Cleansed by Blood — Fred Tomlinson

The Meaning of Being Cleansed by Blood

Well, Fred Tomlinson here, and I would like to share with you something, I suppose I could refer to it as a desire to highlight what it really means for the people of God to be cleansed by blood. In other words, for you, as you listen to me, to be cleansed in blood.

What does that mean? How should we think about that together? I realize before I get started, I'm touching on a very large subject. Many of these things that we talk about are huge, huge subjects, and to try and compress them into a brief session is not necessarily easy, and almost always at the end of it all I'm wishing I'd said something else or put something a different way, but nevertheless.

The Principle of First Mention in Scripture

Let me start by just saying this, that when I was a young man studying my Bible, I became aware of the principle of first mention. The principle of first mention is a principle of Bible interpretation which observes that frequently within the first mention of a particular subject, there's a sense in which God has sown into that word or into that section of Scripture a seed of truth, or perhaps seeds of truth, which will be expanded and explained in later Scriptures.

And I've found that to be just such a wonderful key to helping me understand many things. And it's with that particular principle in mind that I want to turn your attention first of all to Genesis. We're not going to read lengthy passages because I don't have the time in this session to do that, I'm sorry, but I'll be referring to the book of Genesis, I'll be referring to the book of Hebrews as well as we move forward.

I'm sure of that, but you'll know that the word Genesis really means beginnings. The book of Genesis is the book of beginnings, and the remarkable thing about this book is in the opening chapters of this book, we find a kind of seedbed of all the major themes of the Bible which will be developed, as I mentioned earlier, as the Scriptures continue to unfold.

And I'm looking at this particular subject this morning, first of all because I believe the Lord directed my heart to it just a little earlier in the week, and secondly because I think it's a tremendously important subject for us to consider and to be helped in our hearts and minds to understand what we're facing, what we're talking about, and what by God's grace we're experiencing.

And thirdly, which really is the development of the second point, it's because I think there's a lot of misunderstanding, even among Christian believers, about what the Bible is really saying and teaching when we read about being cleansed by blood.

I think, frankly, that there's a lot of misinformation that's being preached. I believe that there's an abundance of superstition. I mean, to be talking together as professing Christian believers about pleading the blood and covering with the blood and sprinkling with the blood, which are all common terms which we know are thrown around, but none of them have a basis in the New Testament.

Old Covenant and New Covenant Sacrifice

And I think really, and this could be a major diversion of my talk if I follow it more than to just say a word or two, I think one of the biggest problems is a complete breakdown of failure to grasp the distinction between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant.

And we get ourselves into a lot of trouble, and that's where some of these ideas I've just alluded to would find some beginning. But as Christian men and Christian women, we've been brought into the benefit and blessing of a New Covenant.

I'll talk about that a little bit more, I think, as we go forward. As we look back into the book of Genesis, as you know very, very well, we're looking at the way the Scripture presents the very beginning things so far as this world that we're somewhat familiar with began.

And if I could just capsulate these thoughts by saying, when we read in these very early chapters of Genesis, that which we're reading about is very, very real. It's tangible. It's actual. And I certainly believe that fully and completely.

And yet, at the same time, although the things that are being presented and discussed are real, from the vantage point which we have today, that is, from the position of understanding something of the truths of the New Covenant and being familiar with the New Testament Scriptures that we have, we look back on those issues, on that record that's back there, about these real things that were happening, and we can't fail to recognize that every single detail is incredibly significant.

And there's so much more to be said about that. What I'm going to do this morning is to pass over so much that we could develop from that starting point. But before we do that, I do want to pause for a moment and just ponder for a moment the superlative harmony that existed between God and his first people.

Sin Breaks Fellowship in Eden

And you're familiar with the story. I don't need to reread that, do I? And what you will also know is that as we move into the third chapter of Genesis, the unthinkable happens. The God who has created those two people, and with all of the incredible significance that is held there, the God who we are led to believe comes down into that paradise, into that Eden, and somehow fellowships with those people.

This is why I refer to it as a superlative fellowship. It's the highest that we can imagine as God is there with them and communes with them. And the unthinkable happened that the two people that were enjoying that reject God.

They make a decision to reject him in favor of what is, of course, a terrible deception and a twist on certain facts. And instantly, from that moment, that fellowship ceased to exist. It was broken, ripped apart in that moment.

And there would be consequences that even today at this stage in history are hard to even begin to imagine in terms of the measurement and the scope of what occurred back there, which is recorded in the third chapter of the book of Genesis.

The fact of the matter is God had told Adam and Eve that with all that he'd provided for them that they could enjoy, there was one tree that they must not partake of. For in the moment that they would partake of it, they would surely die, they were told.

