According to 1 John 5:6-9, Jesus Christ "came by water and blood," and the word "by" is better rendered "through" or "with," since these elements accompanied Him in His ministry as living witnesses. The water refers to His baptism at the start of His ministry, when He declared His purpose to fulfill all righteousness. The blood refers to His bloody death on the stake to pay for the sins of the world. At the end He said "It is finished," having accomplished what He set out to do. Like witnesses in a court, the water, the blood, and the Spirit certify what they saw and heard. They agree as one, converging on the truth that Jesus Christ, the Creator God, came in the flesh, and that those who hear them have eternal life because of Him. They bear witness in the present tense, as though God will not let believers forget what His Son did for them. The focus falls on the blood's testimony. Because life is in the blood, a red ribbon runs through Scripture from Genesis 4 to Revelation. Researchers count 427 references to blood atonement, which is 61 times seven, showing how seriously God treats sin and the death that alone covers it. No blood is more important than that which covers a believer's sins, and turning away from it is a grave matter.