Hebrews 9:18

Hebrews 9:18 says, Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.  The shedding of blood was a part of the old testament with God.  It was the blood of an animal that was shed in the place of those that it represented.  Verse nineteen adds, For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,  This sprinkling of the blood of calves and goats was symbolic of the shedding of the blood of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, Who was to come as an eternal sacrifice for the sins of all people.  We must remember that Christ died for all sins, but for anyone to claim His gift of forgiveness that person must believe in Him through faith.  Verse twenty continues, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.  The shedding of blood for a sacrifice to God was always a part of God's covenant with His people.  We are told that the wages of sin, any sin, is death.  We cannot die for our own sins but need a sacrifice instead.  Until the coming of Christ, this was an animal, which would have been without sin.  Only people are capable of sin, which is the wilful disobedience to the will of God.  Verse twenty-one states, Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.  Moses consecrated everything associated with the worship of God with blood.  When we come to Christ through faith in Him as Savior and Lord, He consecrates everything that we are to God.  Verse twenty-two adds, And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.  Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins.  If we do not accept the sacrifice of Christ on our behalf, then we cannot find remission for our sins.  Our own death, no matter how noble or heroic it might be, can never bring a remission of our sins.  Christ alone is the perfect sacrifice.  Verse twenty-three continues, It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  Those earthly things that represented heavenly things could be purified by the blood of calves and goats, but the real heavenly things required a better sacrifice.  Verse twenty-four declares, For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:  Christ, by His shedding of His blood on the cross, did not enter into an earthly holy place made by hands, but into a heavenly holy place made by God.  Verse twenty-five adds, Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others;  This tells us that Christ is not a temporary sacrifice that has to be offered over and over again, like the yearly sacrifices of the earthly high priests.  Verse twenty-six continues, For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  If Christ had to sacrifice Himself yearly, He would have been doing it since the foundation of the world and would have to continue to do so.  Instead, Christ made a onetime sacrifice for us all sins for all time.  It is up to each individual to decide whether or not to accept that sacrifice.  Verse twenty-seven says, And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:  This simply reminds us that everyone will die, until Christ returns, and then we face God's judgment.  After we die, or Christ returns, there is no changing our relationship to God.  Verse twenty-eight adds, So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.  Christ died for the salvation of all, but only those who accept Him by faith will share in that salvation.  It is truly sad the number of people who choose everlasting separation from God when He has already provided a way to everlasting redemption.