A Communion Message by Jay Wegter
The Life is in the Blood, Leviticus 17:11
INTRODUCTION: Have you ever prayed, “Lord, restore to me the joy of Thy salvation and sustain me with a willing spirit?” (Ps 51:12). God always answers that prayer by taking our eyes off of ourselves and setting them upon the majesty of our Savior who has redeemed us. The Christian walk clearly involves new and fresh discoveries of God’s mercies toward us in Christ. This is only one of the reasons why we need to keep the sacrifice of Christ ever before us in our thoughts and affections. For, our Lord commanded His followers to remember His death for them by way of the Supper.
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes (1 Cor 11:23-26).
As such, the Lord’s Table is a ‘means of grace’ that our hearts may be drawn out to Him in grateful obedience and worship. Whether we are aware of it or not, God is continually at work in the believer’s life using the Word of His grace (Acts 20:32) to align our affections with the purpose for which they were created—to be utterly taken up with the Lord Himself.
We are prone to stray from this blessed hope and that tendency to wander is evinced by self-consciousness, a disturbed conscience, anxious striving, lusts, and stress. These agitations erode our spontaneous joy and worship and hinder us from overflowing gratitude and adoration of God. During those times, we rediscover how appropriate that prayer is in Psalm 51 to address our spiritual condition. Only by casting ourselves again upon our Redeemer and His finished work can we be freed from those weights that bend us over. The Christian life involves a progressive learning to see with the eye of faith so that we exult in the Lord more and more. The Lord uses all manner of tribulations to open our lazy spiritual eyes allowing us to focus upon our true riches in Christ (Rom 5:1-5; Eph 1-3).
I. Blood is required to make atonement for sin.
The title of this message is taken from a passage in the Book of Leviticus, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood” (Lev 17:11). The Old Testament is the place to begin if one is to understand the principle of why the shedding of blood atones for sin. The doctrine of a substitutionary atonement is developed in the Mosaic Covenant through types and shadows. The sacrifices offered by the Levitical priesthood were proscribed in tabernacle worship. The offerings were designed to point to Christ our Substitute. “The tabernacle (of which Christ is the High Priest) is the entire cosmic scene of the redemption of God’s elect. This was the pattern which Moses saw, God’s plan of salvation” (Merrill Tenney). The tabernacle was but a ‘shadow of heavenly things’ (Heb 8:5).
“The soul who sins will die” (Ezek 18:4b). The sinner deserved to die, therefore if the sinner is to live, the sacrifice must die in his place. The transfer of the guilt of sin to the substitute is why the sacrifice dies in place of the sinner. The guilt of sin (with its just condemnation) was put on that animal which meant that its innocent life was surrendered to death.
If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the Lord.
He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, that it may be accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf (Lev 1:3-4).
God chose this guilt transfer as the means of expiation pointing to the fact that the life of Christ would be surrendered over to death and offered to God that we might be reconciled to Him. Under this O.T. system, ordinarily a beast was slaughtered by drawing out its blood. God appointed the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice upon the alter to signify that the life of the sacrifice was given to God instead of the sinner’s life. The shed blood was a ransom for the sinner’s life. “For, without the shedding of blood, there is no remission” (Heb 9:22).
The blood of Christ alone is that which secures atonement for the soul. All of the Old Testament sacrifices were but an imperfect type of Christ’s perfect sacrifice which was to come. “The life of the flesh is in the blood” is literally true anatomically as well, for blood has great significance from a scientific standpoint. God wrote that phrase about life blood through Moses long before medicine ever knew the function of blood. Western science discovered that each cell in the body needs food, oxygen, and waste removal. For, without these functions, metabolism stops and tissue dies. Blood is that miraculous red river of life that supports every cell in the body. The circulation of your blood sustains the organs in your body which work together in harmony to keep you alive. How true it is even physically that the life of the flesh is in the blood.
II. Christ brought His own blood into heaven itself for the sake of His people.
On the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies. He could not enter without blood. The blood he carried in was applied to the mercy seat.
He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. Moreover, he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; also in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering which is for the people, and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities (Lev 16:13-16).
