Text: Hebrews 9:12-14

How do the cross, the blood, and the resurrection go together? Without the shedding of blood, there would be no need for the cross and the resurrection.

Acts 20:28 says, “…the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

What did Jesus purchase? His local church (Acts 20:17). The word “church” is the Greek word Eklesia. More was purchased on Calvary than your salvation.

Isaiah 53:4-5: “Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: But He was wounded (tormented) for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.”

Jesus purchased more than our salvation and more than the church. He also purchased our grief, our sorrow, our iniquity, and our healing: “Which He hath purchased with His own blood.”

TWO THINGS are necessary for making a purchase:

  1. You have to have money.
  2. It has to be paid in the right place.

You can write a check, but you must take it to the right place. Take your power and phone bills for example. If you mail your phone bill to the power company, neither bill is paid.

Now follow me. If Jesus purchased us with His own blood,

  1. He had to pay the price.
  2. He had to take it to the right place.

Think of how the Old Testament priests had to make atonement for the people. You will remember that the priest had to go into the Holy of Holies once a year to make atonement for his people. The price had to be paid (the lamb had to be sacrificed), and the blood had to be put in the right place (on the mercy seat).

When He resurrected from the dead, Jesus purchased our eternal home and our home here on the earth, the church. It had to be paid for with God’s blood, not man’s. It was God’s blood that was flowing through the veins of Jesus. The payment was paid at Calvary and applied to the mercy seat in heaven.

How is our sin debt paid? Is it paid by joining the church, by baptism, etc.? No, the debt must be paid with the blood of Jesus. All other things, good as they may be, will not pay the debt. It’s like telling your doctor that you will pray for him, wash his car, etc., in payment for his services.

Read Hebrews 9:12―The Holy Place. Under the Law, the lamb was slain, and its blood had to be spilled on the altar. The priest sprinkled the blood on the altar. His duty was to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Jesus died as the Lamb of God, but hallelujah, He arose as our high priest, and His shed blood was applied to the mercy seat in heaven for us. 

Listen, the blood on the cross was not enough; it had to be sprinkled on the mercy seat. That’s why Jesus had to be raised from the dead and go to heaven to sprinkle the blood on the mercy seat. Shed blood is not sufficient. It must be applied.

Remember in Exodus that on the evening of the Passover the blood had to be applied to the doorpost. If it is not applied, it is just spilled blood. The only way our salvation could be accomplished was for Jesus to rise from the dead and go to heaven to apply His blood to the mercy seat because He is our High Priest. Atonement had to be made for our sins. The payment had to be applied where it was owed―in the very presence of God. 

What is the blood doing there on the mercy seat? Hebrews 12:24 tells us, “It speaketh.” Wow! This was written about 35 years later―65 AD, and it was still speaking. It is now over 2,000 years later, and the blood is still speaking. According to Genesis 4:10, “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” God hears the speaking blood.

We have far too much preaching on the power of positive thinking. What we need is more preaching on the power of the blood of Jesus and His resurrection.

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Hans Nikoley, GSBC Staff

Bro. Nikoley emigrated from Germany to the United States with his family at age 13. He served full time in the Nevada Air National Guard for six years. At age 32, He was saved, and in 1977, he graduated from Bible College. He pastored for over 31 years, 27 of them at Pomerado Road Baptist Church in Poway, California. Bro. Nikoley has served at Golden State Baptist College in the Bible Department and also as the Student Employment Director since 2007. He and his wife Mary have two children and have been married for 58 years.