II. The means of this purification is “the blood of Christ, who through the Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.”
Could we take in, at a single view, all the bearings of “the blood of Christ,” as exhibited in the Gospel, what an astonishing light would it cast upon the condition of man; the character of God; the nature, and requirements of His law; the dreadful consequences of sin; the wondrous expiation of the cross; the reconciliation of Heaven, and earth; the blessed union of the believer with God in Christ, as a just God, and a Saviour; and the whole scheme of our justification, sanctification, and redemption, through free, sovereign, infinite, and unspeakable grace!
There is no knowledge like the knowledge of Christ, for the excellency of which the apostle counted all things but loss. Christ is the Sun of Righteousness, in whose light we see the tops of the mountains of immortality, towering above the dense clouds which overhang the valley of death. All the wisdom which philosophers have learned from nature, and providence, compared with that which is afforded by the Christian revelation, is like the ignis fatuus, compared with the sun. The knowledge of Plato, and Socrates, and all the renowned sages of antiquity, was nothing to the knowledge of the feeblest believer in “the blood of Christ.”
“The blood of Christ” is of infinite value. There is none like it flowing in human veins. It was the blood of a man, but of a man who knew no iniquity; the blood of a sinless humanity, in which dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily; the blood of the second Adam, who is the Lord from Heaven, and a quickening Spirit upon earth. It pressed through every pore of His body in the garden; and gushed from His head, His hands, His feet, and His side, upon the cross. I approach with fear, and trembling, yet with humble confidence, and joy. I take off my shoes, like Moses, as he approaches the burning bush; for I hear a voice coming forth from the altar, saying, “I and my Father are one; I am the true God, and Eternal Life.”
The expression, “the blood of Christ,” includes the whole of His obedience to the moral law, by the imputation of which we are justified; and all the sufferings of His soul and His body as our Mediator, by which an atonement is made for our sins, and a fountain opened to wash them all away. This is the spring whence rise the rivers of forgiving and sanctifying grace.
In the representation which the text gives us of this redeeming blood, are several points worthy of our special consideration:—
1. It is “the blood of Christ;” the appointed Substitute and Saviour of men; “the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world.”
2. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself. His humanity was the only sacrifice which would answer the demands of justice, and atone for the transgressions of mankind. Therefore “He has made His soul an offering for sin.”
3. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God. It was the eternal Father, whose broken law must be repaired, whose dishonest government must be vindicated, and whose flaming indignation must be turned away. The well-beloved Son must meet the Father’s frown, and bear the Father’s curse for us. All the Divine attributes called for the offering; and without it, could not be reconciled to the sinner.
4. It is the blood of Christ, who offered Himself to God, without spot. This was a perfect sacrifice. The Victim was without blemish, or defect; the altar was complete in all its appurtenances; and the High Priest possessed every conceivable qualification for his work. Christ was at once victim, altar, and high-priest; “holy, harmless, and undefiled”—“God manifest in the flesh.” Being Himself perfect God and perfect man, and perfect Mediator between God and man, He perfects for ever all them that believe.