This sprinkling of the mercy seat was to picture how Christ’s sacrifice was a propitiation of God’s wrath for His elect. The mercy seat was a symbol of God’s throne of judgment and mercy. Christ has appeared in the real Holy of Holies in heaven itself for us. “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:11-12). “For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us” (Heb 9:24). He has sprinkled the mercy seat with His own blood and quenched God’s wrath for all who believe. Because of this atoning work, the throne of God will always be a throne of grace for those united to Christ. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, covenant-breakers like you and me who have fled for refuge to Christ have been pardoned and accepted by God. Thus, when we celebrate the Lord’s Table it reminds us that Christ our hope is the sure and steadfast anchor of our souls which enters within the veil (Heb 6:17-20).
III. The blood of Christ ratified the new covenant.
Jesus told His disciples that it was His blood which ratified the New Covenant. “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins’” (Mt 26:27-28). Christ’s bloody death would fulfill all the O.T. types and would institute the new covenant which would replace the Mosaic covenant. The new covenant purchased the forgiveness of sins for the many. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Mk 10:45).
Jesus ties the new covenant and forgiveness to His shed blood. According to Ephesians chapter two, no one has spiritual life, hope, security, or relationship with God unless they are a member of this new covenant. “But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13). Paul’s point is that the blood of Christ has brought you near to God and into covenant relationship with Himself. Christian, at your new birth, the blood of Christ was applied to you by the Holy Spirit for your washing and regeneration (Titus 3:5ff.).
By His atoning work, Christ obtained eternal redemption by His blood. “He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12b). There was nothing hypothetical about it—He gained redemption by means of an effectual purchase. By His sacrifice, He secured salvation for His people. Even the faith and repentance needed to comply with the gospel’s requirements are a blood-bought gift of Christ to His elect (Acts 16:14; Eph 2:8-9; Phil 1:29). Thus, His efficacious work of purchase bought the regenerating work of the Spirit. For, God’s Holy Spirit is the One who applies the blood of God’s Son to the ‘doorposts’ of the heart. The Spirit seals believers in the new covenant which grants to them pardon, peace, and holiness (Eph 1:13-14).
IV. Every true believer has a share in Christ’s blood.
Having a share in Christ’s blood makes a believing sinner a child of the covenant (Mt 26:28). The believer is a ‘partaker of Christ’ (Heb 3:14; 2 Pet 1:4). When our Lord referred to the cup of communion wine, and said, “This is my blood,” He continued saying, “This is my blood of the covenant poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” When His disciples drank from that cup, it was a fitting picture of trusting in their Savior’s work as the source of their salvation. Thus, the imagery intended by the cup and the broken bread associated with the new covenant stresses the sufficiency of Christ and the power of His blood (see John 6:53-56—drinking, a metaphor for faith).
Everything necessary to commend us to God and maintain fellowship with Him is provided
for in the new covenant. This covenant includes the writing of God’s Law on our hearts, the Spirit’s indwelling ministry and enablement, and the blood-bought provision for continual cleansing.
I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS,
AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS.
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD,
AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
“AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN,
AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’
FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME,
FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.”
FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES,
AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE (Heb 8:10b-12).
In Christ, we have a covenant designed around the sinner’s needs. The gift of forgiveness and cleansing is not primarily for our emotional wellbeing, but, for the honor of God and for our uninterrupted fellowship with Him. The blood of Christ has set us apart as God’s covenant people. His blood has given us right-standing with God as His adopted children (1 Jn 3:1). Partaking of the Lord’s Table provides frequent reminders of the value of Christ’s death lest we drift into self-reliance.
V. The Lord’s Table is a vital remembrance of the cause of our salvation.
As Christians, our graces and virtues bring honor to God and allow our testimony to shine brightly. But the fruits of our service do not contribute to our standing before God. They are merely evidences of our new birth (Jas 2:18). Partaking of the Lord’s Table is a rectifying ordinance. It is a commemoration of what Christ has done that our faith may rest in Him alone. The Puritans were accomplished pastoral shepherds. They would ask the members of their flock very sobering questions such as, “Was there ever a time in your life when God’s books were charged heavily against you?” “Was there ever a time when you felt the guilt of your sin and sorrowed over it deeply longing to be rid of its stain and pollution?” “Was there ever a time when you saw how ruined you were in your own righteousness and religious efforts?” If you can say yes to these things and you have fled to Christ for refuge, then you are a covenant child of the King.