Later on in Scripture, we read this statement, that the soul that sins must die. The soul that sinneth shall die, is the old King James. In the book of Hebrews in chapter 9 and verse 22, there's a, I'll read that a little earlier, in verse 21,.

Moreover, he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and the vessels of the ministry. And then verse 22 goes on,. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

We're hearing the word reparation quite a lot these days in the news. But without blood, or by blood alone to rephrase it, by blood alone there could be atonement or reparation. And God hasn't left this issue open for us to debate or to decide why he would say that or why he would take that position.

It's not for us to question. It's just something that is clearly and boldly stated through the Scripture. And as we begin to unpack this truth in a very, I'm sorry, in a very superficial way in this session, I can see that in that early section of Scripture in Genesis chapter 3, that Calvary is being alluded to.

Let me remind you that nothing that was taking place, nothing that I've just described from the book of Genesis chapter 2 and what developed thereon into chapter 3, none of it surprised God. God could not be disappointed.

You can't be disappointed if you know how things are going and you're in control of everything. So there's no accidents. What God is going to do about the situation is not some emergency reaction to what took place.

We believe in a sovereign God who planned and ordained everything before the foundation of the world. And that's a sobering thought to think about in this context. But in the third chapter of Genesis, and in verse 15 where God is speaking to the woman, he says, and I will put enmity between thee, I'm sorry, he's speaking to the serpent, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, between thy seed and her seed.

It shall bruise thy head and thou shalt bruise his heel. And I'd like to talk a lot more about that, but the fact is for those of us who are thinking of these things from the New Testament position, we can't help but see that here is a reference to Calvary.

And again, I think I'm saying these things to help just strengthen the foundation of our faith in God that right there at that point in time when things seem to have just turned into chaos, God was in complete control of everything and he was working out his will.

And in this statement we can't help but see the contest that took place and the tremendous triumph that took place at Calvary, and that's wonderful. And then it goes on a little further in the 21st verse of chapter 3.

I'm sorry, my space is a little awkward here. I read in verse 21, And unto Adam also and his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. Once again, clearly a reference to the atoning work of Christ.

This is where we find substitutory atonement, as it's frequently referred to, where sin is covered by a garment which is purchased at the cost of the life of another. Clearly there's no record of how God got hold of this garment, but we can't read it without realising there is a reference here concealed in this seed of the atoning work of Jesus at the cross.

Without sin there's no reparation, there's no forgiveness, there's no way to deal with it except by blood, and the blood would be the blood of another. There's no specific mention of blood being shed there.

Let me make a suggestion. Let's imagine that we're looking at this scene in the Garden of Eden through a camera, through a lens, through a telephoto lens, if you will, and at first we've got this close-up scene of Adam and Eve in the Garden and the rejection of God, the rebellion against his word, and the consequences being spelled out by the Lord with these hidden nuggets, these hidden seeds that I've referred to.

And then we adjust the lens of the camera and we back off with it. You will have seen this done, I'm sure, on the TV or somewhere, where you're looking at a particular item or a particular object or place and then the people operating the cameras they sort of back the lens away, as it were, and the object you've been looking at begins to disappear into the distance and other features come into view.

And you realise that the camera was actually a lot further back than you realised. And as we do that, and we allow this telephoto lens, which is being put into reverse right now, we're moving back along the timeline of history.

Abraham, Isaac, and God’s Provided Lamb

And as we do that, many things begin to come into view. Far too many to consider now, but, for example, I would see something that's recorded in the 22nd chapter of Genesis come into view. This is where the Lord God speaks to Abraham.

And he says, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And he, that is God, said to him, Take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains that I will tell thee of.

And I know I alluded to this in a few sessions ago, but the fact is that we read through this story and it tears at your own heartstrings as you read it. But by the time I move on to verse 7, they're walking to the spot that God has ordained for them.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father and said, My father, and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for the burnt offering.

So they went, both of them, together. Remarkable. We see that scene and that statement of Abraham, this man of incredible faith. He says, My son, God will provide himself a lamb. You see, once again, the seed is there in this passage.

It's very obvious to us as we read that that here is a reference to what will take place in the fullness of time. As we back the camera away or the lens even further, we see another scene we could be reading in Exodus 12, and we'd be reading how each of the Israeli families have a lamb which is slain and its blood is spilled.

And according to and following the instructions of Moses, they spread the blood on the lintel of the door and on the doorposts. And by doing that in obedience to God and in a manner as God described, they're protected from the angel of death who passes over.

