The blood of Jesus that was shed at Calvary was necessary for the salvation of human beings. From the earliest times of Old Testament worship a blood sacrifice was necessary for the covering of mankind's sins. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden they realized that they were naked. They covered their nakedness by sewing aprons of fig leaves. When God cast them from the Garden of Eden God sacrificed animals so that "Also for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them." He covered their sin with animal sacrifices. When Adam's sons Cain and Abel made sacrifices in worship of God Cain's sacrifice was refused by God because it consisted of fruits and vegetables. Abel's sacrifice was accepted because it consisted of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. The rejection of his sacrifice and acceptance of Abel's angered Cain who killed Abel in a fit of jealousy.

Moses continued the formal sacrifice of animals as a sin covering which is discussed at length in the books of Exodus and Leviticus. Exodus 24:4-8 states, "...Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. and Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, 'All that the Lord has said we will do, and be obedient.' And Moses took the blood , sprinkled it on the people, and said, 'This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words.'"

Once a year on the Day of Atonement, known as Yom Kippur, usually in September or October, God called for a sacrifice for the sins of the people as described in Leviticus 16:3-22. "Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place; with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats; one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord's lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony lest he die. He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times. Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes into make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel. And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness."

Speaking of the blood, the basis of the sacrifices for our sins, Leviticus 17:11 states, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul."

The scriptures just read contain many aspects of worship, all of which were fulfilled through the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood shed at Calvary is the blood for the sin offering for our sins. In His resurrection from His grave outside the city He was our scapegoat for sins, carrying our sins away. Application of His blood to our minds and souls by faith allows us to enter the Holy of Holies for true fellowship with the Lord God our eternal Heavenly Father In fact the animal sacrifices instituted by God through Moses at that time would have been of no avail for anyone had Jesus Christ not died on the cross for mankind's salvation.

The people who followed Moses' instructions believed that the sacrifice and the shedding of the animals' blood would remove their sins. They by faith looked forward toward their Messiah, toward the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, their Messiah, the perfect sinless One whose blood actually took away their sins, just as our looking back by faith to Jesus' sacrifice in faith removes our sins. When Jesus Christ was spending three days and nights in the abode of the dead the Bible states that He preached to all of those who had died expecting the animal sacrifice through Moses' teachings to be sufficient for their sins. Their souls were awaiting the arrival of Jesus in the abode of the "righteous dead". Here Jesus presented Himself as their Savior. When Jesus was resurrected after three days He took with Him those who had awaited Him in the Abode of the dead. Ephesians 4:7-9 states, "But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore He says: 'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.' Now this, 'He ascended' - what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?" Jesus preached to the souls of the righteous dead in Hades, presenting Himself as the One to whom the animal sacrifices pointed. They went with Him into paradise to await the culmination of the church age when we believers shall be caught up to join them at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb when Jesus Christ is united for eternity with His bride, the Church. The Church is the blood-bought redeemed believers in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

Conversely, by the sacrifice of one Man, the Lord Jesus Christ, all men potentially have the ability to be brought back into perfect fellowship with the Lord God, our Father in Heaven.

Throughout His ministry Jesus was aware that His purpose was to give His blood as sacrifice for our sins. In Mark 14:22-24 we are told, "And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them and said, 'Take, eat, this is my body.' Then He took the cup, and when He had given thanks He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to the, 'This is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many.'"

In Matthew's account of the same event Jesus is quoted as saying, "for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."

The writer of Hebrews considered the concept of blood sacrifice for sins in great detail. Hebrews 9:11-22 continues, "But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place, once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason, He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. for where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. for a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, 'This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.'" then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." Verses 24-28 continue, ""For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; not that He should offer Himself often as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another - He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages. He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. to those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation."

It was necessary for the children of Israel to keep the Passover as they prepared to leave Egypt, with the sprinkling of blood so that they would not find their families' touched by the destroying angel of death. So is it necessary for us today to appropriate the sacrificial blood of Jesus for our own sins, sprinkling His blood by faith over the doorpost of our souls so that the death angel who commits souls to the second death in hell will be required to pass over us. The blood of Jesus prevents the angel of the second death from touching our lives. This is a critically important concept, for as we just have heard in Hebrews 9:27, "...it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment."

God is a righteous God who cannot associate with sin. Romans 3:23 tells us that all humans have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Romans 6:23 describes the wages of sin as death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus asked the question in Matthew 16:26, "...what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? Jesus further promises in verse 27, "For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels and then He will reward each according to his works."

The only way that we can avoid the terrible consequences of our sinful works is through the blood sacrifice outlined in the Bible, all of which point to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It is interesting that shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed in A.D. 77, so that not one stone rested upon another, true to Jesus' prediction. The Roman soldiers tore apart the Temple stones to gather the gold foil that had been applied to the walls and furnishings and that had melted and run down between the foundation stones of the Temple upon its burning.

Since the time of the destruction of Herod's temple in Jerusalem until this day there has not been an atoning sacrifice for the sins of the Jewish people. It is as if God Himself has let it be known that Jesus' sacrifice for atonement of sins is complete and sufficient. God, after all, is supreme, and He may do as He pleases. There can be no confusion. The sacrifice of His only conceived Son, Jesus Christ, is the only means for mankind to obtain salvation and forgiveness of sins. Jesus' blood alone atones for sin.

I John 1:7-9 categorically states, "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness."

In Hebrews 12:2,3 we are admonished, "...let us now lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of god." Jesus paid the total price for our salvation. He paid the price that otherwise could not have been paid for mankind's redemption from sin. Faith in His blood sacrifice for our sins and faith in His ability to guide us from day to day will lead us to our Heavenly Home for all eternity.

In the Revelation all worship is for the Lamb, Jesus Christ Chapter 5:9,10 proclaims, " You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nations and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth."

When Satan is cast out of Heaven along with his angels Revelation 12:10,11 states, "Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death."

The blood of Jesus Christ is the most valuable commodity in Heaven and on Earth. It cost God His most dearly beloved Son Who left Heaven's glory to die the most ignominious death. Yet this most valuable commodity which purchases for us the universe's most precious gain, an eternity with the wonders and glories of Heaven, is available to each individual free, without money and without price. The blood of Jesus blots out our sins and preserves our souls eternally for a glorious paradise of love and joy. This gift of eternal life is a gift of the love, mercy and grace of God to redeem fallen man back into fellowship with the Lord God who created us.