The Precious Blood Of Christ

Good morning. Grace, peace be unto you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Good to see how it's filled up here this morning.

I'd like to start off here this morning just a couple of passages of scripture to introduce the thoughts for the message. And the first couple of verses are found in 1 Samuel chapter 12. If you want to, you can turn there.

You don't need to, but you're invited to if you want to. 1 Samuel 12, verses 23 and 25. 1 Samuel 12, 23 through 25.

Moreover, as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you. But I will teach you the good and the right way. Only fear the Lord and serve him in truth with all your heart.

For consider how great things he hath done for you. But if ye shall do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king. Verse 24 is the verse that I really want to highlight.

Fear the Lord, serve him in truth with all your heart, for consider how great things he hath done for you. They have their things that they could reflect on back in the day, how God had fought for them, how many victories they had won because God being on their side. We today also can consider and reflect on the goodness of God and the great things he hath done for us.

And for a second passage, a couple of verses, Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12, reading the first three verses. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. So in 1 Samuel there, 1 Samuel 12, 24, it says, consider how great things God hath done, he hath done for you. It's considering God.

Hebrews 12 is calling us in verse 3 to consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself. Consider him. Consider Jesus.

And that's what we want to do this morning. We want to consider him. And we want to do this in preparation for the communion service that we are planning for this evening, if the Lord permits.

It would be my desire here this morning to stir within us an appreciation, maybe a renewed appreciation, a gladness within our hearts for all that Jesus has done. Now that's saying a whole lot more than we can comprehend. Who can understand the all that Jesus has truly done? And yet, it is my heart to kind of stir us in that direction.

I'm not here this morning with the slightest thought that we're going to teach or speak anything new. But simply, I want us to rejoice in what God, through Christ, has done for us. So just so that you know and are aware, we are not planning on having another message tonight for the communion service.

This will serve as the communion service message. Instead, tonight when we gather, we want to gather for a time of singing and sharing, expressing our hearts. Just glad tidings.

So I say this so that you can prepare yourself for this evening and just come prepared. Let's bow our heads for a word of prayer. Father in heaven, we come before you here this morning.

And we thank you, Father, that we can be gathered here on this Friday morning. Father, a day that the calendar marks as Good Friday, a day where most of the world, in some way, gives a little consideration and acknowledgment that there once was a man by the name of Jesus who walked upon this earth, who was beaten, who was nailed to the cross. Father, this acknowledgment is far and wide.

And yet so few, so few experience the reality of why it all happened. Father, this morning, we thank you for each one that is here in this assembly that has made good of the sacrifice of Jesus. That has put his or her faith in that finished work on the cross.

And as we're here this morning, Father, I pray that you would, by your Holy Spirit, stir in our hearts a gratefulness, truly an appreciation for all that Jesus has done. Father, as we look into your word here this morning, we pray that you would just bless it to us, speak to us, minister to us. And Father, we pray specifically that you would minister to us, even in preparation for the communion service that we plan to have later tonight.

We commit ourselves to you. In Jesus' name, amen. For our main text, if you want, you can turn your Bibles to the book of 1 Peter.

1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1, and we'll begin reading in verse 13. Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation.

Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God that raised him from the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God.

Thus far for our main text here. I have titled the message, The Precious Blood of Christ. And I take that title out of verse 19 here.

But with the precious blood of Christ. Precious blood of Christ. When something is precious to you and I, what do we do? How do we treat it? How do we handle it? When something is precious, how do we respond to that which is precious? Very carefully.

If something is precious, it tells us that it's dear to our heart, right? Here we're talking about the precious blood of Christ. Maybe we should ask the question, is the blood of Christ precious to you and I this morning? Is it precious? There's a story I'd like to tell. I think many of us are familiar with this little story.

But it helps bring out the reality of some of what we want to consider here this morning as we consider him. The story is called The Boy Who Lost His Boat. I'm going to read it to you instead of just paraphrasing it.

So I quote, this is just an excerpt of it, but, Tom carried his new boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string. How smoothly the boat sailed.

