The expression, “the blood of Christ,” includes the whole of his obedience to the moral law, by the imputation of which we are justified; and all the sufferings of his soul and his body as our Mediator, by which an atonement is made for our sins, and a fountain opened to wash them all away. This is the spring whence rise the rivers of forgiving and sanctifying grace.
In the representation which the text gives us of this redeeming blood, are several points worthy of our special consideration:—
1. It is _the blood of Christ_; the appointed Substitute and Saviour of men; “the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the world.”
2. It is the blood of Christ, _who offered himself_. His humanity was the only sacrifice which would answer the demands of justice, and atone for the transgressions of mankind. Therefore “he made his soul an offering for sin.”
3. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself _to God_. It was the eternal Father, whose broken law must be repaired, whose dishonored government must be vindicated, and whose flaming indignation must be turned away. The well beloved Son must meet the Father’s frown, and bear the Father’s curse for us. All the Divine attributes called for the offering; and without it, could not be reconciled to the sinner.
4. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself to God, _without spot_. This was a perfect sacrifice. The victim was without blemish or defect; the altar was complete in all its appurtenances; and the high-priest possessed every conceivable qualification for his work. Christ was at once victim, altar, and high-priest; “holy, harmless, and undefiled;” “God manifest in the flesh.” Being himself perfect God, and perfect man, and perfect Mediator between God and man, he perfects for ever all them that believe.
5. It is the blood of Christ, who offered himself to God, without spot, _through the eternal Spirit_. By the eternal Spirit here, we are to understand, not the third person of the Godhead, but the second; Christ’s own Divine nature, which was co-eternal with the Father before the world was; and which, in the fulness of time, seized on humanity, sinless and immaculate humanity, and offered it body and soul, as a sacrifice for human sins. The eternal Spirit was at once the priest that offered the victim, and the altar that sanctified the offering. Without this agency, there could have been no atonement. The offering of mere humanity, however spotless, aside from the merit derived from its connection with Divinity, could not have been a sacrifice of sweet-smelling savor unto God.