1. “Washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Rev. 1:5, KJV).
The Lord’s blood causes sins not only to be forgiven but also to be cleansed. The Lord’s blood is not only the foundation of our forgiveness but also the means for us to be cleansed.
2. “How much more will the blood of Christ...purify our conscience?” (Heb. 9:14).
When we were sinners before God, our conscience condemned us. Since the Lord’s blood has taken away our sins before God, our conscience no longer condemns us. The Lord’s blood purifies our conscience from all feelings of condemnation.
3. “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from every sin” (1 John 1:7).
The Lord’s blood does not wash us only of the sins we committed before we were saved. When we confess the sins that we commit after being saved, the blood washes us also of these sins.
4. “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14).
Robes refers to righteous acts after being saved (19:8). Even after we are saved, it is hard to avoid being defiled in our conduct. When we are defiled in any way, we can be washed from these defilements by the Lord’s blood.
1. “That He might sanctify the people through His own blood” (Heb. 13:12).
To be sanctified is to be separated unto God. Since the Lord’s blood causes us to turn from sin and purchases us back to God, it separates us and sanctifies us. Therefore, the Lord’s blood is the foundation of our sanctification.
2. “The blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified” (Heb. 10:29).
The Lord’s blood is not only for redemption from sin but also for sanctification. We are sanctified through the Lord’s blood.
1. “Having now been justified in His blood” (Rom. 5:9; see also 3:25-26).
The Lord died and shed His blood to satisfy God’s righteous requirement for us. Now God is required not only to forgive our sins but also to justify us according to His righteousness. Therefore, the Lord’s blood causes us to be justified by God. God justifies us because of the Lord’s blood, and we receive God’s justification by the Lord’s blood. The Lord’s blood is the foundation of our justification.
1. “Through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross—through Him, whether the things on the earth or the things in the heavens” (Col. 1:20).
Because of man’s sin, nothing, including man, was properly related to God. When the Lord’s blood took away our sins before God, the Lord made peace with us and with all things, reconciling us and all things to God. Thus, the Lord’s blood is the foundation of reconciliation between God and all things, including us.
1. “Jesus therefore said...He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life” (John 6:53-54).
Because the Lord’s blood washed us of our sins, it enabled us to obtain God’s holy life, which is God Himself as the eternal life. God gives us His eternal life because the Lord shed His blood for us. The Lord’s blood is the means for us to receive God’s eternal life.
1. “In Christ Jesus you who were once far off have become near in the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13).
Once we were far from God. When the Lord’s blood dealt with our sins, our position changed, and we have come near to God.
2. “Having...boldness for entering the Holy of Holies in the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19).
Originally, our sins made us unable and afraid to come to God. The Lord’s blood takes away our sin before God and cleanses our conscience from all feelings of condemnation, enabling us to come near to God and to boldly enter the Holy of Holies to fellowship with Him. Thus, the Lord’s blood is also the means for us to come near to God. Every time we come to God, we must come in the Lord’s blood.
1. “The blood of sprinkling, which speaks something better than that of Abel” (Heb. 12:24).
In ancient times the blood of Abel cried out to God from the ground, asking God to avenge him (Gen. 4:10); thus, his blood asked God to condemn. Now, however, the blood of the Lord Jesus speaks on our behalf before God as our advocate, asking God to forgive us according to His righteousness. Therefore, the blood of the Lord speaks something better than that of Abel’s blood.
The law of God condemns us because of our sins, and even the devil can condemn us before God because of our sins. However, since the Lord’s blood has satisfied the righteous requirement of God’s law and redeemed us from our sins before God, His blood speaks for us before God. It defends us so that the law of God cannot condemn us and so that the devil’s condemnation is ineffective. Thus, the Lord’s blood is a better advocate before God.
1. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ?” (1 Cor. 10:16).
Believers break bread together and fellowship with one another because we all have received the redemption of the Lord’s blood. We fellowship together in the Lord’s blood. This is the story told by the cup that we bless during the Lord’s table. The Lord’s blood is the basis of our fellowship.
1. “They overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:11).
By the Lord’s blood we overcome our enemy, the devil, who accuses us. When we cast out demons and fight spiritual battles, we need to rely on the Lord’s blood to overcome Satan’s authority of darkness. The Lord’s blood is our weapon to overcome Satan.
The Lord’s blood enables us to obtain life and maintain our living before God; therefore, in the Bible God ordained that we not eat any blood (Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:10, 14; Deut. 12:16, 23-25; Acts 15:20, 29). This signifies that no blood can enable us to obtain life or live before God other than the Lord’s blood. We may eat only the Lord’s blood because only His blood enables us to receive life and live before God (John 6:54-55).