To read Part One, click here.

This is God's gig ... what was His original plan?

The Old Covenant
Not only did God need blood, but He needed the blood to be shed in exchange for forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 tells us, "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness ... ." So, where was God going to get blood? The only blood that was available was either the blood of men and women or the blood of animals. Since the blood of men and women was already contaminated with death by the sin of Adam, for a time God was willing to accept the shed blood of bulls, goats, lambs and other animals to temporarily cover man's sin. God established His protocol.

Under the Old Covenant, the high priest would shed the blood of an innocent, spotless lamb once a year and take it in to the Most Holy Place to pour it upon the mercy seat. This act allowed God to legally cover their sin for one year. While their sin was covered, God could bless His people with life and goodness. However, this is not the end of the story.

The New Covenant
The Bible tells us that God had a bigger plan in mind. Flying under the radar of Satan, God was preparing the biggest "sting" in history! The Father was preparing to send His own Son as the eternal "... Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." (1 John 1:29) At the right time, the fullness of time, God sent his angel Gabriel to speak to a young lady named Mary. Sweet young Mary was told that the Holy Spirit would overshadow her and she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God. It was quite an amazing announcement!

Her response was simply, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." (Luke 1:38) Aren't you glad that Mary was so submitted to God's will for her? Aren't you glad that Mary wasn't a rebellious teenager? Think about what was happening when Mary was pregnant! God had chosen her to be the one who would carry the Savior of the world; a baby with spotless, sinless, eternal blood in His veins! What a day it was when Jesus was born! For the first time in history the possibility of mankind being eternally forgiven was on the horizon!

Jesus had The Blood ... which separates The Man from the boys.

Once Jesus was born, and walked on planet Earth—while He was fully God and while He had the only blood that could save humanity flowing in His body, He had to live a sinless life as a human man! It's a most amazing paradox and mystery ... that God became a man and that Jesus laid aside His God qualities to be the man who redeemed mankind!

The Redeemer
To qualify as our Redeemer, Jesus as a man had to live a completely sinless life, so that the sinless blood in His veins could eventually be shed for the remission of our sins once and for all. If Jesus had sinned once, He would have been disqualified. His blood would have been contaminated and mankind would be eternally lost. Jesus was God's only Son, the only begotten Son of the Father and the salvation of all mankind rested on His success.

Jesus lived on earth for nearly 33 years. The last three years of His life He operated in His ministry that led up to His ultimate death. Acts 10:38 summarizes Jesus' ministry on Earth, "... God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him."

When His time came, Jesus was crucified on a cross, where His blood was shed for our forgiveness. The shedding of His blood was the single most important event in human history! During those moments on the cross and three days and nights Jesus spent in hell on our behalf-life was overcoming death! The price of sin was being paid. (If you've seen "The Passion of The Christ," you saw a graphic portrayal of this event!)

On the third day, by the power of the Holy Spirit, God raised Jesus from the dead once and for all freeing man from the wages and sting of death! The price for man's sin was blood. Jesus paid in full and God raised Him from the dead. The resurrection was a wonderful day in eternity!

To read Part Three, click here.

For a more detailed study on this topic, I recommend my book: "CRUCIFIED: Why the Gory, Bloody Cross?"

Copyright © 2007 Beth Jones Ministries All rights reserved.