Tom sat in the warm sunshine admiring the little boat that he had built. Suddenly, a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke.

The little boat raced downstream. Tom ran along the sandy shore as fast as he could, but his little boat soon slipped out of sight. All afternoon, he searched for the boat.

Finally, when it was too dark to look any longer, Tom sadly went home. A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. When he got closer, he could see, sure enough, it was his.

Tom hurried to the store manager. Sir, that's my boat in your window. I made it.

Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you'll have to buy it for $1. Tom ran home and counted all his money, exactly $1.

When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. Here's the money for my boat. As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, now you're twice mine.

First, I made you, and now I bought you. Now, do you ever struggle with thoughts of maybe feeling that you're not worth much? You're not worth much? I'd like to remind you this morning, remind all of us of how God thinks of us. First off, God does say, just like that Tommy said of his boat, that's my boat.

When God sees you, he says, you are mine. And then, like that boat, the string ripped, and the current took it. The effect of the curse of sin took us out to sea, lost like that little boat, but never out of sight from the eyes of God.

God still says, you're mine. And then he sent Jesus to redeem us from the curse of sin. And the tone changes, actually, just like Tommy's tone changes.

And he says, not only are you mine, you're mine two times over. First, I created you, and then I bought you back. You know, considering him, who endured such contradiction of sinners, he paid the ultimate price, didn't he? The ultimate price.

There wasn't a higher price to be paid for our redemption. He paid the ultimate price, not with gold, not with silver, but with his precious life. Consider him this morning.

You're sitting here this morning, and you're redeemed. Just let that well up thankfulness in your heart. He didn't, it wasn't cheap like Tommy going to the store with $1.

That's silver. That's gold. And that bought that little boat.

That never would have sufficed for buying us back. You were bought back with something much more valuable, redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. You were his because he created you.

You were his because he was willing to pay the ultimate price to buy you back. You were his two times over. Scripture would tell us that there is rejoicing in the presence of Christ, of Jesus, when one sinner repents.

There's singing. There's a rejoicing of one soul making use of this offer that God extends to every being. I'm willing to buy you back.

I've paid the ultimate price. Hallelujah for the blood. Amen? Hallelujah for the blood.

I would like to actually just invite us to stand and let's sing that song. Number 411. Hallelujah for the blood.

Because of the blood, we are his two times over. Hallelujah for the blood. Sing it with all your heart.

That song was a dance when armies of this world upon Jesus were laid. There was no arm to save. There was no eye to pity until Jesus, our Savior, from glory came down.

He was mighty to save. He was strong to deliver. He has brought us salvation, a robe and a crown.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Sing the triumph and strength. Hallelujah for the blood slain.

Hallelujah for the blood. Sing for joy, all ye nations, and rejoice at the word of redemption is done. Here is pardon free for all and a perfect salvation through the sin cleansing blood of the crucified one.

Verse 3. Hallelujah for the blood. Hallelujah forever. We shall sing it anew in the kingdom of God where the anthems of divine shall be silent no never.

Evermore hallelujah. There was no arm to save. There was no eye to pity until Jesus, our Savior, from glory came down.

He was mighty to save. He was strong to deliver. He has brought us salvation, a robe and a crown.

Hallelujah, hallelujah. Sing the triumph and strength. Hallelujah for the blood slain.

Without Christ, we were lost and without hope. But because of Christ, we can be found and now be the hope, have full hope, the hope of glory. Praise the Lord.

So the focus of my thoughts here today in today's message will revolve around two questions. Why is the blood of Christ precious? And why is it able to redeem? Two questions, two thoughts. And I think the text that we read here in 1 Peter gives us three reasons that we would like to consider to answer those two questions.

Why is the blood of Christ precious? And why is it able to redeem? First off, Peter tells us that the blood of Christ is precious and it's able to redeem us because Christ was separate from sinners. Verses 13 through 16. Wherefore, get up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that has been brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Because it is written, be ye holy, for I am holy. Holiness speaks of separation.

Christ was separate from sinful humanity. We can take, and we probably will do so yet, but for now, I don't want to put the focus on our responsibility to also live a holy life. But just consider him separate from sinners.

