Rabbi Schneider - Why Did Jesus Die?
These holy days of the Lord, these appointed days, as the word of God calls them are actually an unveiling of God's prophetic redemptive plan for humanity. Now we're focusing on the fall holy days. We covered the first of these feasts in the fall called Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets, often times referred to as Rosh Hashanah. Again, you'll have to go back and watch those episodes. You can do it, information at the end of the broadcast will tell you how you can obtain it or you can even watch it on Youtube. We're focusing today on Yom Kippur.
I began last week on Yom Kippur, so this is now the second message on the Day of Atonement, called in Hebrew once again, Yom for day, Kippur of covering. How were the children of Israel since covered in the Hebrew Bible or the Old Testament? They were covered by blood. The Bible tells us in the Torah, in the book of Leviticus chapter 17, verse 11 that, "'The life of the flesh is in the blood,' sayeth the Lord. And I've given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your soul. For it's the blood by reason of it's life that makes atonement".
This is why it was so critical that when Jesus was on the cross the soldier had to come and thrust a spear in His stomach in order that the blood would fall out or flow out, because it was the blood flowing out that symbolized that the life had been given. It's the blood of Jesus beloved, that has purchased our salvation and I talked about that last week. I talked about the concept of the fact that we've been redeemed, which means purchased, by the blood of the Lamb.
Now the foundational scripture on Yom Kippur comes from the book of Revelation chapter number 12, verse 11. In Revelation chapter 12, verse 11 we hear this. I'm gonna actually read it for you so you'll be able to get it word for word. I'm reading out of the New American Standard Version, which is probably the best translation who's aim is to take the literal original Greek or Hebrew word and translate it to the English equivalent. Hear the word of God. Once again, Revelation 12:11. "They overcame him because of the blood of the lamb, and because of the word of their testimony; and they did not love their life even when faced with death".
Now this scripture is about the end time believers that survived and they survived through three things. Number one, they survived because of the blood of the Lamb. Two, because of the word of their testimony and because they had sold out lives for Jesus, they did not love their lives even to death. Now I want to ask you how do we take the blood of the Lamb and apply it to our life? Because it's not enough just that Jesus shed His blood. Some how we have to make His blood relevant and effective in our own lives. So how do we apply the blood of Jesus to our life? Last week I talked about the ancient Passover in Exodus chapter 12, how every Israelite family took a lamb just like Revelation 12:11 says. They had the, they overcame by the blood of the lamb.
When we go back to this concept of the lamb it brings us back to Exodus 12 where every Israelite family took a lamb, an unblemished lamb, which was a shadow of Jesus and then they sacrificed that lamb. They very carefully collected the blood of that lamb in a basin, because none of it could be spilled on the ground, none of it could be wasted, because it was so precious and so valuable. And then they had to personally take that blood that had been collected in the basin and apply it to their home, to their door frame with a hyssop branch. Once the blood was applied to their home they had to go inside the home, close their door and not come out; symbolizing that they were completely covered, encased, protected by the blood.
Now I want you to consider this, when those Israelite families slaughtered the lamb and then collected in the basin. The blood left in the basin could not and did not save them. It was only when that blood that had been collected in the basin was applied to their home and then they went inside their home and closed the door that they were saved by the blood. In the same way, as I've been saying, the blood of Jesus does not automatically save us. It has to be applied to our lives, even as the children of Israel had to apply the blood to their door posts from the basin.
So how then do we apply the blood of Jesus to our life? I believe that Revelation 12:11, once again gives us a clue, because they overcame by the blood of the Lamb and get it now, the word of their testimony. They confessed to Jesus was and the power and the authority of the blood in and over their lives. You see the principle of confession is what our salvation is based on. The book of Romans chapter 10 tells us that if we believe in our heart that God raised Jesus from the dead and then get it now, confess or testify that He's our Lord we'll be saved. So believing and confession go together. For with the heart man believes, but with the mouth confession is made, scripture tells us, resulting in salvation. And so I believe beloved church, the way that we get the blood of Jesus into our lives personally is by having faith in it and get it now, confessing it's power, what it does for us as we thank Jesus for it.
