 Far too many Christians miss this about salvation. It's there in plain sight, but for some reason, and I don't know why, but many preachers and pastors don't focus on this. But this is something really important, really relevant to our salvation, something that God does. So let's go to John 3.16, famous passage, and I want to start there. He says that for God, so loved the world that gave us only God and Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Now, the beginning of it is this word, huttos, or garhutos, huttos garh, which is huttos is the Greek way of saying, this is how or in this way. What do you mean by that though? In this way, this is how God is showing his love for the world, or this is how God is showing his love. And so what does he do? He gives his Son in order that. Now, the reason why he gave his Son is in order that those that are believing, the hapistouan, if we go back to the Greek and we look at it, says that the hapistouan, that those who are believing in him, that they will never perish. Now, this is what's kind of been missing, is what is he referring to in this way? Well, let's back up a little bit and let's go back to Leviticus. Remember, during the Atonement and what we have today and what we have then are pretty much mirroring. In the old covenant, in that dispensation we had an Atonement whereby there was a high priest that would mediate the sacrifices. There would be this blood that's shed, that would be this scapegoat that would take away the sins of the world. But I wanna focus on the other one, the blood that's shed. And I want you to notice something. Now, this is a perpetual sacrifice. This would be happening forever and ever and ever. Not in the same way, and we're gonna see that, but it's the blood that God requires as Atonement. That God requires to satisfy the debt. God is going to pour out his wrath on sin and what will be the payment to satisfy the debt that we can't pay ourselves, but it's blood. He states, even in places like Genesis 9, that the life of the flesh is in the blood. And after Leviticus 16 and chapter 17, he makes a statement, we've covered this before, but I want you all to see this where he says, 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 life that makes Atonement. So he's stating that blood is the payment. It's by blood that brings about life. And he says that I have given it to you on the altar. Now, one look at the right side where it says, wa ani natatin. Now, that's natatin is how you would say, I have given, but if you notice right before it, it says, and I. So he's literally saying, and I, I have given it on the altar. Well, why would you say it in that way? It is a way that you can signify that, say that I myself am providing the blood. And more specifically for us, it is God who is the one who's providing the blood. Does God have blood? Well, according to the scriptures, it does. As a matter of fact, the Bible tells us in Acts 20, 28, he says, therefore take heed to yourselves speaking to the shepherds of the flock. He says, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the flock, the church of God, which literally says, he has purchased with his own blood. Who's the he, the one that did the purchasing is God himself, which he purchased with his own blood. So it's saying that the church was purchased by the blood of God. That should make us feel a little bit more special. And I know there's sometimes we don't, we should kind of hold back on trying to feel special or anything. But in this regard, God did something extraordinary. God determined that he would provide the blood. In other religions, it is what we do to earn our salvation. But in this, in Christianity, it's what God does to pay for our salvation. The debt that's owed, he literally is the one that comes about to pay the debt. God is the one that's gonna provide the sacrifice, the payment to satisfy his own wrath. As a matter of fact, if we go to Hebrews nine, I wanna read a series of passages in Hebrews nine verse 11 says, but when Christ appeared as high priest of the good things to come, he entered through the gate. I'm starting through the greater, more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is to say, not of this creation and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through his own blood, important, through his own blood, he entered the holy place once for all. There's not a need for a or necessity for it to happen year after year after year as what was commanded under the old covenant in Leviticus 16. But this is a one time thing, having obtained, look what it did, this blood having obtained eternal redemption for if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctified for the cleansing of flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God cleanse your conscious from dead works to serve the living God. So now I want you to see how important this is to note his blood is clearly different than the blood of bulls and goats. Now going back to verse 15, he says that he is the mediator of a new covenant so that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, it says those who have been defiled, or I'm sorry, those who have been called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance for where a covenant is their must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. Remember, this is a covenant that God has made and what it's really harkening back to is not even so much the new covenant but the Abrahamic covenant. God has determined that not only Jews would be saved but also Gentiles would be saved. This is God who initiates this. This is God who does this and even for Israel for this new covenant for her as well. It says for a covenant is valid only when men are dead. So someone's gotta die to put this testament or this covenant in force for it is never enforced while one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood for when every commandment has been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and goats and so he's showing how blood was necessary in these covenants. Now, speaking of the blood and speaking of the blood of Christ and referring back to Leviticus where he says that he himself is going to provide the blood well then the question is God, where do you have blood? You don't have any blood and he would say, oh yes I do. How so? Here is Jesus who is God. He is going to provide the blood and notice what he says in Hebrews 10-3 he says but in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year for it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore when he comes into the world he says sacrifice and offerings you have not desired but a body you have prepared for me and so this body that's being prepared for Christ to shed his blood on the altar is literally how God himself is providing the blood and why is that important? And this is the confidence that we can have that there's a debt that we owe to God that's been canceled. Noticing Colossians 2-14 he says by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with this legal demand this he set aside nailing it to the cross nailing it to the cross the debt that was owed. How was it owed? How was it paid? What was paid by the blood? And so therefore on the cross it was satisfied. What was satisfied? The debt that's owed by man to God. And how do we accomplish this? How do we take part in this? Simply by placing our faith in what he's done. And so going back to how we started off he says this is how God loved the world. This is how God shows his love for the world. How? By purchasing us with his own blood. Sending his son to die on the cross for us. That's how God did it. And so I think when we see it now it should give us greater joy and greater confidence that what was given, what was paid won't be wasted. Amen.