Once again, we see significance that can very readily be applied to the New Testament story. But this raises an obvious question. There's more that could be said following that line that I was taking.

The Limits of Animal Sacrifices

But the question is this. Did these sacrifices, these multiple sacrifices, these hundreds and indeed thousands of sacrifices where blood was shed, did any of that blood really restore the fellowship that was known way back in the beginning?

And the answer to that is, of course, a resounding no. Animals' blood being shed was being shed according to God's word. But the fact is that process or those processes were temporary. They were an arrangement that God ordained.

They were temporary and they would need to be repeated. And I'm looking back into that ninth chapter of Hebrews where I read that in verse 9, that these things were a figure, note these words, or a symbol for the time then present which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make him that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience.

Then it goes on to describe some other wonderful things, but I break away. The fact is, no, these sacrifices which were being done, they were being done in obedience to God's word, but it was an arrangement that God made for the time then present.

It would be true to say, and I'm borrowing this statement from the old King James in the book of Matthew in a totally different context. It has to do with marriage and divorce, for interest's sake. But the statement that I want to make is that God suffered those things.

That's the word you find in that ancient record in Matthew's Gospel. God suffered it for the time then present. But here's the fact, and it's important, that the blood of the animals which was being shed in order to appease God, it had no inherent value.

Its value was that it was being done in obedience to God, and it had value because it foreshadowed something that was in the mind and plan of God. God knew where it was all headed, and it was his plan that put it there.

And if we had lots of time, we could look at the particular sacrifices and we could see how each of them, with all of their particular detail, foreshadowed the fullness and the glory of the great sacrifice that you know I'm alluding to.

The Need for a Sinless and Precious Sacrifice

But in order for sin to be dealt with, blood needed to be shed, and in the mind and heart of God, the blood would need to be the blood of a man that would be shed. And the fact of the matter is that men's blood could not appease God's anger against sin because every man on the face of the earth was already himself or herself corrupted by the sin coming down the line from Adam.

In other words, there would need to be special blood, as it were, but it had to be a man's blood nonetheless. The need was for another man, or catching the idea that Paul introduces to the Corinthians, the need was for another Adam.

It's as though somehow everything needed to go back to the beginning, as it were, and started again with a new Adam who would be obedient where the first Adam had been disobedient. Paul explains that very clearly in the book of Romans.

And to deal and reverse this situation and appease God's anger and bring men and women into fellowship with himself as he intended. Another man, a second man, it's interesting the way Paul refers to this one in the Corinthian passage, a second man, a last Adam, be the end of the old Adam.

And in order for men and women to be reinstated into the love and grace of God, there needed to be superior blood, there needed to be sinless blood, there needed to be precious blood. And isn't that what the Apostle Peter talks about when he's writing in that little epistle?

I'll just read this to you. I'm reading for those of you looking on. I'm reading from 1 Peter. I'm reading from chapter 1. And here Peter says, For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold from your vain conversation or vain manner of life received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Amen. And God provided Himself the lamb. He was without spot. And His bloodshed would bring into reality a new arrangement between God and man. And that really is what the word covenant means when you get down to it.

There was the old arrangement and the new arrangement. God ordained them. But there needed to be a new arrangement, and that would be purchased through this bloodshed, this precious bloodshed. A new covenant, which the rest of the Hebrews refers to as a better covenant, a whole different arrangement.

And that's what we're talking about, and that's where we're going in our thinking. But the question, which is really the central question in this talk on this occasion, is how should we understand this blood making us clean?

Cleansing Accomplished by God in the New Covenant

And it's at this point, I think, that some people lose the track here. And there's a lot of misunderstanding. I hope that in some small way God will be able to help clarify this from His word here as we're looking at it this morning.

All the methods of using the blood under the old covenant are now rendered obsolete. That's an important statement. You know, it's one thing to say about, to try and justify some particular action, whether it's something from Scripture in some way or from details of our own lives.

We say, well, it's written in the Bible. But the important thing is we have to know where it was written in the Bible and who was making the statement and to whom was the statement being made. And all these are very important questions.

Otherwise we can just borrow a phrase, which is somewhere in the Bible, said to someone about something that we imagine can apply to our particular situation. And at that point, of course, that's where people, well, they twist the Scriptures and they end up in error.

And so we need to understand this, that all those particular methods of the blood being shed and the blood being handled and applied that we find in those New Testament sacrifices, which were all filled with great significance, but the manner in which it was taking place is now rendered absolute, absolute, forgive me, obsolete, because we're looking at this from the context of the New Covenant.

