Finally, the blood of Christ brings us into the temple of God, where we shall enjoy Him for eternity. Those who are brought into God’s temple through the cleansing of the blood of Christ are pictured in Revelation 7:15 and 16: “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits upon the throne shall spread His tabernacle over them. They shall not hunger anymore, neither shall they thirst anymore, neither shall the sun beat upon them, nor any heat.” This is the eternal enjoyment of God in His temple made possible because of the blood of Christ, the blood of the new covenant. This precious blood brings us into the enjoyment of God Himself as our life and life supply for eternity.
I can testify that I treasure the blood of the covenant. What blessings we have by this blood! We have God Himself, the divine life, the divine nature, the inward law of life, and the ability of life to know God. The blood of the covenant brings us into the presence of God, into the infusion of God, and into the eternal enjoyment of God. What we experience today is a foretaste of the full enjoyment to come.
How sad that so many Christians pay little or no attention to the blood of the covenant! In principle, Christians are the same as the children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai: they promise God that they will obey Him and they try to keep His law. What ignorance of God’s economy and of the blood of the covenant! The blood of Christ is not only the cleansing blood, the blood which washes us from our sins. It is the blood of the covenant which brings us into God, into the divine life and nature, into the inward law of life and the ability of life to know God, and into the infusion, transfusion, and enjoyment of God both now and in eternity. This is the function of the blood of the covenant.
Hebrews 13:20 says, “Now the God of peace who brought up from among the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of an eternal covenant.” This verse indicates that it was by the blood of the eternal covenant that God raised Christ from among the dead. All that God has ordained has been covenanted to be our portion. This portion is actually God Himself with His nature, life, attributes, and virtues.
It is extremely difficult for the natural mind to grasp the idea that through the blood of the covenant God becomes our portion. To say that the Lord shed His blood for our sins is not too difficult for the human mind to comprehend. To some extent, we have such an understanding within us. We realize that we are sinful and need something to wash away our sins. But to think that the blood has opened the way for us to come into God is far beyond our understanding.
When I was a young Christian, I read a number of articles on the precious blood of Christ. These articles pointed out that the blood redeems us, cleanses us, and overcomes the enemy. Certain articles even stated, although in a superficial way, that the new testament was enacted through the blood. But I did not read one article or hear one message which said that the blood of Christ brings us into God to enjoy Him as our portion.
Many missionaries to China did an excellent job in helping the Chinese turn from the ethical concept of doing good to realize their need to have their sins washed away by the blood of Christ. In his classical writings Confucius refers a few times to God, speaking of Him not in biblical terms, but with the title of heavenly king or the heavens. This is similar to the word in Luke 15 about the prodigal son sinning against heaven. Confucius said that if we offend the heavenly emperor, or the heavens, there is no way for us to be forgiven. According to his concept, instead of asking for forgiveness, we should try to change ourselves and improve. This was a basic philosophical and ethical thought among students of Confucius: forget the past and try your best to improve. Agreeing that it was a good thing to forget the past and try to improve, the missionaries proceeded to convince many Chinese that it was still necessary to settle the wrongs committed in the past and to be forgiven. They pointed out that even if we can improve, we still need to clear our past. Furthermore, only the Lord Jesus can take care of this. Confucius may teach us to improve ourselves, but he cannot solve the problems of our past. For this, the cleansing of the blood of Jesus is necessary.
In 1 Corinthians 2:9 Paul says that God had prepared for those who love Him things which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and which have not entered into the heart of man. Who would ever imagine that a sinner could enter into God and inherit Him? This enjoyment is according to the wisdom of God.
When the covenant was enacted in Exodus 24, the blood was used to sprinkle the people. This indicates that the people were to forget their concept of trying to observe the law and realize that God’s intention was to make them pillars by bringing them into Himself and by placing Himself into them. According to Jeremiah 31, God would even impart His law, signifying His life and nature, into His people.
