The Bible regards blood as the symbol and source of life. Leviticus 17:14 states, "For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life…" (ESV)

Blood plays a major role in the Old Testament.

On the first Passover in Exodus 12:1-13, the blood of a lamb was posted on the top and sides of each door frame as a sign that death had already taken place, so the Angel of Death would pass over.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest would enter the Holy of Holies to offer a blood sacrifice to atone for the sins of the people. The blood of a bull and of a goat was sprinkled on the altar. The life of the animal was poured out, given on behalf of the life of the people.

When God cut a covenant treaty with his people at Sinai, Moses took the blood of oxen and sprinkled half of it on the altar and half on the people of Israel. (Exodus 24:6-8)

Because of its relationship to life, blood signifies the supreme offering to God. God's holiness and justice demand that sin be punished. The only penalty or payment for sin is eternal death. The offering of an animal and even our own death are not sufficient sacrifices to pay for sin. Atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just the right way.

Jesus Christ, the one perfect God-man, came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to make payment for our sin. Hebrews chapters 8-10 beautifully explain how Christ became the eternal High Priest, entering heaven (the Holy of Holies), once and for all, not by the blood of sacrificial animals, but by his own precious blood on the cross. Christ poured out his life in the ultimate atoning sacrifice for our sin and the sins of the world.

In the New Testament, the blood of Jesus Christ, therefore, becomes the foundation for God's new covenant of grace. At the Last Supper, Jesus said to his disciples: “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” (Luke 22:20, ESV)

Let's scan the Scriptures now to affirm its profound significance.

The Blood of Jesus Has Power To:

Redeem us

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace … (Ephesians 1:7, ESV)

With his own blood — not the blood of goats and calves — he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever. (Hebrews 9:12, NLT)

Reconcile us to God

For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood… (Romans 3:25, NLT)

Pay our ransom

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1: 18-19, NLT)

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation … (Revelation 5:9, ESV)

Wash away sin

But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7, NLT)

Forgive us

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. ‎(Hebrews 9:22, ESV)

Free us

… and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. (Revelation 1:5, NLT)

Justify us

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9, ESV)

Cleanse our guilty conscience

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. (Hebrews 9:13-14, NLT)

Sanctify us

So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood. (Hebrews 13:12, ESV)

Open the way to the presence of God

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:13, NLT)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. (Hebrews 10:19, NLT)

Give us peace

For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. (Colossians 1:19-20, NLT)

Overcome the enemy

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death. (Revelation 12:11, NKJV)