Only those who’ve taken God’s side against their sin and have experienced this conviction, truly trust the souls to Christ and have an interest in His blood. Countless churchgoers have offered mental assent to the gospel but have never entered the narrow door of repentance (Mt 7:13-14). If all you have is the ‘probability’ of personal salvation, I urge you to plead with God about the state of your souls that you may know for certain that you have a share in the Savior’s blood. Assume nothing, presumption has ruined countless souls. It is only the wounded sinner (devastated by his sin and the wickedness of his heart) who brings his case to a wounded Savior. Press your way into the Kingdom, or it will pass you by (Lu 16:16). Repent deeply, show ‘violence’ to your lusts and sloth—press forward showing violence to the passions of your flesh (Mt 11:12; Heb 6:11-12; 12:1-2). Those who truly have an interest in Christ’s blood will find fresh manifestations of Christ’s grace and love when they prepare themselves and then take the elements of communion.
VI. The Lord’s Table is a memorial that is intended to renew our consecration.
Christian, the Lord’s Table is directed at your heart that you might never take for granted the riches you have in Christ. Communion is intended to not only encourage you but sober you that you might be careful how you walk—not in a lukewarm state of measured devotion to Christ with one foot in the world. The psalmist prayed, “unite my heart to fear your Name” (Ps 86:11). To be properly prepared to partake of the Lord’s Table involves a time of self-examination. The reason for preparation is due to the fact that your partaking is meant to be a testimony to those around you, and to yourself that you have had the blood of Christ applied to your heart. Thus, as a participant in communion, you are testifying that you are God’s covenant child with all the privileges and obligations of sonship.
Partaking gives witness that you are a believer priest who walks with God in obedience and devotion to Christ—that you are living for Him who died and rose on your behalf and not for yourself (2 Cor 5:14-15). In other words, it is a public testimony that you do not live as a rank hypocrite. Partaking of the elements is a public testimony that you are submitting to Christ’s lordship in your life and serving your Master with enthusiasm. Thus, the Lord’s Table exerts a consolidating force in the believer’s life. For the believer’s obedience to his Lord is to be universal, not selective. Following Christ is not a compartment in one’s life, but is life itself (Col 3:1-4).
Scripture commands that the believer examine himself before partaking of the Lord’s Table (1 Cor 11:28ff.). The Lord is able to identify the sin in your life that you must confess and forsake. He expects you to renew your obedience. Believers maintain fellowship with the Lord by means of sin-judged lives that are marked by the regular confession of sin (1 Jn 1:7-9). Christ’s blood is meant for your conscience. “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God” (Heb 9:14). Believers must confess their sin in preparation to receive the Lord’s Table. The Holy Spirit never tires of pointing to the blood of Christ that we might enjoy the promise of restored joy in our salvation (Ps 51:12). It is the cleansed conscience that is being perfected in love. “By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (1 Jn 4:17-18).
The Lord’s Table encourages us to keep short accounts with God so that nothing is standing between you and heaven. For, God is glorified when we take advantage of our covenant privileges of forgiveness and cleansing. By doing so, you are placing great value on maintaining communion with the Lord. Consider the faculty of conscience for a moment, it is wired for strict justice. When it needs relief, it has little interest in words such as compassion, mercy, or longsuffering, it desires only justice. It is no exaggeration to regard the conscience as an extension of God’s courtroom, for this faculty alternately accuses or defends a man’s actions. “For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them” (Rom 2:14-15). How blessed is the saint to be able to look upon the blood of the covenant which speaks peace to his conscience. For the gospel bears witness to the conscience of the believer that justice has been done in regard to his sins. The Father is satisfied with the once for all offering made by His Son (Heb 10:10, 14).