Now we began this last week as we read from the book of Ephesians chapter 1, verse 7 and we read that we've been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. In Him we have redemption through His blood and I developed that. And at the end of that we confessed it. We said together, I'm gonna have you do it again today and then we're gonna move on. I want you just to testify of the blood of Jesus' redemptive power in your life individually and personally. So we're gonna say together, thank You Father God for purchasing and for redeeming me through the blood of Jesus Your Son. Thank You that You purchased me to marry me. Thank You Jesus. I praise You and give my life to You. Amen. We're gonna move on now.
The next point I want to make is that the blood of Jesus beloved church of God, cleanses us. Hear the word of God now as I read from the book of 1 John chapter number 1, verse number 7. "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin". I want to at the onset make the point here that all the verbs in this scripture verse are continuing present tense. All the verbs, once again, are written in a form of speech that conveys continuing present sense, meaning that the blood of Jesus is continuing presently to cleanse us of sin. It's a reality that keeps on unfolding that are cleansing us, unfolding in a deeper and deeper way as we abide in the light and have fellowship with one another.
Let's listen to the verse again, keeping in mind the comments that I just shared. "But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light," so first of all we have to be walking in the light. In other words, once again we're not automatically cleansed by the blood of Jesus, but we have to be walking in the light to be cleansed by the blood of Jesus. So let's listen again, "If we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus' Son cleanses us from all sin".
How do we know if we're walking in the light? Well according to this verse one of the ways that we know we're walking in the light is if we're walking in a love relationship with God's people. This is why the mindset that your relationship with God is just about you and God and it doesn't have to do with you being in a relationship with other believers, fall short of a complete Biblical understanding. Because God calls us as a people and as a community and He wants us to walk together in love in the light. Every letter that Paul wrote was not dressed to an individual other than Timothy or Titus. He was speaking to the church, to the church at Ephesus, to the church at Philippi, to you know the church at Corinth.
God calls us as a people and when we walk in love we abide in the light and as we walk in love and abide in the light the blood of Jesus is effectively working in our life to cleanse us of sin, because it takes the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in love. In the natural we walk in love only when people make us feel good. We love people that do something for us, but to walk in true love is to walk in sacrificial love. It's to walk in laying down our lives and to do that and when we do that there's a cleansing that takes place. I want you to confess with me that as you walk in the light, as you seek to love people unconditionally, the blood of Jesus is cleansing you from sin. Let's confess it together.
Father God I thank You that as I offer my heart to You, seeking to obey You, seeking to yield to the Holy Spirit, endeavoring to love your people, to pray for them and to cultivate a heart attitude of love in my heart for them; that as I do that Your Spirit through the blood of Jesus is cleansing me of sin, that sin is being rooted out of me through the blood of Jesus, as I'm being cleansed in a deeper and deeper way.
Beloved child of God, you're being cleansed of sin. You're being transformed into the likeness of Jesus as you seek to abide in the light and to walk in love, because those that walk in love abide in God.
Let's continue on. Through the blood of Jesus we're justified. I want to go to the book of Romans now and I'm gonna be reading in the book of Romans, chapter number 5, verse number 9. Hear the word of God. "Much more than having now been justified by His blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him". Justification, listen now, means to make righteous. When you're justified you're made righteous. Think about this, justified is just as if you'd never sinned. God justifies you by clothing you in the righteousness of Christ. Through the blood of Jesus He takes away your sin, so that you now stand before God holy and blameless as if you've never sinned, because you're in Jesus and Jesus never sinned.