And so now here's the next important statement, that we must understand that this blood, this precious blood of Jesus that was for cleansing took place in heaven. Note that. This cleansing, I think this is about the most important thing I can say in this talk this morning, that this cleansing that we're talking about was entirely done of God or by God, and it was done entirely for God for the removing of sin's guilt from men and women.

That's the core issue. Other ideas come creeping in and ideas about what we should be doing with the blood, there's no suggestion in Scripture that we handle the blood or do anything with the blood. God Himself has shed the blood.

He's the one who's handled it by His own Holy Spirit and it's been applied to the throne of grace in the presence of Almighty God. That's the issue. And by doing that He removes the guilt of sin, which of course would otherwise bring about the awful judgment of God upon our souls.

But it has been removed from His people. And their sins and iniquities have been blotted out and the condemnation that was all part of that and which is continually whispered by the enemy is lifted. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.

Or again, I'm back in Colossians where I read that through the work of the cross He made peace through the blood of His cross. What does that mean? It's not just my peace, it's the peace that God was able to have with men who were otherwise standing under the indictment of His judgment.

We've said before on other occasions we talk about being saved, but what are we saved from primarily, fundamentally? We're talking about being saved from the judgment of God as the result of that bloodshed of our Lord Jesus which was ultimately taken into the holiest of all, that was done in the Old Testament, through the eternal Spirit and presented to God.

Amen. And as the result, the people of faith, the people who have put their faith in the redeeming work of Christ, their sin is atoned for. They are reconciled with a holy God. Sinful men, lost, dead spiritually, men are reconciled to a holy, living God.

And these are great truths we're touching on. They are justified in approaching Him. I was reading to you a moment ago from chapter 9 in Hebrews and that the blood of old was a temporary arrangement, we were saying at that point, but then we reach, But Christ, isn't this wonderful?

But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come, the new covenant things, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say of this building, neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood, He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Glory be to God. And it's wonderful. And we read, I'm just dropping down to chapter 10 of Hebrews, where it says, For the law, having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of those things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually, make the comers there unto perfect.

For then would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, once purged, should have had no more conscience of sins. But that didn't take place. But the inference there is, but now in Christ, we've got an entirely different situation.

There is such a thing as coming under the sound of the truth, of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and finding faith quickened in our hearts by His word, and placing our faith in Him, we are accepted in the Beloved.

Wonderful. And the condemnation is removed from us, the guilt is removed, to be remembered no more forever, it says. And we are in that sense, once purged, we're brought into union with God. How wonderful is that?

Abel’s Blood and the Better Blood of Christ

Now, for this to become personal in our experience, and I've really said it already, but let me put it in a different way. We need to reverse the camera the opposite way again. I've kind of gone backwards and forwards a bit.

But I'm turning back into the book of Genesis. You know, that book of beginnings. Remember first mention and all of that. I'm in the fourth chapter of Genesis. And there's a whole series of things that are taking place here.

The fact of the matter is that Adam's two sons, Cain and Abel, they're making their own individual offerings to God, and Abel's offering was a blood offering, and that, it turned out, was acceptable to God.

Cain's offering was different, because, you see, evidently he was a vegetarian, and his offering was not accepted by God. And as a result of that, Cain's anger was stirred so much so that he killed his brother, he slew Abel.

And God had something to say about this, and I'm reading this in the tenth verse. I'll read verse 9 of chapter 4 of Genesis. And the Lord God said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not.

Am I my brother's keeper? And he, God, said, What hast thou done? Thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. I could turn you back to Hebrews in chapter 12, and I believe 24, verse 24, where there's a statement right back to this section here, where we read that the blood of Christ speaks better things than that of Abel's.

We're introduced to this idea of blood speaking. Our question, overarching us, is how does all this become personal to us? The blood was shed by God for God. It was presented to God to appease His anger toward men and women.

Now what about me? What about us? And so on. And so we've gone back to this passage of Scripture, and we've found this statement, which seems unrelated in many ways, but the fact is, if you can remember where we started, seeds of thought sown, which don't really mean a lot.

They were real things that were happening. But from our point of view, we look back and we say, Hey, I can see something here. And that reference from Hebrews ties it in biblically as well. There was a reference to blood speaking.

God had it written, recorded back in Genesis 4. Here it's been taken up again in the book of Hebrews. And of course the upshot of this is that the idea that's before us is this better blood, this precious blood of Christ, which is presented in the presence of God even as we speak now, is speaking.

What is it speaking? It's speaking better things than that of Abel. You know, we say sometimes, well, such and such a thing. Well, it just speaks for itself. It's not that the blood is talking. It speaks for itself.

