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1 Peter 1:19
19 But
19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. NASB
The lamb is the innocent sacrifice, the animal taken without fight or resistance of any kind. The blood is symbolic of the work for Christ on the Cross.
Jesus did not bleed out literally, as the sacrificial animal did, but the term ‘blood of Christ’ is a reference to His spiritual death, after the fashion as the animal sacrifices died from bleeding to death, and it was not their bleeding but their death which was the issue and principle being taught in all of the animal sacrifices.
In fact, when Jesus went to the Cross, He bled very little. His hands and feet were punctured with nails, but He was alive on the Cross when He spoke, and when the skies went totally dark at noon until three o’clock. For those three hours He screamed as no one could see Him, as that was the duration of His punishment.
Then after the punishment of the Cross was completed, the skies grew light again, and He spoke His last few words. Jesus then pushed himself forward, and exhaled his last and died physically. The earthquakes began immediately as well as several other events occurred.
Here we are viewing His work, the punishment, the death, which was the spiritual death, not the physical death.
For in life, He died for our sins (paid the price in full), and then He died physically, after His work was finished.
Once Christ died physically, then His body, soul, and spirit (for He was also perfect and genuine humanity), separated and went to their respect destinations in the after-life. In Hades, He announced the victory of the Cross.
After three days, He returned (body, soul, and spirit) into the grave where He was laid, and He arose after the third day. He met with the apostles and then ascended into heaven. At some point during this time, He went to Paradise, and retrieved all of the Old Testament believers, who had been held captive, as it were, pending the outcome of the Cross. He led them out of Paradise and into heaven. And that was probably a phenomenal procession, a victory parade, celebrated by all of the angels in heaven.
We can only imagine the party that went on then. Paradise is now empty.
But it was this Jesus, who came into this world, perfect, without blemish, and without sin, who was the only person qualified to go to the Cross in behalf of all of humanity.
There is no other person qualified nor capable of doing the work, which Christ did. No religion, no philosophy, no belief, no matter how good they might sound, can duplicate or accomplish that which Jesus Christ did.
