JULY 25, 2023
“In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” (Ephesians 1:7)
On the 13th of June, Donny Meyer, Braxton Hodgin, and I went to ERDCC, a prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri. I had been there before and since, but that was the first time we made a surprise visit which meant that we were not able to bring forth the Word. They have a prisoner-led worship service, and it was interesting to see how they normally do things when there is no visiting Pastor. Upon leaving, the three of us talked about the service and realized that we didn’t hear any talk of Jesus or what was accomplished on the cross. I assume my fellow brothers as well, felt very convicted about this. I realize that I need to start making it a point to talk distinctly about our Savior and the blood He shed for us. I felt convicted to not only devote some prison messages but also some specific articles to this topic. Of the numerous articles I have written, none have been solely about Jesus and the cross. I intend to remedy that today.
The truth is that Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is a most essential Christian doctrine to know. There is a reason why a cross is the symbol of Christianity. It’s not just a cool piece of jewelry someone wears around their neck; it is vital to know and never forget what was accomplished by the shed blood of our Savior.
So, what was accomplished by the shed blood of our Savior? Well, today’s verse from Ephesians answers this directly when it says, “…redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” Paul is referring to Christ’s death on the cross as the sufficient payment for the sins of all who believe in Him. This redemption paid to release us from the eternal penalty and the earthly power of our own sins. This freedom, of course, did not come at no cost since it is paid for by Christ’s death; it cost Him everything. As a result, for the believer, the ultimate price has already been paid. This is what one of my favorite Sunday school songs is about, when it says: He paid a debt He did not owe, [because] we owed a debt we could not pay, we needed someone to wash our sins away.
This is grace in the truest sense: the ability to become a child of God, because God provided a free way to know Him by faith. God’s grace is of tremendous value; it is what is required to make people sons and daughters of God. All have sinned and fallen short of His glory. It is only through Jesus that we have a way to have salvation.
We know what was accomplished by Jesus’ sacrifice, but we also need to know why His sacrifice was necessary. One correct answer is that while God is perfectly merciful, He is also perfectly just. These two aspects are often treated as mutually exclusive, and while it is hard for us to wrap our finite minds around this fact, they are not! As we know, the wages of sin is death and, because God is just, this must be fulfilled.
The book of Hebrews expands on this answer when it says, “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.” (Hebrews 9:22) Under the old covenant, sacrificial blood was required to sanctify almost everything. Forgiveness for sins was dependent on the death of an animal.
Up to this point, the writer of Hebrews has been pointing out that the old covenant was always intended, by God, as a symbol of the new covenant. The physical rituals and artifacts of the temple were given by God specifically to point toward the ministry of Jesus Christ. In many cases, those components of the old covenant were meant to be seen as limited, specifically as proof that God intended to provide a more permanent solution.
Immediately prior to this verse, the writer has pointed out that even at the very beginning of the covenant between God and Israel, blood was shed in order to establish that arrangement.
Here, the writer makes it clear that the blood which was spilled in both the old and new covenants is necessary – forgiveness from sin is not possible without it. Under the old covenant, this meant repeated offerings of animal sacrifices. In the new covenant, this means a single, perfect, once-for-all shedding of blood by Christ.
So, on the cross, Christ took on all the sins of the world – past, present, and future – and was crushed in our place. He shouldered our sins – becoming the very thing He hates most – and suffered God’s wrath, then, dying in our place, making glorious propitiation for our sins. Therefore, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross in our place is a most essential Christian doctrine to know. It is extremely crucial for us to know and never forget what was accomplished by the shed blood of our Savior.
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