INTRODUCTION

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness (Matthew 9: 35).

Good news is exciting and the Gospel is often referred to as good news. However, a question that may be asked is this, if the Gospel is really good news, why is it rejected by so many? Are people listening? Are people really hearing a good news message? Are those of us who share the Gospel completely accurate in our presentations of its messagesboth the written word and the living word? Perhaps that is not always the case. More than two centuries ago, Robert Burns (1759 1796) criticized the lack of good news in the messages he was hearing. He lamented, Its easy to thunder from the pulpit from off the Big Black Book and drive out theological heresy with theological truth; but its not the thin sour wine of theological doctrine that floods the human heart; nor are the bowels of human compassion wrung with doctrinal diatribes.1 In other words, where is the love? Today we may not always hear the harsh theological doctrines that Burns heard, but neither do we always hear the refreshing messages he longed to hear. Burns was looking to hear messages like the ones Jesus preached.
1

Barke, James. (1946). The Wind That Shakes the Barley. London, Long Press.

THEN CAME SUNDAY Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear him [Jesus]. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners and eats with them(Luke 15: 1-2).

The Pharisees and teachers were always critical of the good news message of Jesus and of His association with tax collectors and sinners. Their own harsh messages were based on the Laws of Moses and the strict obedience demanded by these laws enslaved people. Love in the new law proclaimed by Jesuslove of God, love of neighbors, and love of selffrees the enslaved and gives them new life. That is the reason the tax collectors and sinners were so eager to hear the good news Jesus preached and why the Pharisees were so angry. Truly, now as then, mankind needs to hear a heart messagethe true good news message of Christianity.
So what is Christianity? It is Christ! Nothing more. Nothing less. Christianity is not an ideology or a philosophy. Neither is it a new type of morality, social ethic, or worldview. Christianity is the good news that beauty, truth, and goodness are found in a person [Jesus Christ]. And true humanity and community are founded on and experienced by connection to that person. Conversion is more than change in direction, its a change in connection. The Bibles use of the ancient Hebrew word shubh to call for repentance Deuteronomy 4: 30 and Nehemiah 1: 9, for example implies not viewing God from a distance but entering into relationship where God is command

Introduction central of the human connection.2

What then is that good news that we need to find and share? What is that heart message? What is the hope of mankind? The answers to these questions must be found in the scriptures.

In Search of the Good News

From beginning to end, the Bible is a love storya love story involving the love between the Creator God and His creation. This love may be easily seen; (a) inasmuch as God created us in His own image, (b) in that He perceived Adams loneliness and gave unto him a wife, (c) in His setting the couple in the midst of a garden in the center of which grew both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and (d) in His return to the garden in the cool of the day seeking fellowship with Adam and Eve.3 Gods great love and desire for a holy people who are devoted to Himself is further seen in His actions; (a) as he cleansed the earth, preserving only Noah and his immediate family (a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God4),

3 4

Sweet, Leonard & Viola, Frank. (2010). Jesus Manifesto. Nashville, Tennessee. Thomas Nelson, p. xvii. Genesis 3: 8. Genesis 6: 9. 3

THEN CAME SUNDAY

(b) as He called Abraham and Sarah to become a great and mighty nation, [through whom] all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,5 (c) as He called Moses to lead the Israelites (people whom He had chosen to bless the whole earth) into freedom, and (d) when He gave His one and only son as a sacrifice sufficient to redeem all mankind from its wickedness.6 History clearly demonstrates our great propensity to sin and as a result we create barriers between a loving Father and ourselves. Nevertheless, undaunted by the sinfulness of mankind, our loving God always intervenes with an alternate solution to deal with our sins. In the garden, it was the slaughter of animals, and shedding of their blood, in order to obtain skins to cover the sinners. Later, the shedding of blood, through circumcision, sealed His covenant with Abraham. The shedding of blood provided protection for the Israelites on the night the Death Angel passed over Egypt. Likewise, with Moses, the ordained sacrifices required for forgiveness or atonement of sins required the shedding of blood. So also was it true with Jesus, His all-sufficient sacrifice for sin redeemed all mankindif that redemption is accepted. In all these instances, it is notable that the shedding of blood was the common denominator.

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(Genesis 18: 18. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time (1 Timothy 2: 3-6). 4

Introduction

Perhaps both Gods love and the need for the shedding of blood will become clearer as we search more deeply into the ways in which Gods love has been made manifest towards us. This journey of discovery will focus most diligently on the scriptures and the stories contained therein. Any deviation from this approach carries with it the fearful risk of mere fanciful speculation.