He was totally untainted. He was totally unaffected. He was totally, how can I say, totally not infected in any means by sin.

Pure. We do have a standard to live up to. And that standard is not a what, but a who.

That standard is Christ. You know, we are called to be holy, even as he is holy. Consider him, how holy, how holy was, is, however you want to say it.

Think of it in past tense, how holy was he? But we know he's the same today as he was yesterday. And he'll be the same tomorrow as what he is today. So how holy is, how holy was Christ? What is holiness? Holiness, if you look up that word holy in the Greek, holy, pure, to the extent of having characteristics of moral and ritual purity, totally separate from sin, totally cut off, totally unattached.

The idea of being the word holy here is being set apart, set apart, taken from one thing, from where we were, to something else. Christ was totally set apart. He lived a totally set apart life.

And so you and I are to be set apart. We're to be separated from all that is sinful, so that we separate it, set apart from all that's sinful unto a holy God, so that we can be useful to God. But the standard for this separation is the very holiness of Christ himself.

You and I have been called to a very, very high standard. We're called to attain, to reach forth a standard of holiness like that of Christ himself, who's there, who's there this morning. In the practical outworkings of this, who's there? I don't see any hands going up.

You don't see my hand going up either. But the precious blood of Christ avails even where we fail. As long, brothers and sisters, as long as we strive to, we strive after the holiness of Christ.

We strive to live as Christ lived. Where we fail, the blood of Christ covers. Amen? So with all of our spiritual inheritance that we have in Christ, through Christ, God actually views us by the standard of his Son, holy as he is.

Consider him holy through and through. No fault, no failures, tempted like we are, but triumphed over and through every temptation. Battled his own flesh, but never succumbed to his flesh.

Eyes were on his Father. The eyes were on his Father and the mission that his Father had for him. That's how he maneuvered through this life in the flesh.

So the standard for you and I this morning is to go after the standard of holiness, which is Christ. Christ's holiness, his separation from sin, was entire. It was perfect, like a perfect separation.

Imagine that, a perfect separation. There is no tainting, no sin that tainted him in any way. And that's the target you and I have to shoot for.

The grace of God is not bestowed upon us in vain. We don't just live carelessly, haphazardly. No, we have a heart and a target to be like our Savior, striving for the perfect holiness of Christ.

The phrase, be holy for I am holy, I'm going to take you through a few passages in the Old Testament because that's where it comes from. And I do that just to tell us and to show to us, to remind us that God's heart has always been to have a holy people, as he is holy. It's always been his heart.

That was his heart for the children of Israel. He wanted a people that he called out, a people that would reflect their God upon the earth. It's always been his heart.

So let me quickly read to you, I have about four passages here. Leviticus 11, 44 and 45, for I am the Lord your God. Ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy.

Neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, for I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. Ye shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. That's quite the call.

That's quite a call prior to Christ, the way, the truth, and the life being manifested and giving his life. That's quite a call. That's a high standard.

Leviticus 19, 2, speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, ye shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. Leviticus 20, verse 7, sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy, for I am the Lord your God. And Leviticus 20, 26, and ye shall be holy unto me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

I really, really like that. God's saying of his people in the Old Testament, he's calling them to a standard of holiness that reflects his very character. And then this verse actually goes on and says that God has, by choosing him, severed them.

If something is severed, it means it's no longer attached. They were severed. They were separated from their previous companions, their previous lifestyle, their previous habits.

They were to live a different life, severed. God says, I severed you, so that you should be mine. God is infinitely, perfectly holy.

Who can comprehend that? As hard as we may try, our finite minds just simply can't comprehend perfect holiness, infinite holiness, because we are dwelling in a body of flesh that's fallen. But our fallen state and our fallen experience does not change who God is. God is infinitely, perfectly holy.

And really, this holiness, such holiness as that, enables Christ to be that perfect sacrifice for our sin. It's that perfect, infinite holiness that qualified Christ to be the sacrifice for you and I, for our sin. In the Old Testament, in the sacrificial law, they were commanded to sacrifice and offer up the best.

