Greetings, this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. Today, I would like to ask you a very important question that comes from the Bible. What is the importance of blood in the Bible? Ooh, sticky topic, huh? A distasteful topic, perhaps to some, but I must ask you, why does God require so much blood?

And where is it in modern Christianity, too? We may find it distasteful and a repulsive thing to talk about, but in fact, so important is blood to Christianity that I've entitled this message, There Will Be Blood. But first, before we launch into this subject, this very important biblical topic, I want to remind you that this is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls, Idaho. And we meet for holy worship if you're in our region and you want to check us out, I encourage you to do so. We meet for holy worship on Sunday at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

And if you want more information on this message or on our church, I encourage you to call us at area code 208-523-0196 or check out our websites. We have two of them, our church website, newgenevaopc.org, that's all one word, newgenevaopc.org, or our radio website where we have cataloged for you up to three years of radio messages, which you can call upon and dial up. And that website is omnispotestas.org. That's O-M-N-I-S dash, P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org, omnispotestas.org. All right, back to our topic.

What is the importance of blood in the Bible? Why does God require so much of it, rivers of blood? And where is the topic of blood, the subject of blood? In modern Christianity, who likes to eschew difficult things like this, especially contemporary preaching churches, but so important is blood to Christianity that I've entitled this message, There Will Be Blood. Perhaps you're reminded, as I am, of a movie made in 2007 of the same name.

The phrase, there will be blood, is an old American expression, which means that in the situation under consideration, whatever it might be, there will be violence that will cause great bodily harm, that is, bloodshed. And so it is, in the Bible, in the situation under consideration, that is, man's predicament with God, there is now and will be, in the future, violence that causes and will cause great bodily and spiritual harm, for that matter, that is, bloodshed and unending suffering. Because of man's present situation with God, there will be blood, dear listener. There will be blood. How can we say this?

Well, number one, from the scriptures, we know, number one, disobedience is of such a consequence to God, maybe not always to man, but certainly disobedience of God's law is of such a consequence to him that it requires the life of the sinner. The life of the sinner is requisite for the disobedience to God's law. This reality is established very early in the Bible. Do you remember the covenant sanction that God attached to his placing Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in the first place? Genesis chapter two puts it this way.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, you may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Unquote. Behold the seriousness with which God takes rebellion. And as we know, this is exactly what happened to Adam and Eve, right?

This was no child's prank of surreptitiously swiping a piece of fruit from Farmer Jones' orchard, as it's often characterized by Hollywood and the media, right? Rather, this was open rebellion on the part of our first parents, this eating of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In doing this, they openly sided with the serpent, that is the devil, in his operation to deceive them into achieving the ends that God set before them, but without the difficulty of obedience that God required. Chapter three of Genesis puts it this way.

But the serpent said to the woman, you will not surely die, for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. Unquote from Genesis chapter three. All of the temptations Satan dangled in front of them would have been theirs in righteousness had they but obeyed God during the time of their probation in the garden.

Then they would have eaten from the tree of life as well. But as it was, they tasted of death owing to their disobedience and their rebellion, Adam and Eve. And this is because of the ironclad principle, as Ezekiel puts it, behold, says the Lord, all souls are mine. The soul of the father, as well as the soul of the son is mine, the soul who sins shall die. The ironclad principle articulated all through the Bible but put very clearly by the prophet Ezekiel.

All souls are mine, God says, and the soul who sins shall die. Death is the consequence for our sin. This is the exact price demanded for sin. No way around it. God nowhere in any portion of the Bible indicates that he cuts slack for sin or lets it slide or goes easy on sin.

No, he is perfectly righteous and is perfectly holy. And he will by no means clear the guilty, as he says many, many times in the Old Testament. And consequently, God demands that element in which the life resides, that is blood. Oh yes, because we understand why there's now so much blood in the Bible. Not only does the soul that sin shall die, but also secondly, the life of the sinner is in the blood.

This is why so much blood is required, because the life of the sinner is in the blood. Not only is blood necessary to sustain the life of the creature being the primary element in the circulatory system, excuse me, it is also the biblical metaphor blood for the whole life of a living creature. The metaphor for the whole life of a living creature in the Bible is the blood. It was quickly observed by primitive man that by the loss of blood in particular, a man died. It thus became a vivid symbol of the whole life of a man and figured largely in what it took to atone for sin, blood.

Moses tells Israel in Leviticus, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls. For it is the blood that makes atonement by the life, unquote. Very clear Moses is here in Leviticus 17. From the opening chapters of the Bible, the demand for the life of the sinner is pictured in the demand for blood. There will be blood.

Do you remember the first murderer and his victim? Genesis 4 says Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. The innocent life of Abel is therefore, thereafter, excuse me, portrayed in the Bible as his righteous blood. The innocent life of Abel from there on through the rest of the Bible is portrayed as his righteous blood. That is a picture of an innocent life forfeited in murder, murder most foul.

Jesus says to the Pharisees, for example, in Matthew 23, on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar, unquote. Throughout the Bible, then, we see that blood is representative of the very life of the one whose blood is spilt. It only becomes logical that if the life of the sinner is required for his sin, then its sign must be present as well, that is blood. And this brings us to point number three.

