What does “The life is in the Blood” mean?

By Melissa McLaughlin

Following recent routine bloodwork, the lab’s extensive reports astonished me. I clicked through the long list of elements tested. I wondered at the miracle of blood and its seemingly endless contents.

Have you ever wondered about the life-bearing qualities found in our blood?

Fascinatingly, just one drop of blood contains thousands of different and important molecules.

According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Blood is the life-maintaining fluid that flows through the body’s blood vessels.

What is the function of blood? Blood carries the following to the body tissues: nourishment, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, antibodies, heat and oxygen. Blood carries the following away from the body tissues: waste matter and carbon dioxide.” (Facts About Blood – Johns Hopkins Medicine).

Without blood, a human being cannot survive. Blood sustains life.

Life is in the blood.

Interestingly, long before scientists discovered these facts, God explained the life-sustaining qualities of blood in the Bible.

Leviticus 17:14 (ESV) – For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

God is the Creator. The Designer of life in all its grandeur, glory, and brilliance. The One who imagined and breathed life into every creature is also the Owner of each drop of life-carrying blood in their veins.

In the Bible, God taught His people to revere Him and revere life, a gift from His hand. Because God is the Giver of life, the blood which carries life is sacred.

In Leviticus 17, God provided instructions regarding animal sacrifices to atone for human sin. To sin against the God of life results in death. In His mercy, God allowed the death of an animal to serve as a substitute for a human.

Leviticus 17:11 (ESV) – 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.

God required the life-empowering blood to be returned to Him through a sacrificial offering or poured on the ground, returning to the dust of the earth from which He made it.

Leviticus 17:13 (ESV) – Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 

God gives life. All life belongs to Him. Therefore, God requires life be returned to Him.

This Old Testament teaching foreshadowed Christ in profound ways.

The Life is in the Blood of Christ

To atone for the sins of humanity, a blood sacrifice was required. Christ’s life-blood poured out on the cross, flowing down with the scent of mercy. The sacrificial Lamb of God slain for the sins of the world.

Thankfully, Jesus willingly laid down His life, and He victoriously took it up again! Jesus proved Himself both Savior AND LORD!

God gives life on earth and life in heaven. But only by the blood.

The blood running through our physical veins sustains our God-given earthly lives.

Christ’s God-infused blood, shed for mankind’s sin-debt, earned for us eternal life. His divine blood now runs through our spiritual veins.

The Man of heaven poured out His blood on earth to raise the sons and daughters of earth up to heaven.

This physical-spiritual exchange is so mysterious, marvelous, and incomprehensible. How great is our God!

The life is in the blood.

This reminds me of the song, There’s Power in the Blood. What thoughts, Scriptures, or songs come to your mind?

The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein. Psalm 24:1 (ESV)

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Hebrews 9:22 (ESV)

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! John 1:29 (ESV)

Other posts you may enjoy:

The Blood of Jesus Speaks a Better Word

The Sacrificial Lamb – Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

How Dark Was the Night Jesus Endured

Exciting Update for My Readers

I am humbled and overwhelmed to share the news that Our Daily Bread Ministries of Brazil purchased the rights to translate my book, The Whole Bible Devotional, into Portuguese to sell the book in their country. All glory to God! Please help me pray for all who will read in Brazil, in the U.S., and in any country where God may send this book. May Jesus be seen, known, and loved more and more!

Thank you for your prayers!

Also Available on YouVersion:

Portions of The Whole Bible Devotional are also available for free on the YouVersion Bible App! Grab a friend and invite them to read with you! May the Bible come alive as you read and pray.

• Click here for “Praying From the Gospels“ YouVersion 4-day Bible plan.
• Click here for “Praying Words of Wisdom From the Bible“ YouVersion 5-day Bible plan.
• Click here for “Praying From Paul’s Letters” YouVersion 13-day Bible plan.

I hope you’ll check it out and be blessed!