In the Garden
Gods final creation was the man Adam. Adam was placed in a garden where God had planted all manner of trees and plants for Adams benefit. Among these trees were two special onesthe tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Of the latter God said, You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.7 God soon recognized that Adam, whom He had commissioned to tend the garden, needed a partner. Accordingly, God formed Eve from a rib removed from Adams side and presented her to him as his wife and the two became one. Innocence still prevailed in the garden and though they were naked,8 without clothes, they were neither cold nor ashamed. But they soon found that they were not alone. A serpent (Satan in disguise) found Eve all alone in the garden, near to the tree of life and the tree of knowledge of good and evilwhere she, perhaps only out of curiosity, may have been regarding the trees fruit and their beauty. Satan engaged her in a seemingly innocuous discussion, Did God really say, You must
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(Genesis 2: 16-17. Genesis 2: 25. 5

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not eat from any tree in the garden?9 Eve replied, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.10 Here it is that Eve erred. Though God planted two trees in the middle of the gardenonly one was forbiddenthe tree of knowledge of good and evil. From this one may suppose that the tree of life was truly meant for their usethe fruit of that tree being eternal life. Apart from Adam (i.e., all by herself) and somewhat confused by the serpent and her own misunderstanding of Gods instructions, Eve took the forbidden fruit, ate of it, and gave some to her husband. Immediately, they were aware of good and evil and for the very first time they were aware of their nakedness. Filled with this new knowledge of good and evil, Adam and Eve felt guilt-ridden because of their nakedness. Later, when God came to commune with them, they hid. For their misdeed, God forthwith turned them out of the Garden of Edenseparating them from the tree of life. To ensure continued separation from the tree of life, God placed Cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.11 Gods most perfect plan was marred. Once the knowledge of good and evil was shed abroad, sin became rampant. Jealousy between the sons of Adam and Eve led to bloodshed and Abel was slain. From then on things grew progressively worse. After only a few generations, God utterly despaired of His creation.
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Genesis 3: 1. Genesis 3: 2-3. Genesis 3: 24. 6

Introduction The LORD saw how great mans wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The LORD was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain. So the LORD said, I will wipe mankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earthmen and animals, and creatures that move along the ground, and birds of the airfor I am grieved that I have made them (Genesis 6: 5-7).

Though God was filled with despair, Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD12 and a remnant of the people was saved. But before long their descendants also turned away from God. To demonstrate their strength these people planned to build a tower to heaven. Witnessing this, God confused their language and forced the people to scatter.13 Though God had no people that were wholly devoted to Him, no people whom He could truly call His own, there was still another plan to remedy the situation.

Abrahams Call
After many more generations, generations that didnt really know God, Abram (Abraham) appears on the scene and receives an important call.
The LORD had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your fathers household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you (Genesis 12: 1-3).
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Genesis 6: 8. Genesis 11: 9. 7

THEN CAME SUNDAY

Here again we clearly see the true heart of GodHe wants all people to be blessed, but He desired that it should happen through the actions and behaviors of His servants. For a time Gods plan was carried forth by Abraham and his descendants, but, because they were a people favored by God, their Egyptian rulers began to fear their growing numbers and subsequently enslaved all of Abrahams descendants. Their release from slavery fell to a man called Moses.

Moses and the Law

The story of the first Passover and Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt is well known. Once away from the Egyptians, and while yet wandering in the desert, Moses was given another commission. He was called upon by God to record a set of laws whereby His chosen people might learn to live a lifestyle pleasing to Himself. Because the Israelites had inherited from Adam and Eve a sense of good and evil, right and wrong, Moses set forth laws to serve as moral and legal guidelines to help them deal, or contend, with their inherited knowledge of good and evil. While Moses did as he was commanded, we learn from subsequent events that no set of laws can fully restore the innocence lost in the Garden of Eden. Laws can not make people righteous, not even the Israelites who were once called to take Gods blessings to all nations. Paul tells us that the laws served only as stop-gap measures until a better solution came to pass.14 There is, however, an important message to be learned from the laws of Moses. Forgiveness. Much of the teaching provided by Moses pertains to attaining
14

Galatians 3: 19. 8

Introduction

annual, or temporary, forgiveness or atonement for sins and trespassesattainment that always entailed the offering of sacrifices and the shedding of blood. Truly the practice of the shedding of blood for the remission of sins was first ordained by God Himself when he clothed Adam and Eve in the skins of animals. (Their coverings of leaves were deemed insufficient by God.) He continued the requirement for shedding of blood at the Passover in Egypt and later through application of the Laws of Moses.

Jesus and the Tree of Life

Little has been said to this point about the second tree that grew in the middle of the gardenthe tree of life. This we do know, however, upon eviction of Adam and Eve from the garden, a guard was placed before that tree.
After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3: 24).

