Why is Christianity Infatuated with Blood?

Have you ever wondered why Christianity is so infatuated with blood? I mean blood is everywhere in Christianity. We sing songs about blood, and maybe one time you have walked into a church down south and someone came up to you and said “brother, are you washed in the blood?” And you’re thinking “I hope not. That’s gross.”

So what’s the big deal with the blood? Well, blood stands for something. If we say “he shed his blood” what do we mean? We mean “he died.” So blood stands for death.

Death is important to Christianity, because God chose death to be the payment for sin. If you were here the first week, God told Adam that if he sinned he would die. The penalty of sin is death. Hebrews 9:22 says “without the shedding the blood there is no forgiveness.” Without death there is no forgiveness. Someone has to die for sin. It either has to be you, or a substitute. If a substitute dies for sin in your place, you get forgiveness. In the Passover story, the lamb is the substitute. The lamb died so that God would not judge the Israelites.

The Passover story is what we call a type, or a picture of Jesus, this story points us to Jesus. Jesus is the true Passover lamb. 1 Corinthians 5:7 says “For Christ, our Passover lamb, also has been sacrificed.” Jesus died on the cross as a substitute for sinners. If you know Jesus personally, then His blood in a symbolic way, covers you, and God’s judgment passes over you. So God used blood back then to pay for sin and redeem His people and He uses blood now as well.