearly says that through Christ, God “reconciled to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20) these statements all refer to one action — the death of Jesus Christ which is identified by words about His shed blood. And He did it for us:

He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:12–14)
And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Hebrews 10:10–14)
Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…” (Hebrews 10:19–20)

We have victory over Satan because Jesus took our place: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11) and because He has cleansed us, we “have washed (our) robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:14)

PRAY: Jesus, Your actions on my behalf made possible all things: repentance, forgiveness, redemption, justification, cleansing, victory — a page of positives… including the grace and enablement to obey, love, reject self and sin, go out, share, and more action verbs. And You remind me of all this with a silly little dream and the rich language of Your Word. Oh, what a wonder You are!!

Without the blood . . .

Does the sight of blood make some people queasy? One of my children fainted when a lab tech took his blood. I turn my face away if a TV show is gory. Blood signifies pain, suffering, and death, but without blood, no one would be alive, and without the shedding of blood God does not forgive sin.

The story of God’s redemptive work using shed blood includes the exodus of His people from their bondage as slaves in Egypt. This historical situation depicts the wrath of God on sin and the provision of God for deliverance.

The people were about to leave under the leadership of Moses and Aaron, but first the final plague of death would strike the firstborn of every living creature. God told each household to take a lamb without blemish and on a certain day they were to kill it . . . 

“Then they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the flesh that night, roasted on the fire; with unleavened bread and bitter herbs they shall eat it. Do not eat any of it raw or boiled in water, but roasted, its head with its legs and its inner parts. And you shall let none of it remain until the morning; anything that remains until the morning you shall burn. In this manner you shall eat it: with your belt fastened, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Lord’s Passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the Lord. The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and no plague will befall you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.” (Exodus 12:1–14)

Those who mock this practice and say it is barbaric have little understanding of the seriousness of sin. God is holy and sin must be punished by death. Nothing else will do, but in mercy He told His people He would send a Savior, and in the meantime, He would accept a perfect lamb as their substitute, an atoning sacrifice that bore their guilt and saved them from God’s wrath on sin.

In the fullness of time, the Savior came and was put to death, shedding His blood to atone for human sin. Mock it, dismiss it, laugh at it, but to our own peril . . .

“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” (Hebrews 9:22) (‘Almost everything is forgiven except the rejection of God’s saving plan!)

I don’t like to think about His blood. First, it reminds me that my sin is a serious matter, and that God the Son had to come here, suffer, and be put to death because of it. Yet I have peace with God and my conscience is purged from guilt because of the blood of the Lamb, His sinless sacrifice. . .

“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:19–20)

“He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Hebrews 9:12–14)

These and many other verses speak of the power of His blood. Through it I have access to God and a secure victory over my spiritual enemies, death, hell and the grave. I will stand wholly pure before God, and praise Him for saving me from sin by the blood of Christ.

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation . . . .” (Revelation 5:9)

The second reason that I don’t like to think about His blood is what He suffered. This is the Creator of the universe put to death by mere mortals who think our way is better than His. We are fools — He humbled Himself for billions of fools, many of whom ignore Him, shake their fists at Him, curse Him, and make fun of a faith that requires blood. Yet He died asking the Father for our forgiveness.

Jesus, what can I say? You died, shedding your precious blood to release me from the bondage of sin and to continually cleanse me from sin’s power. Forgive us for our lack of response and consideration for the redeeming blood You poured out on our behalf.