And we might touch on some of that, but the best. Not the lame, not the crippled, not the sick, but the best. And with the very best that they could offer and sacrifice, it had to be done repeatedly.

Because none of those were actually entirely perfect. The best of the flock was not perfect. It was supposed to be and would have been considered in the eyes of man as the best, giving the best, no known blemishes.

But with Jesus, he was without spot, without blemish, without any deficiency, and he only needed to give his life one time. No more needed to be repeated. Hebrews 7, 26 through 28, for such a high priest became us who is holy.

Through and through, perfectly holy. Such a high priest became us who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, severed, severed from sinners, and made higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high priests to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins and then for the people's. For this he did once when he offered up himself.

For the law maketh men high priests, which have infirmity, but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated forevermore. This is talking about Jesus, our Savior, the Lamb of God, the one who went to the cross and there allowed life to flow from him. Life is in the blood.

Blood flowed out. He's our high priest. He's the one and only one who can approach God and make an acceptable sacrifice.

He's our mediator. Again, he is holy, completely set apart. The holiness of Christ is a requirement for your justification and for my justification.

It was a requirement. If Christ had not been holy, he could not have borne sin's penalty for us. But we know that he's sinless.

He was sinless. And as the sinless Lamb of God, he offered himself as the payment for our sin. But brothers and sisters, not only for my sin, not only for your sin, but that of the whole human race, past, present, and future.

His precious blood atones for all mankind that has ever lived, is living currently, and those that will yet live. Precious blood, amen? That should cause us to celebrate. That's whom we are serving.

He's our God, our Redeemer, our Savior. But he is all of that in the context of being holy. Because he's holy, you and I have a responsibility.

What responsibility do you and I have as a believer then? And I'd like to just summarize, and I think there would be at least six different responsibilities, six that I'd like to throw out here this morning. One, because we are called to be holy, prepare yourself mentally. You will encounter things that will require you to act, to make choices.

You'll need to counter everything that is contrary to holiness. There's a battle. Each one of us faces it.

Number two, exercise self-control. It's our responsibility that we exercise self-control. Number three, completely set your confidence in Christ.

Look forward to his return. Claim the promises. That goes a long way in helping us overcome the trials we face in this life.

Number four, purpose to obey in every area. Remember, we're set apart. We're called to be separate.

Number five, oppose evil desires. Number six, be pure in conduct. And I would say that first and foremost, that these are the actions we must take because of who Christ is.

We do this because of who he is. And secondly, so that we might live in holiness as Christ himself lived in holiness. Though no one in the flesh will attain the standard of holiness that is Christ, yet that's not an excuse to carelessly go through life.

I would say the pursuit of holiness, living a holy life, should be the natural result, the natural outflow of any person who is in Christ, anyone who is pursuing Christ. These things should naturally flow out of our lives. It's the way we want to go.

That's not saying we never come short or never fail. But we cannot hope to be holy apart from the holiness of Christ. So as we wholeheartedly pursue Christ, I believe that we will experience and go through a process that will take us to a greater, deeper holiness.

We will experience more and more of the holiness of Christ. Sanctification, it's a process. Amen? It's a process.

But it's a process that we have that standard of holiness, Christ, and it takes us a little higher, a little higher, a little higher, a little higher, where we more perfectly, a little more perfectly, start resembling Christ in the way we think, the way we order our lives. We just begin to reflect Him more and more. Sanctification, it's a beautiful thing.

Sanctification, to me, speaks of the patience of God. See, God wants to bring us in the reality of the life here and now. He wants to make what we have spiritually in Christ a manifestation down here.

We're supposed to mirror what we have in Christ, in the physical, in the visible, make it known. People looking on should be able to see he, she, they, they're not like me. They're different.

What is that difference? That difference is Christ. That difference comes as a result of us pursuing holiness. We become, through this process of sanctification, we become as the one that we are pursuing.

We know it in the flesh. If you pursue an individual, you follow an individual, you begin to mimic that individual. You begin to do as he does.

