On Blood and Death

I've wondered why there must be blood shed for the forgiveness of sins (Heb 9:22). The story of salvation is dependent on this principle. The story of the entire Bible has foundations in this principle. I can see how it works, the functionality of it, but I haven't understood the reason. Why blood? Why must something die so that other things can have life? I see the principle in everyday life- I understand that a grazing animal must die so that a predator can live. I see that a plant must die to fertilize the ground so that seeds will grow and another plant will live. I see it, but even on this every day basis I don't understand the reason for the connection between death and life. So when it comes to the commandments in the Old Testament that various animals must die and their blood used to purify the wrongdoings of humans, my lack of understanding is even more magnified. Further, because of the background of these commandments and the marvelous history leading up to Christ, I understand the poetic beauty of the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, because without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9 spells out that awe-inspiring beauty clearly. But I still find that I don't understand the reason. Why did it have to be blood? Why did it have to be death? A simple, "because that's what God chose" doesn't satisfy my desire to know.

I've traveled backwards in my mind to a time when blood and death were not needed, back to the time when it all started. Adam and Eve were in a perfect environment. They were created by God without the knowledge of good and evil... in other words, without the knowledge of evil. The knowledge they had was of what was around them, which God had declared good. So when the time came that they decided they wanted this knowledge of evil, they decided to disobey God, which was the first sin. A curse came. The curse involved decay and death, but God in His goodness provided a way to overcome this curse. Blood sacrifices had to be made in order to forgive the sin. I still think to myself, why?? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't we simply repent and be forgiven? (It seems that we do this now, but it is only because of the once-for-all blood sacrifice made by Christ that we can do this.) This blood and death seems like such a terrible, terrible thing to gain forgiveness. From a God who is infinitely creative and able to choose to do anything, why did He choose this way? Blood and death are terrible... terrible! The longer you think about death, the more terrible you realize it is. Death exists because of Adam and Eve's disobedience. That first sin was how we all got infected with sin, and I say infected because it is the worst hereditary disease known to man. It is fatal, not just in our material bodies, but in our immaterial souls. The result of that first sin was spiritual death, and it was the worst thing that could possibly have happened to the human race. I catch myself thinking, Wow... that's a huge result for a seemingly small action. It seems like the punishment doesn't fit the crime.

But let's rethink that. Is it possible that this punishment is an indicator of how heinous the crime actually was (and continues to be)? We tend to think in degrees of sin, but don't we know that sin is sin? It was not a long time coming before disobedience in the parents turned to murder in the son. The magnitude of this punishment shows us that sin is so far from the holiness of God that spiritual death is the only result fitting for it. It is an indicator of the infinity of His righteousness. It is another way of understanding the perfection of God. It is a powerful reminder of His glory. And under this meaning, the story of the shedding of the blood of Jesus can be understood not merely as poetic, but as life-changing.