Paul said, "I'm following Christ and I've given up my old life, seeking to earn God's righteousness. Because I want to be found in Christ not having a righteousness of my own," Paul said, "Derived from the law, but having the righteousness of Christ attained to me as a free gift". To be justified, remember once again that we've been justified through the blood of Christ. Once again, Romans 5:9, "Much more than having now been justified by His blood we shall be saved from the wrath of God".
Listen, to be justified is to be made righteous. It's to be acquitted. Yes, you and I have sinned, but Jesus justifies us and so it's as if we stand before the judge and the judge says, "Not guilty," as if we've never sinned. We've received the righteousness of Christ. He took our sin away and justified us. Romans 5, verse 17-21. "For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who received the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men".
In other words, what Paul was saying was that before Jesus came everybody was guilty because they were descendants of Adam and everyone that was descended from Adam inherited his guilt. We were born guilty before God, descendants of Adam, inheriting his sin nature. But when we received Jesus, Jesus took away our sin by His blood and gave us the gift of His righteousness. So now church we are justified. Paul wrote about this throughout the scriptures and much of his theology is built upon these two things that we've covered that we've been redeemed and justified through the blood of Jesus Himself. We are not guilty. We're just as if we'd never sinned. Let's confess this together.
Father God I'm so happy to know that through the blood of Jesus I am now righteous before You and that I stand before You justified just as if I'd never sinned. Jesus, King Jesus, thank You for clothing me in Your righteousness, taking away my sin, acquitting me and justifying me. Amen and amen.
Next beloved, through the blood of Jesus we've been, listen now, sanctified. Sanctified, to be sanctified means to be made holy. In fact the original word for sanctify in the Greek language is sometimes translated in scripture as sanctified, sometimes it's translated as holy. It's the same Greek word and it carries with it the concept of being set apart. To show you this in scripture I want to go to the book of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 11 and 12. First I'm gonna read from the New American Standard Version that translates this Greek word as sanctify. Then we're gonna red from the New International Version. You're gonna see that the translators of the NIV version translated the same Greek word as holy.
Hear the word of God. "For the bodies of those animals whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside the camp". The bodies for the sacrifice were always burned outside the camp, then the blood was taken inside and presented to the Lord as a sacrifice for sin. "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify," there's the word, "That He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate". Same verse in the New International Version, here we go. "The high priest carries the blood of animals into the Most Holy Place as a sin offering, but the bodies are burned outside the camp. And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people," get it now, "holy".
Same Greek word, but the New American Standard Version are translating it as sanctify, NIV translators are translating it as holy; because the meaning is to be set apart. When we're sanctified or made holy we're set apart unto God. Through the blood of Jesus that we've been redeemed by we have been set apart, sanctified, made holy unto God and as a result of that beloved ones, God is desiring that our lives be separate unto Him. We're separated from the world, from the devil, from the lust of the flesh and we're separated to God and God does this through His blood.
Listen what Leviticus tells us in Leviticus chapter 20, verse 26. "Thus you are to be holy to me, for I the Lord, am holy and I have," get it now, "Set you apart". The blood of Jesus has set you apart. You're supposed to look different. You're supposed to talk different. You're supposed to be different, because the blood of Jesus has purchased you to be set apart, sanctified unto God. This is why the New Testament calls you a saint. Let's testify.
Father God through the blood of Jesus I've been purchased by You and set apart unto You. I've been set apart from the world, set apart from the devil, set apart from the flesh. And Father God I've been set apart unto You. I am holy. I am a saint, because of and through the blood of Jesus.
And lastly and finally today, I want to talk about the fact that through the blood of Jesus we receive life. Jesus said, "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood you have no life in yourself. Truly, truly I say to you," in John 6:50-57 Jesus said, "Truly, truly I say to you, 'Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood you have no life in yourself. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.'"
Beloved ones, because of Jesus, because of His blood, you have been given the very life of God. You are alive in Christ and it's all because Jesus shed His blood for you. He is the fulfillment of God's holy day Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and through His blood all the benefits today that I've talked about are yours in Christ Jesus forever and ever.