Someone who wants to be good at playing baseball and begins watching others who are good at playing baseball, he mimics them. He does what they do. That's carnal.

But it works in the carnal being. It works in the flesh. Brothers and sisters, the same thing works as we look to Christ.

We become like him. We think like him. We act like him.

We do as he does. We become as he became. We overcome as he overcame.

We just simply, more and more, walk in his footsteps. OK. Let's move on to the second point, the second reason.

So he was separate from sinners. Number two, the precious blood of Christ can redeem us because he was without blemish. Truly was without blemish.

Jesus first introduced as the Lamb by John the Baptist. But John the Baptist would have gotten that concept from the Old Testament. If you go to Isaiah 53, you would see it there.

We understand that Christ, being the Lamb of God, is also pictured in the replacement of Isaac in Genesis 22. And I would say, even in the Garden of Eden, we see through the clothing of Adam and Eve there and the bloodshed there, life was given as an atonement for this. Not as an atonement for the sin, but as a covering for now their nakedness.

And it was a foreshadow. It was a picture pointing to Christ, the Lamb. So when Jesus is coming to John the Baptist to be baptized, and John declares him to be the Lamb, everyone there that heard John the Baptist proclaim Jesus as the Lamb knew what he was talking about.

It was a familiar concept to them. I like to think that John the Baptist not only declared Jesus to be the Lamb, he didn't just claim him to be the Lamb of God. But I like to also think of him as proclaiming, one more time, announcing, here he is, the promised Messiah.

That Lamb of God, that perfect Lamb of God has come. Here he is. And we read that there of John the Baptist in John 1, verse 29, where he says, the next day, John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and he saith, behold, the Lamb of God.

Why did this Lamb come? For what purpose? Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John the Baptist was privileged to be able to make that proclamation. People here today, they would feel pretty special if they had someone important, like a prime minister or a president, come and be the one to be able to stand before a crowd and announce.

So-and-so is here with us. We're glad to have him here. They would feel honored to be able to be the one to make that announcement.

Here's John the Baptist proclaiming, announcing, the Lamb of God, the one who takes away the sin of the world. Here he is. You would want to think that at such an announcement, that the heart of most people would just welcome that good news.

But we know it didn't happen. Didn't happen that way. But nonetheless, Jesus was that perfect Lamb of God.

You think of the requirements. You think of the history of Israel. In Exodus 12, they're coming out of Egypt.

God has plagued the nation of Egypt and has foretold through Moses that he will slay all the firstborn. The only way to escape this destruction is to put blood, blood of the Lamb. Not the Lamb of God, but blood of the Lamb.

Then a lamb without blemish, apply that blood. In Exodus 12, it says, your lamb shall be without blemish. That blood was to be put on the doorposts.

It's supposed to be put overhead of the door. Then the lamb was to be eaten, with all the people of the house prepared to leave, to go on the journey that God had for them. In Exodus 12, 12 and 13, it says, for I will pass through the land of Egypt this night and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast.

And against all the gods of Egypt, I will execute judgment. I am the Lord. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are.

And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you when I smite the land of Egypt. This blood of this spotless, this lamb without blemish, caused God to, or I don't know how God instructed the angels.

I don't know how that worked. Maybe the angels themselves just simply received the instructions. They saw the blood, and they would pass over that house.

Now remember, the blood of a spotless lamb that had to be applied. But by it, they avoided the judgment of God. The blood of the lamb demonstrated the faith of the people in what God had said.

The blood of the lamb of God does the same for us today. Not only does the blood cover, it washes away. It does away with the sin.

But through the blood of the lamb, we escape judgment. I would love to sing this song, Christ our Redeemer, but it's not in these books. At least I couldn't find it.

But God has required a spotless lamb. In the Old Testament, he required it, and it foreshadowed what Jesus would be as the lamb of God. Christ needed to be without blemish to be qualified.

And as a result of his unblemished being, who he was, Paul says in Acts 20, 28, take heed therefore unto yourselves. He's writing to the elders there at Ephesus. Take heed unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, whose is the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

Oh, the precious blood of Christ. There'd be no church today had Christ not been without blemish. Had Christ not been separate from sinners, had Christ not been spotless, without blemish, there'd be no church today.