Nevertheless, there is now a new access to the tree of life. What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was commanded because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come.15 The Seed referred to in that verse is none other than Jesus and He obtained our access to the tree of life through His death on the cross and His resurrection.
Day after day every priest [keeper of the law] stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest [Jesus] had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of

15

Galatians 3: 19. 9

THEN CAME SUNDAY God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 1: 11-14).

What, one may ask, was that one sacrifice offered for sins? It was none other that the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Paul makes the necessity of this clear.
In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9: 22).

Having identified sin as our greatest problem, we are also confronted with the fact that, ...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. But what blood is to be found satisfactory? Again, the Bible provides that answer.

Final Word on the Power of the Blood

The significance of blood in the transaction of forgiving sin is made abundantly clear by the Apostle John.
They [i.e., victorious believers] overcame him [i.e., Satan, sin and uncleanness] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death (Revelation 12: 11).

Given the extreme significance of blood, it may be useful to consider its nature more fully.

Life is in the Blood

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for ones life (Leviticus 17: 11). Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have 10

Introduction no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him (John 6: 53-56).

Whyte makes the point that the word in is extremely important. The blood is not life. Rather, life is in the blood. Life is carried throughout our body by the blood.16 What then is blood and what does it do? What are its components and their functions? Components and Functions of Blood Blood is composed of four elements: (a) plasma (a watery substance) that flows through all our veins and arteries carrying nourishment to cells and waste products away, (b) red cells (corpuscles) that carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells and carbon dioxide from the cells back to the lungs, (c) white corpuscles that attack any foreign organisms that try to invade the body, and (d) platelets that form clots and stop the flow of blood from wounds. Blood also has the capacity to identify us and to distinguish us from all others. Source of Blood Blood cells do not reproduce like other cells in our bodythey are produced, or manufactured in the marrow of our bones. This may suggest that there was significance in Gods instruction to Moses at the time of
16

Whyte, H. A. Maxwell. (1971). The Power of the Blood. Kensington, Pa. Whitaker House, p. 18. 11

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the first Passover; It [the Passover lamb] must be eaten [for nourishment] inside one house; take none of the meat outside the house. Do not break any of the bones.17 This instruction was equally applicable to Jesusthe second Passover Lamb. Identification Through Blood Types and DNA Beyond sustaining life, blood is useful in identification in cases of criminal or paternity lawsuits. Blood is of four main types; A, B, AB, and O and blood typing is often used in paternity suits or in the elimination of possible suspects in a crime. Knowing the blood types of the child and mother, blood types of some individuals may be excluded from parental consideration. For example, if a mother is Type O and the child is Type B, then only males of Type B or Type AB are included as possible fathers. In the same way, blood typing may be used to rule out some crime suspects. The DNA contains the instructions for building and maintaining our bodies and researchers tell us that if these instructions were written out, and printed, they would fill one thousand six-hundred-page books. Think of it, every cell in your body has enough information, if written out, to fill that many books. Every cell, that is, except two types of cells; red blood cells (which are manufactured in the bone marrow) and the sex cells the male sperm and the female egg or ovum. Precise identifications may be made using DNA. Unlike blood types that are only used to eliminate certain individuals from consideration, DNA has the qualities necessary to identify a specific individual with an extremely high probability of accuracy.

17

Exodus 12: 46. 12

Introduction

Spiritual Significance of Blood

What does blood (and its basic elements) have to do with us spiritually? Just as red corpuscles carry oxygen from the lungs to the cells and carbon dioxide from the cells back to the lungs, so the Word provides nourishment and cleansing of our souls. Plasma (the water-like substance that flows through all our veins and arteries as a carrier of both nutrition and our blood cells) represents the life force God has implanted within us. White corpuscles designed to attack foreign organisms that try to invade the body represent our spiritual healing. Linked together with the platelets, that form clots and stop the flow of blood from wounds, we have the basis for both healing and protection. Blood also has the capacity of identification. In life our blood types and DNA describe who we are. Spiritually, the blood of Jesus establishes who we are. His blood restores to us the life that was forfeited by the sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden. His shed blood is our identity. So what can we make of all this? Something beautiful. The tree of life which grew in the center of the Garden of Eden seems, at first, to have been removed from our reach forever. The merciful (compassionate) God did, however, provide an alternate plan which Moses implemented, through a set of laws, while sojourning in the desert. Because of the obstinacy of the people, that plan also faltered. Nevertheless, when all seemed lost, Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, appeared on the scene and changed everything forever. By His death and resurrection, He restored our access to the tree of life. His broken body and His shed blood were the all-sufficient ransom for the souls of all
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mankindif they will but accept it. Such is the nature of Gods love and mercy towards those who turn to Him. Having this skeletal foundation for understanding blood and its relation to physical and spiritual life, we can now turn to a more detailed consideration of the spiritual significance of blood as an instrument of our salvation. In the next chapters the significance of blood will be further traced through the scriptures.

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