It's whose blood it is that was shed, that is now presented in the holiest of all, the ultimate holiest of all. By its sheer presence there, it speaks. Charles Wesley wrote,. This is a tremendous verse.

What a wonderful thought. The speaking blood of Christ is speaking the mercy of God to guilty, lost, dead sinners like me and like you. But Christ, his blood was shed on our behalf and now exists before the holy presence of God and speaks forgiveness.

It speaks the erasing of the documents which are against me. And so on. And I think that's very wonderful. You know, there's something else before we finish off here in this Genesis verse that I've just read to you.

The Life Is in the Blood

Because it says in verse 11,. And now art thou cursed from the earth which has opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from your hand. Here's another one of those Cs, another one of those gems.

Not only do we have a reference to blood speaking, better things than that of Abel, but here we've got this idea of the ground having a mouth and its mouth opening up and receiving the blood that fell into it.

Amen. We know from reading in Leviticus chapter 17 that the life is in the blood. And we also know that drinking the blood or drinking of blood was forbidden in the Old Testament. And yet here in this first mention we have this idea of blood being drank.

And I think more could be said about this, but let's quickly just zoom the lens back again. We're going to wear this mechanism out. We're back in John's Gospel chapter 6 this time. And Jesus is saying that those that are around him must actually eat his flesh and drink his blood or they have no life in them.

What an interesting thought. Perhaps even more particularly, two other thoughts are coming to my mind. Jesus in John chapter 7 would invite those that were listening to him to come to him. There's no reference to blood in this passage.

They're inviting them to come to him and drink. If they're thirsty, come to him and he would drink. And John the Apostle adds a parenthesis in that chapter where he says that Jesus was talking about the Holy Spirit on that occasion.

And then in Matthew's Gospel, chapter 26, Jesus is with his disciples in the upper room. It's that moment of the Last Supper as we refer to it. And Jesus tells them as he passes the cup to them that this is the blood of the new covenant, the blood of the New Testament.

And the idea that I'm wanting to just capsulate here is that we've got this seed issue of blood being drunk in the Old Testament all the way back at the beginning by the ground on that occasion. It wasn't precious blood.

It was very important blood to Abel. We've got the whole idea of covenant being tied in the blood of the covenant. And we've got the eternal spirit. The blood was shed through the eternal spirit, we're told.

The blood of Christ, the blood of the covenant, the spirit who communicates the blood. And they're united together. And really this is the apex of my message here in this session. That today, now answering this question, what about me?

The Holy Spirit Mediates the Benefits of Christ’s Blood

How do I relate to all of this? Today the Holy Spirit is given. The Holy Spirit is here. He's given to mediate to your heart all that the blood of the covenant testifies. Before the throne of grace. I hope you can understand what I feel.

I'm understanding a little in my heart. The Holy Spirit is given to mediate to my heart all that the blood of the covenant is now testifying, speaking, before the throne of grace. And I believe right now that the Holy Spirit is ready to impart to each opened heart all of the virtues of the very soul life of Jesus.

To impart it to us as the result of what has been done and what is yet speaking in this moment and what is now being ministered to me in this particular moment by His Holy Spirit. And I believe that this was the original intent of God before He ever started with all of this.

And it remains, beloved, His present purpose. To the disciples, Jesus handed the symbolic cup and He said, did you note the words? Drink all of it. Drink all of it, said Jesus. Don't just sip the tip of it.

You can say, well, how did this work out? Well, that's not the question. I'm looking at the words that were spoken. Jesus is handing to them symbolically all that would be accomplished at Calvary. All that would take place in the holiest of all as His blood was presented there.

All that the Holy Spirit would come to impart to men's hearts. And Jesus was saying symbolically to His disciples, drink all of it, drink it. Get it into you, drink all of it. And Jesus, back to the chapter 7 of John where Jesus is talking to the crowd, speaking about drinking.

He says that if you drink and keep drinking, and there's another important thing. This is the issue. It's not a once in a moment thing. It's to drink and keep drinking. The ministry of the Holy Spirit into my heart and in doing that, I'm not called to handle the blood.

He'll minister the effects, the power, the results of the blood into my heart and into my being and into my conscience. He will minister the life of God Himself into my heart and into my life. He will minister the rich blessings of this new covenant into my heart.

It's all in the hands of the Holy Spirit. It's of Him. What do we need? We need Him. It's not some magical phrase or some imaginary idea of doing something with the blood that we're never told to do and could not anyway.

But we open our hearts to Him, and the Holy Spirit upon our opened heart receiving Him will, and with the practice being a continual practice, He will continually whisper into your heart that you are justified, you are sanctified, you are forgiven, you are accepted.