The Apostle John records that after Pilate had examined Jesus, he stated three times that he found no fault in him. That's intriguing. That's exciting.

They scrutinized his life. They tried every which way to find fault with him, to find fault in him, but found none. Why? Because he's the lamb of God, that perfect lamb, spotless, without blemish.

The other three Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, they record Pilate as asking, what evil has he done? And that question is basically saying the same thing as him saying, I find no fault in him. The New Testament epistles confirm the reality that Christ was sinless and wholly undeserving of death. And I know we know this, but I want to just stir this within us and cause us to rejoice.

In 2 Corinthians 5.21, Paul writes, for he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. Perfect, spotless. Knew no sin, yet was made to be sin, so that you and I could have and experience the righteousness of God through him.

What we have is as a result of Christ. Hebrews 4.15, for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin, yet without sin. 1 Peter 2.21 through 25, for even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps.

Who did no sin, did you catch the call? You should follow his steps. Then it goes on and says, who did no sin? Neither was guile found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again.

When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously. Who, his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness. By whose stripes ye were healed, for ye were as sheep going astray.

We were as that boat that the waves took out to sea, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. Praise God. 1 John 3.5, and you know that he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin.

Perfect, without blemish, truly the spotless lamb of God takes away my sin, your sin, yea, the sin of the whole world. All we need to do is put our trust in him. Maybe there's someone sitting here today, and you say, well, I'm not there.

That precious blood, all that it provides and avails, I don't have it. Why wouldn't you accept it today? Jesus shed his blood for your life also. The offer is there for you today.

If God is at all nudging you, it's just one decision away from being a reality. Just one decision away. Why wouldn't you? Put your trust in him, and his blood will wash away everything that's dirty, that's sinful.

But you must be willing to be separated, to be severed. That's the cost. Peter says that we are not redeemed with corruptible, worthless things like silver and gold.

No, no, no. If man's value and view of the blood of Christ was silver and gold, that's an insult. That's an insult to God.

We have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, sinless savior, innocent lamb of God, who took our sin upon himself all the way to the cross. And there he gave his life. Poured out his blood to blot out our sin.

Colossians 2, 13 and 14, and you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross. Well, in light of this reality, brothers, sisters, how are we living? How are we living? I think Peter's heart was that the believers would live a life worthy of that precious blood, living a life worthy of that precious blood. You see the words there in verse 17.

If then, if then, if you call on the Father, Peter says, then conduct yourself in fear. And the Greek word for fear here is where we get our English word phobia from. So in the sense of this word, as used here, is a feeling of a profound respect for someone or something, often a deity, conceived as a fear.

Probably the best description of this fear is simply to say reverenced, to reverence. Again, action is required from us. The reality of Christ's redemption is presented by Peter as the motivating factor in our reverential conduct.

Brothers, sisters, we are but sojourners here. We are but temporary residents here. We are but aliens here in this world.

In other words, you and I don't belong here. This is not our home. Let me try to bring this to a close.

Let's mention just our last thought, number three, final reason why the blood of Christ is able to redeem us. And I would just simply say, as Peter says there in verses 20 through 21, because it was foreordained by God before all things that this is how it would be, this foreordaining thought, concept, is one of those truths that are hard to comprehend, hard to understand. Reasoning as a fallen human being, I would conclude that if God knew all that was going to happen, the moment He conceived it, He would have never have even started.

Like, why? Why? But because you and I are precious and we were created to live eternally with Him, He saw a value like that tommy for his boat, and He was willing to pay the ultimate price. It was foreordained, but my human fallen reasoning would say, why? Why would He even do that? If He knew all that Christ would experience, all that He would endure, why would He even begin? And yet we see throughout scripture that God, in eternity past, put together that beautiful plan. And so Peter states here that Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world.

This is not implying that God, the Son, had a beginning. Rather, it refers to the reality that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, the plan of salvation, the gospel message, was known by God before He created them. Before He created time, before He created space, before He created any type of matter, this was already there.

