Sermon Tone Analysis

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.

Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin” ().

“Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.”

“Would you be free from the burden of sin? There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?

There’s power in the blood, power in the blood.”

LEWIS E. JONES, 1899

The color red conjures up a lot of images in the human mind.

A woman in red symbolizes seduction.

The scarlet letter, assigned to the adulterous woman, was a shade of red.

Red flags are meant to be warnings of impending danger.

A thief is caught red-handed.

Prostitutes live in the red-light district.

The character of the Devil is often seen in red.

Red is the color of blood and a symbol for guilt, sin, and even anger.

It is understood by most that if you drive a red sports car you will be pulled over more times by the police than if you were driving the same car in white.

Red gets our attention; it has a sense of danger, sin, and guilt associated with it.

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

White carries an entirely different sentiment.

For centuries brides have worn white as a symbol of purity.

White is considered a clean and bright color.

Doctors and nurses often wear white.

Some cultures view white as a sign of royalty.

In early Westerns you could always spot the good guy because he rode a white horse and wore a white hat.

A white knight is a man who rescues someone in need.

If you were to see two women, one dressed in red and the other in white, you would probably associate innocence with the woman in white and looseness with the woman in red.

You would never expect to see a woman wear red to her wedding; the imagery is just too incongruent.

“The Cross of Jesus Christ destroys all pride.

We cannot find the Cross of Jesus if we shrink from going to the place where it is to be found, namely, the public death of the sinner.

And we refuse to bear the Cross when we are ashamed to take upon ourselves the shameful death of the sinner in confession.”

Dietrich Bonhoffer

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

In the book of Revelation we see continual use of the color white on the people and the creatures that surround God.

reveals such an image of Christ in white when it says, “The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life.

I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.”

And the book of Daniel shows us a similar scene when it says, “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire” (7:9).

says, “And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses.”

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

It should be no surprise that the Bible uses the colors of red and white to symbolize both guilt and innocence, death and life.

In God tells us that “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Consider the magnitude of this idea.

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

Red is a fast color, meaning that it is almost impossible to take red and make it white.

If you’ve ever stained a white shirt with blood or tomato sauce and tried to get it out, then you know how colorfast red can be.

Red is a stubborn reminder of our mistakes and often refuses to go away.

In , red is the color of the dragon and symbolizes the Devil’s cruelty.

And in , the red horse comes to take peace from the earth.

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

So how is it then that red is the new white—the new innocence and purity?

In this ultimate act of turning things upside down, making red white, God takes red, the color of blood, and applies it to our ugliness and sin in order to make us white as snow, justified in his eyes, no longer held guilty of our sin.

As red covers white so well and so permanently, so blood covers the sins of man.

Since the gates to the garden were closed to us, sin has ruled the lives of man, and so blood has flowed.

The very first time blood flowed on earth was the blood that flowed in order that Adam and Eve might be clothed after their fall ().

Soon after that, the act of man worshiping God involved blood.

tells us that “by faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain.”

And the covenant that God made with Noah came after Noah’s sacrifice after the flood, which we see in , “Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar.”

God’s covenant with Abraham required blood.

In this act of worship Abraham’s own blood was to be shed as a symbol of his commitment to die to himself in the form of the sacrifice of his son Isaac.

But as Abraham lifted up the knife to kill his self-life in his son, God made a substitute for that blood with the blood of the ram ().

Blood was also used to spare the Israelites from the plague of the death of the firstborn and was to be a signal for the Lord to pass over their homes.

And when God confirmed his covenant with Moses, blood was not only sprinkled on the altar but was also thrown onto the people ().

In Hebrews we read about this moment with these important words:

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

tells us why the blood was used as atonement for God’s people when it says, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”

As you look deeper into God’s Word, you will see that blood was needed for many things.

When a house or a priest was consecrated, when a child was born, when a sin was to be forgiven, at the times of the festivals, always in everything, in order to have fellowship with God, blood had to be involved.

The worshiper never came empty-handed; he always needed blood in order to worship.

Even the high priest, who would go inside the veil to the mercy seat once a year, went into God’s presence but “not without taking blood” ().

The Most Holy Place where God dwells can only be approached with the blood.

Excerpt From: Hayley DiMarco & Michael DiMarco.

“Die Young.”

iBooks.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/die-young/id494079000?mt=11

Why all this talk and need for the blood, you might ask.

After all, blood comes only from one place—the death of a living thing.

Must something die in order for God to be happy?