Excerpts from the CNT:

In this message we will cover further aspects of the experience and enjoyment of Christ in the Gospel of John. In John 19:34 we see that Christ is the redeeming and life-imparting One. The experience and enjoyment of Christ as the redeeming and life-imparting One is based upon the two aspects of the Lord’s death: the redemptive aspect signified by the blood and the life-imparting aspect signified by the water in John 19:34. This verse says, “One of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water.” Two substances came out of the Lord’s pierced side: blood and water. Blood is for redemption, to deal with sins (1:29; Heb. 9:22) for the purchasing of the church (Acts 20:28). Water is for imparting life, to deal with death (John 12:24; 3:14-15) for the producing of the church (Eph. 5:29-30). The Lord’s death, on the negative side, takes away our sins and, on the positive side, imparts life into us.

We sinners became fallen and as a result were against God’s righteousness and estranged from God’s life (Gen. 3:24; Eph. 4:18). As sinners, we need to be redeemed judicially from God’s condemnation according to the righteous requirement of His law (Gal. 3:13) and to be saved organically by His life from the death brought in by sin (2 Tim. 1:10; Rom. 5:10, 12, 17, 21). Christ, as the Redeemer and Savior of fallen man, redeems and saves us through His death and resurrection. In [2962] His crucifixion, after He was pierced by a soldier, blood and water, two elements which are critical to human life, came out of Him (John 19:34). Blood is to wash away our sins for redemption, and water is to dispense the divine life into us for life impartation. All the negative things have been dealt with, and God has been dispensed into us as the eternal life.

a. The Redeeming One

Christ is the redeeming One who shed His blood for redemption as the Lamb of God (1:29, 36). Speaking of the Lord Jesus, John declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (v. 29). The blood which flowed out of the Lord’s side was for redemption (Heb. 9:22; 1 Pet. 1:18-19; Rom. 3:25); this was typified by the blood of the passover lamb (Exo. 12:7, 22; Rev. 12:11). As Zechariah 13:1 indicates, this redeeming blood formed a fountain for the washing of sins. The blood which flowed out was also the price of the purchase of the church (Acts 20:28).

The blood of Christ is for God’s judicial redemption in His redeeming the believers (Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19), forgiving the believers’ sins (Heb. 9:22), and washing away their sins (1:3). The blood of Christ is also for God to justify the believers (Rom. 3:24; 5:9) and sanctify them positionally (Heb. 13:12; 10:29). This blood speaks something better for the New Testament believers before God (12:24). By the blood of Christ, the Lamb, we can overcome Satan, the accuser of the believers (Rev. 12:11). Thus, it is the precious blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:19).

b. The Life-imparting One

Christ is the life-imparting One who as the life-giving Spirit released His divine life signified by the water (1 Cor. 15:45b). As previously mentioned, that blood and water came out of the Lord’s pierced side indicates that His death has two aspects: the redemptive aspect and the life-imparting aspect. The redemptive aspect is for the life-imparting aspect, which is even more wonderful than the redemptive aspect. God’s purpose is that redemption be followed by the imparting of life, for God’s intention is to dispense Himself into us as life. [2963] Therefore, redemption prepares the way for the release of the divine life so that this life may be dispensed into us for the producing of the church.

The death of Christ that imparts life released the Lord’s divine life from within Him for the producing of the church, which is composed of all His believers, into whom His divine life has been imparted. This life-imparting death of the Lord’s is typified by Adam’s sleep, out from which Eve was produced (Gen. 2:21-23), and is signified by the death of the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground for the bringing forth of many grains (John 12:24) to make the one bread—the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17). Hence, it is the life-releasing, life-propagating, life-multiplying death, the generating and reproducing death.

Through His death on the cross Christ’s divine life was released. Hence, His death was a life-releasing death. Because His divine life has not only been released out of Him but also imparted into us, His death was a life-imparting death. On His side it was a life-releasing death; on our side it is a life-imparting death. Moreover, it is a life-propagating death, for by it life is spread in many directions. Furthermore, it is a life-multiplying death, causing the multiplication of life. It is also a life-producing death, for the one grain has been reproduced in the many grains.

Water, signifying the divine life, is for God’s organic salvation. The Lord promises to give the sinners the water of life (John 4:10, 14; Rev. 21:6). Also, the Lord calls the sinners to come and drink His water of life (22:17; John 7:37-38). We were regenerated by God with His divine life (1 Pet. 1:3). This divine life saves us (Rom. 5:10b). It dispositionally sanctifies (6:19, 22), renews (12:2b; Titus 3:5), transforms (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 3:18), conforms (Rom. 8:29), and glorifies us (8:30). We reign in it (5:17). We become kings by this divine life. We also grow with it for the building up of the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:15-16). We all have to grow into the Head, Christ. Then out from Him we have something of the divine life to minister to the Body for its building up. This consummates the New Jerusalem, which is wholly supplied with the river of water of life and with the tree of life (Rev. 21:2; 22:1-2). The river of water of life signifies the Spirit of life, and the tree of life signifies [2964] Christ as the embodiment of the divine life. Both are for the supply of the New Jerusalem.

The Lord’s pierced side was prefigured by Adam’s opened side, out from which Eve was produced (Gen. 2:21-23). The blood was typified by the blood of the passover lamb (Exo. 12:7, 22; Rev. 12:11), and the water was typified by the water that flowed out of the smitten rock (Exo. 17:6; 1 Cor. 10:4). The blood is for redemption, forming a “fountain” in which we may be cleansed (Zech. 13:1), and the water is for regeneration, forming “the fountain of life” from which we may drink at any time (Psa. 36:9; Rev. 21:6). Outwardly we have been washed, and inwardly we have been filled with this divine life.

In short, the blood is for redemption, and the water is for imparting life. We need the blood to wash away our sins, and we need the water as the flow of the divine life to germinate us, to bring the divine life into our being, that we may have the life power to overcome so many things. His blood saves us from the guilt of sin, and His life saves us from the power of sin. As the redeeming One, Christ washes away our filthiness; as the life-imparting One, He keeps away our death.