Every kind of life functions according to the law of its nature. For example, an apple tree brings forth apples; it never produces bananas. It would be useless and utterly nonsensical to decree a law to an apple tree and say, “You must remember that, as an apple tree, you should never produce bananas. You must always bring forth apples.” An apple tree has a life with a nature. As long as the tree grows normally, it will bring forth apples, for it is regulated inwardly by the law which corresponds to its life and nature.
In promising to make a new covenant with His people and to write His law on their hearts, God seemed to be saying, “I gave you an outward law to show you who I am and what I am. However, you did not understand My intention. You thought that I gave you the law that you might observe it. But you cannot observe My law unless I come into you and become your life and nature. Then spontaneously you will have a living that corresponds to My law.” Just as an apple tree automatically produces apples according to the law of an apple-tree life and nature, so we automatically fulfill the requirements of God’s law by having His life with His nature imparted to us. This is the reason Paul says in Romans 8:4 that the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled not by those who try to keep the law, but in those who walk according to spirit. The spirit according to which we walk is not in the heavens; it is the mingled spirit, the divine Spirit mingled with our regenerated human spirit. This spirit is now our inner life.
According to Jeremiah 31 and Ezekiel 36, God promised to impart His law into us, to change our heart, to regenerate our spirit, and to put His Spirit within us. As a result, we have the inward law, which is actually God Himself, to produce in us not only what God requires, but also what God is. This was the reason the Lord Jesus said to His disciples, “You, therefore, shall be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). When the divine life within us grows to perfection, we shall be perfect even as our Father is perfect. Notice that here the Lord does not charge us to observe all the requirements; He tells us to be perfect as the Father is perfect.
The blood of the covenant is not mainly for forgiveness; it is primarily for God to be our portion. God has ordained and predestinated us to enjoy Him. This enjoyment has also been covenanted to us. What enacted this covenant? It was enacted by the blood of Jesus Christ, the blood which brings us into all the divine blessings. According to Matthew 26:28, the Lord Jesus took the cup and said, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” According to Luke 22:20, the Lord Jesus said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” In 1 Corinthians 10:16 Paul refers to the cup as the “cup of blessing.” This cup of blessing is the covenant enacted by the blood. The blood of the new covenant is the blood which enacted the covenant of blessing. The covenant is the cup and also the blessing as our portion. This portion is God Himself for our enjoyment. This concept of the blood far surpasses our natural understanding. Yes, the blood cleanses us from our sins. But even more important than this, the blood brings us into the very God who is our portion for us to enjoy.
The blood is spoken of in Exodus 12, Exodus 24, and Leviticus 16. In these chapters we have the blood of the Passover lamb for redemption, the blood of the sacrifices for the enactment of the law, and the blood of the atonement by which man could enter into the Holy of Holies, contact God, and be one with Him. In the New Testament we see that the Lord Jesus shed His blood on the cross. This is typified by the blood of the Passover lamb in Exodus 12. With the blood shed on the cross the Lord enacted the new testament. This is typified by the blood in Exodus 24. Ultimately, the blood of Christ brings us into the fullness of God as our eternal enjoyment. This aspect of the blood, the blood of the eternal covenant, is typified by the blood in Leviticus 16.
The blood brings us into the Holy of Holies; that is, it brings us into God. When the high priest entered into the Holy of Holies, it was not his purpose to observe the law. On the contrary, because of the blood sprinkled in the Holy of Holies, he could enjoy God, behold His beauty, and receive His infusion. Enjoying God in this way is what produces a man of God.
In Revelation 7 those who have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” are before the throne of God, in the temple of God, and are brought to springs of waters of life. Furthermore, Revelation 22:14 says, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.” Here we see that through the washing of the blood, we have the right to come to the tree of life and enter into the city, New Jerusalem. The tree of life and the city are the ultimate aspects of God as our portion. If we view the Bible as a whole, we shall see that the blood of the covenant brings us into the full enjoyment of God as our portion both now and forever.