From Nothing but the Blood Audio
Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm and said, 
“Now gird up your loins like a man; 
I will ask you, and you instruct Me.
Will you really annul My judgment?
Will you condemn Me that you may be JUSTIFIED?
Or do you have an arm like God,
And can you thunder with a voice like His?”  —Job 40

Much more then, having now been JUSTIFIED by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. . . .  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. —Romans 5

The third thing our belief in the blood of Jesus Christ did was to JUSTIFY us to God.

As I look through the times the word “Justified” is used in Scripture (26 in the NASB) I can break them into two camps

1. 1. instances where folks looked to justify themselves, and
   2. times where God justifies another.

I could just have easily said:

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
This is the manner of remission: every creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor and his brother, because the Lord’s remission has been proclaimed.  —Deuteronomy 15

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. —Romans 5

Results. We’re looking at what the blood of Jesus did to reconcile our relationship with God. We talked about how God’s non-negotiable (that He couldn’t not be holy) and my non-negotiable (that I can’t not sin) seem insurmountable. If a couple here in Atlanta had those same non-negotiables, no one would think that relationship could last.

But God (did you know that those are my two favorite words in Scripture—44 times in Scripture God changes the conversation/storyline/mankind back to His will) . . . Wait, while I’m on a tangent, let’s run down another. In this portion of the discussion, we’re rolling out some church-y words, but if you’ll stick with me, I promise . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
. . . knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.  —1 Peter 1

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. —Titus 2

So what if God was telling us what He was going to do from the beginning? We’re in a time when the world is looking for less discussion of what will/should/needs to be done. We measure results.

If the entirety of Scripture was pointing toward Calvary, what did Jesus on the Cross actually do for us? If that was God’s solution for working through His and my/your/our non-negotiables, then let’s measure what the blood of Jesus did. In the context of this series, over the next six installments, we’ll look at the six things that the blood of Jesus did.

But if you’re not careful, you’ll miss it.

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
. . . But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.  —1 Samuel 30

Before we transition into answering the next question, I want to review the previous six lessons and share something personal. If any of these six are unfamiliar to you, click the link to go back and review.

In recreating the 1955 talk the Billy Graham gave that changed England, we’re looking at blood sacrifice throughout Scripture. We’re answering the questions:

If you’re God, why choose blood as the way to redeem humanity/overcome the relational non-negotiables/bring man back into relationship with you, and

How can I trust One Who would choose that way?

We’ve surveyed a number of stories of sacrifice within Scripture and we’ve seen that:

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go and take for yourselves lambs according to your families, and slay the Passover lamb. You shall take a bunch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to smite you.  —Exodus 12

With the path we’ve traveled here (seeing that blood is the way back, but there’s a heart piece, except that even the righteous fall short, so God will stand in the gap because One, the right One, covers for everyone and God will provide that One) we’re now in a position to put it all together.

Abraham’s son, Isaac, has Jacob. Jacob has twelve sons who (more or less) become the 12 tribes of Israel. Everything goes well in Egypt (Exodus 1:7, Exodus 2:24), for a while, until the descendants of Israel fall into 400 years of slavery (Exodus 1:11-14).

God raises Moses up (Exodus 3:2) and calls him back to Egypt to demand freedom for the slaves. Nine plagues scourge Egypt, but God (Exodus 10:27). . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
[God] said, “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.”  —Genesis 22

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel like we’ve been burning through this material. Out of 1,189 chapters in Scripture, we're 22 chapters in and the Gospel has been revealed except for one crucial point.

Through this series, we have seen how:

1. blood is the way back, but
2. there’s a heart piece, except that
3. even the righteous fall short, so
4. God will stand in the gap because
5. One, the right One, can cover for all.

Any idea where the land of Moriah is? A three day journey, many (including me) believe that Moriah is the site of modern day . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed? For I have chosen him, so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.” And the Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. I will go down now, and see if they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”  —Genesis 18

What happens right after a story pivots? Think of the end of The Usual Suspects or the moment when the truth is revealed by the little boy in The Sixth Sense—the boy who said, “I see dead people.”

When a story pivots, a character that you thought you knew before becomes more fully known.

The Gospel Story is no different, but . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram . . . —Genesis 15

You’re not going to believe this, but the entirety of Scripture pivots on this story that we never even talk about. Why? Well, because it’s weird and we don’t really have a context for it today.

But I guarantee you’ll never forget this story again.

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. —Genesis 8

So in Eden, we saw immediately God indicating that blood was the way back—even if Adam and Eve weren’t able to discern it, then. And with Cain & Able, we saw God quickly showing that it was never the blood He wanted. There wasn’t an amount of blood that would reconcile God and humanity’s non-negotiables, but that there was a heart component to it.

Adam and Eve have another child, Seth, and humanity continues. Generation upon generation move forward. Some are good and some do evil. One of the three men who did not die (free Rooster eBook for the each of the first to name these men in the comments section below) is stuck in there, too. There were good men who walked with God. They were doing relationship with God in the hope that one day . . .

     From Nothing but the Blood Audio
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering; but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. —Genesis 4

When my son was small, he’d see something on television that was strange and say, “I can’t like that, daddy.” When it comes to blood in Scripture, it’s easy to just offhandedly say the same. But as we saw previously, blood was the currency God chose to redeem us. While blood is certainly easy not to like, its choice must tell us something about the One Who chose it. And almost immediately, in persons number three and four, it appears that God has another message for us.

Scripture tells us that Cain was a farmer while Abel was a shepherd—technically a keeper of flocks. Neither was under any requirement by the Law to provide a sacrifice. The Law won’t come around for another few thousand years until Moses brings it.

Something in these men told them. . .