God had a plan. He, in verse 20, is a reference to Christ, the Lamb without blemish and without spot. He was foreordained before all things.

Foreordained is to foreknow or know beforehand. So before the foundation of the world, before the very first moment of creation, God knew all that Christ would be and all that He would endure. He knew all that.

He knew the cost of redemption even then. And yet, knowing what it would cost, He created and set in motion this wonderful plan to display His glory, grace, justice, holiness, mercy, and matchless love. Redemption, brothers and sisters, was not an afterthought is what I'm trying to say.

It was foreordained. It wasn't a plan B because plan A failed. No, no afterthought.

It's not a remedy for an unseen evil that popped up. Revelation calls Christ the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It's an interesting thought.

The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. That's in chapter 13, verse 8. Foreordained. The author of Hebrews says it like this in Hebrews 2, but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor.

That He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. Ephesians 1, Paul says, according as He has chosen us in Him. When? When were we chosen in Him? Before the foundation of the world.

That's an amazing thought. That doesn't sound like an afterthought. That doesn't sound like a plan B. According as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to the good pleasure of His will.

He has chosen us from before the foundation of the world. And He's chosen us to be holy from before the foundation of the world. He has chosen us to be blameless from before the foundation of the world.

He's predestined us to be adopted as sons unto His family from before the foundation of the world. Still struggling with not being worth much. Hence, we are saved and being sanctified that He might conform us more and more into His very own image.

This plan, brothers and sisters, has been the plan of God from eternity past to take His enemies and make them His children. How many of us here can relate to being at odds, being enemies with other people? And somewhere down the road, at different times perhaps, you both became a child of God. And years later, you meet up.

And the animosity is gone. I've been there. Actually, it was the account I'm thinking of is where I was saved and the other person wasn't.

And we were greatly at odds with each other. And we would race to a designated place to meet up and fight it out. Literally, fists and knives.

And I still remember the church parking lot. And I walked over to him. There he was, as always, sitting on the hood of his car, playing with his switchblade, butterfly knife.

I had one too. And I usually used it to imitate him as well. I remember walking over towards him.

And he saw me coming. And he probably braced himself. Oh, here we go.

Church parking lot. But as I got closer, I started talking. And I started apologizing for how wrongly I had treated him.

And you know, that knife just stopped flicking in his hand. And it folded up. And it was put away.

Years later, years later, I think I've ever only met with him maybe once or twice afterwards. But he had an experience with Christ. And we had a beautiful meeting.

Christ did what God foreordained, took his enemies and made them his children. You know, you and I were the enemy of God, right? We were at odds with God. While we were yet enemies, Christ died for us.

To take sinners and make them saints, that was God's plan foreordained. To take the unrighteous, the ungodly, the unholy, and redeem them by the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish, without spot. Tonight, when we meet for communion, that's what we're commemorating.

That's what we're commemorating. That's what we're going to celebrate. Some of these truths, the all things that come to us through Christ are really almost inconceivable, and yet so incredible.

Amen? So much we don't understand. A depth that we don't understand, and yet very incredible. The blood of Christ is precious, because that was the plan of God from eternity past.

In conclusion here, then, just as we consider him, Jesus Christ our Lord, as we consider him, brothers and sisters, I hope you find it so that it naturally compels you to consider yourself, your walk of life, your profession. As you consider him, as I consider him, and then we put our life alongside of his, there should be a resemblance. No, we're not perfectly what he is, but there should be a resemblance.

Amen? Close with these verses of the first John 1. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. It's a continuing cleansing that we can experience as we walk in light, as we pursue him.

These verses are often used as an encouragement to lost individuals, unsaved individuals. And they apply there. The truth does apply there.

But the Apostle John actually wrote to believers. So we can take comfort in that. So the precious blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin and enables us to have fellowship with God, redeemed, but not with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of life, blood of Christ.

So let's walk worthy. Let's walk worthy of that blood. Let's walk worthy of that calling that we have in Christ Jesus.

Let's be careful to not trample underfoot the precious blood of Christ. May God add his blessing.