Not only is, number one, the life of the sinner required for his sin, but also the life of the sinner is in the blood. Thirdly, God therefore logically insists that no disobedience can be forgiven without the shedding of blood. Point number three, God therefore logically insists that no disobedience, no violation of his law can be forgiven without the shedding of blood. When blood is shed, life goes forfeit. Therefore, it is the logical ritual symbol for the satisfaction by God of the life of the sinner in payment for his sin.

Yes, dear listener. In fact, the Bible is crystal clear on the necessity of blood for the forgiveness of sin. Hebrews chapter 9 puts it this way. Indeed, under the law, almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins, unquote. From Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

Listener, do you see the chain of consequence for our disobedience? It begins with an all-holy God, so perfect and righteous and high above that no sin or imperfection can't dwell with him. You who are of purer eyes, the prophet Habakkuk says, you who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong. As a result, when creatures such as ourselves commit evil and we do wrong, this disobedience demands the very life of that creature, us, and the ritual symbol for which life is, is the creature's blood.

That is why such elaborate rituals were established in Israel's religious life, primarily to handle and manipulate the blood so necessary to the atonement for sin amongst the people. Leviticus 17, 11 says, once again, for the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life, unquote.

From the time of the inauguration of Israel as a nation in the wilderness at the foot of Mount Sinai in the 14th century BC, to its very sad end, at Jerusalem, the brutal demise of it, at Jerusalem, at the hands of the Roman general Titus in AD 70, God revealed to Moses and to Israel what he required in blood from his people in order to atone for their sins. Detailed, meticulous rituals were prescribed and revealed to Moses on how to procure, handle, and apply the blood of lambs, bulls, goats, and birds to the accoutrements of the tent of meeting in the wilderness, and then, later, the temple established in Jerusalem.

These rituals reveal how seriously God takes sin by their content, quality, and quantity. The rituals of Israel in the temple reveal how seriously God takes sin by their content, quality, and quantity. By their content, in that only the best should be offered. Gold, silver, finest materials to construct the temple by their quality, and that only the purest of ingredients in animals were to be sacrificed.

In fact, elaborate cleansing rituals were a standard part of temple worship, and then by its quantity, and that for over 14 centuries, consider this, dear listener, for over 14 centuries, numberless millions of animals were sacrificed, shedding a sea of blood in the process. And so, if one asks, how seriously does God take sin? Oh, dear listener, look to the sacrifice. There will be blood. And thus, we observe the provision that God early on established for atoning for the sin of his people, that he might bring them back to himself.

And the economy for doing so, the method and agreement by which he bound himself to doing this for his people, is called a covenant. And the sign and seal of that covenant is called the blood of the covenant. Blood enters here again into the signing and sealing of covenants. And that blood was sprinkled on both the altar of God and the people of God. Bloody ritual.

Once again, a covenant ritual. Exodus 24 puts it this way, and I quote, Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do, and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.

Unquote from Exodus 24, a bloody ritual again. Indeed, blood splattered and thrown on the people. How would you like to have been in the front rows of that ceremony, getting the blood of the covenant thrown directly upon you? Do you see how utterly necessary blood is to Christianity? We are the inheritors of the Old Testament.

At Easter, it is important to consider the role of blood in our salvation every day. It's important to consider the role of blood in our salvation every time we take communion. It's important to understand the role of blood in our salvation. First, I want to note then another thing that's not often considered on this topic. Number four, the evil one also requires blood.

The evil one also requires blood in order to compound sin, not to cleanse it. This is an important principle on evil. We see so much evil in our days with satanic religions and Luciferianism. The evil one also requires blood in order to compound sin and not to cleanse it. Oh, Christ came to cleanse our sin.

The evil one sheds blood in order to compound our sin. And from the beginning, the evil one, Satan, has also demanded the lives of creatures as witnessed in the murder of Abel by Cain and the very first generation of men. And since then, every pagan religion of man has required human sacrifice of its devotees. God warns Israel, as a matter of fact, he says, you shall not give any of your children to offer them to Molech and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering. These are constant warnings to Israel all through her life, because from very early on, this was the practice of evil and of Satan. And behold the rationale then behind the complete extermination of the peoples in Canaan by Israel as she took possession of it. These were the corrupt, diseased, and wicked nations who occupied the land at the time of Israel's taking of it. They were the devilish Nephilim of Genesis, evil spirits who when mated with the daughters of men produced the mighty men of old, the men of renown, as Genesis chapter 6 puts it.

They created the religion and rituals that would form the basis for the religion of Egypt, one which demanded the blood of men and animals to satisfy the bloodlust of its demonic gods in the netherworld of the spirit. Yet make no mistake about this, dear listener, Satan and his devotees seek blood too. That is the lives of men in order to amass sin and wickedness, not ameliorate it. Yes, they seek blood in order to amass sin, not ameliorate it. Satan's covenant with man demands blood too, but not to put an end to sin, but rather to strengthen and increase sin.

