Leviticus 17:11, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.”
Why was the Blood Shed? ___________ If you said for forgiveness of our sins you would be right. But what if I told you that forgiveness of sins was not enough to cure us who were born in Adam?
Hebrews 9:27, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment.”
In His great wisdom, God knew we were totaled, completely ruined and needed a new beginning. The life of the old “man” had to be done away with and life for a new man furnished in its place. Let’s take a closer look at the need for this.
There are two different Greek words for “life” used in the passages we are going to look at here. The word psuche, though translated “life” here, usually is the Greek word for “soul.” The other word, Zoe, is always translated “life” and many times “eternal life.” It is speaking of the God kind of life we have been given in our spirit at our new birth.
Matt. 10:38-39, “And he who does not take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life (psuche) shall lose it, and he who has lost his life (psuche), for My sake, shall find it. He who receives Me, receives Him who sent Me.” (Repeated in Matt. 16:25-26; Mark 8:35-36; Luke 9:24)
A psuche life is a life controlled by the soul as referred to above and in this next verse:
Matthew 6:25, “For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life (psuche), as to what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor for your body, as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”
Jesus spoke of His own psuche in John 10:10, “I am the good shepherd, the good shepherd lays down His life (psuche) for the sheep.” He expresses what should be done with the psuche: It is to be laid down or lost .
John 12:23-28, “And Jesus answered them, saying, ‘The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life (psuche) loses it; and he who hates (wants to be separated from) his life (psuche) in this world shall keep it to life eternal (ZOE). If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Now My soul (psuche) has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour?’ But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven: ‘I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.’”
In contrast, Zoe life is eternal life, God’s kind of life. It is the Spirit-born, Spirit-filled and Spirit-controlled life. Look at the following scriptures on this kind of life.
John 1:4, “In him was Life (Zoe) and the life (zoe) was the light of men.”
John 3:15-16; 36, “…that whoever believes may in Him have eternal life (Zoe)…He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life (zoe); and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life (zoe); but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 10:10, “I am come that they might have life (zoe) and that they might have it more abundantly.”
We are going to look at covenant making shortly but there is one point I must mention here. The key principle of covenant making is the exchange of everything: All that is mine becomes yours…all that is yours becomes mine. In light of exchange read the following from Isaiah 53.
Isaiah 53:4–12 (NASB) “Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due?9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
The Great Exchange of Isaiah 53 included the following:
In Adam we were:
Spiritually Dead
Ruled by the power of Sin & Condemnation
In Sickness
In Poverty
Foolish
But in exchange, now In Christ we have:
Eternal Life
Righteousness & Justification
Healing and Health
Provision
Wisdom
What a deal? God took all the bad stuff in Adam and gave us all the good stuff in Christ! That is Grace!
The River Blog 