Satan founded his covenant for a kingdom on the life of Adam and Eve. Their death for disobedience in eating of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil established his kingdom in the realm of men. It made a covenant of death in the garden, right? A covenant of death with Adam and his progeny. Each human life sacrifice subsequently to that of Adam and Eve further strengthens and confirms that covenant of death that Satan has with them, with us.

In fact, evil men boast in this and they take shelter with Satan in hell. Isaiah 28 puts it this way, you have said we have made a covenant with death and with Sheol we have an agreement when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us for we have made lies our refuge and in falsehood we have taken shelter, unquote. Therefore, because of this covenant of death, all pagan religions since have paid homage to the God behind them all that is Satan, the devil, the serpent, who first established that covenant of death in the garden by shedding rivers of human blood. Oh, dear listener.

It is why Luciferian worshipers today in their secret rites sacrifice children to further strengthen this covenant of death by means of death, the very lies of the sons of Adam whose lifeblood first established a covenant of death so long ago. Jesus himself observes that Satan was a murderer from the beginning and why his followers continue to murder today.

In addition to the deliberate Luciferian rites of devil worship, every aborted baby, every senseless war, every Christian martyr slaughtered by the demons of Islam, every victim of some raging son of Cain, every people group targeted by wicked governments, all these and more are part and parcel of the ceaseless appetite of evil for blood, of Lucifer's hunger for the lives and souls of men, of why Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, as the Bible says in several instances. Both God and Satan require blood, but for 180 degree opposite reasons. God in his mercy and love requires blood to cleanse sin from his people.

Satan in his hatred and malice to compound sin amongst God's people. Oh, dear listener, but in either case there will be blood. God to cleanse sin, Satan to compound sin. Number five, I want to point out to you in there will be blood. Our topic today is there will be blood, the role of blood in the scriptures.

Number five, the only blood ever shed that completely atones for sin is that of Jesus Christ. Yes. Oh, praise God, dear listener. The only blood ever shed that completely atones for sin is that of Jesus Christ. The Bible makes perfectly clear that his life, Christ's life, and his alone was of such a character to God the Father that it was acceptable to him as a proper sacrifice for sin.

He was, in the first place, the second person of the Holy Trinity, the perfect son of the Father. He was made like us in every respect, yet without sin, Hebrews says. He was made perfect through suffering. Hebrews also tells us. In fact, the Father appoints a son who has been made perfect forever.

The book of Hebrews is so eloquent on this topic. The only blood ever shed that completely atones for sin is that of Jesus Christ. God, or I'm sorry, Christ was also fully human. God made man. As Philippians says, who through, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself.

By taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Paul in Philippians chapter 2. As such, Christ was the Savior to which all of the Old Testament temple sacrifices pointed. They were only provisional until God's chosen time and God's chosen man appeared.

As Hebrews says again, when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not made with hands, that is not of this creation, he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more?

For the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Oh, the book of Hebrews, so eloquent on why there will be blood. By the sacrifice of himself in giving his perfect life for our imperfect lives, symbolized by the blood. Christ cleanses sin. He does not compound it.

He cleanses and removes it. He saves us. He redeems us. He ransoms us. First Peter puts it this way.

First Peter chapter one, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. Oh, dear listener, there will be blood. Will it be your blood shed in eternal suffering in hell, or will it be that of Christ shed in your place on the cross, the Father's altar at which he slew his son, giving his life for yours? The choice is yours for faith in this Christ and faith in his work on your behalf.

Because then number six, the sixth point I want to make with you in our topic, there will be blood. The sixth point is there is blood present in the rituals of the righteous and the wicked. There is blood present in the rituals of the righteous and the wicked. Even today, Christianity and the religions of paganism and Lucifer continue to be bloody religions. The blood of pagans is shed as animals and humans feed the bloodlust of the evil one, feeding and confirming the covenant of death made with Adam so long ago.

But there was also blood in the rituals of Christians, too. Oh, dear listener, where, you may ask, is blood in the rituals of Christians? Listen to these words we hear so often. And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.

And likewise, the cup after they had eaten, saying, This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Oh, dear listener, there is blood in Christian rituals and ceremonies. We Christians participate in the mystical body and blood of Christ in the bread and wine of the supper of the Lord. No more animal sacrifice. It was done away with at the cross of Christ.

No further need of Christ to die. He died once for all, as the Bible says, on that good Friday. No human sacrifice either. God forbid. Dear listener, there will be blood.

Where will it be shed on your behalf? Will it be shed in eternity in hell? Or, as you symbolically participate then in the Lord's Supper, you remember that it was shed for you at the cross of Christ. But there will be blood, dear listener, one way or another for your life. This has been Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

We are located in Idaho Falls at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. I just encourage you to come out of the shadows. Many of you have been listening for years. Come and join us at one of our worship services. We meet there at 10 a.m. on Sunday at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard.

And you can call us for further information at area code 208-523-0196. That's area code 208-523-0196. Or check out one of our websites. We have two of them. Our church website is newgenevopc.org.

And then our radio website where we have cataloged for you radio messages going back several years. And that can be accessed at omnisprotestas.org. That's O-M-N-I-S dash P-O-T-E-S-T-A-S dot org. Omnisprotestas.org. And once more, you can call us for further information at area code 208-523-0196.