The Timeless Lamb of God, Part two

When Jesus suffered the death of common sinners this was the most unjust outcome of eternity!

Allow me to give you an insight into Jesus that will be especially significant to all believers.

We are tempted to ascribe significance to Jesus’ crucifixion by emphasizing the gruesome aspects associated with death. As Christians we know the seriousness of what Jesus did in laying down his life for us. Because he shared our true human nature, yet without sin, the Bible reveals that the strain in him facing death was very real. His human side did not want to experience death, so he prayed “Father, if it be thy will, let this cup pass from me…” Nevertheless, he gave himself completely for us by praying, “Nevertheless, not my will but thine be done.”

Jesus is called the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world

Christianity is not a religion of death. Do not let the sacrifice of Jesus hide the fact of the eternal life of God at work through it all! Long before his crucifixion Jesus spoke about this life.

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." (John 10:17-18,ESV)

The life of Jesus is the important thing, not the gruesome death. And when I say life, I mean the continuous life of Jesus before during and after the crucifixion. I will expound on this truth more in a later study. Of course, from our side, Jesus' death was our only hope.

The death of Jesus for our sins was necessary because Jesus bore on the cross the punishment of death which we rightfully deserved. Death in the Bible not only includes cessation of physical life, but also eternal separation from God. We would not only die physically, but eternally perish under the judgement of God if we bore the punishment we deserve. Suffering is not the punishment for sin; death is.

Jesus could lay down his life and return to life due to his perfect life, which is the life-force of God. Life was the key. Jesus had authority to lay down his life for us, but still had the right to take it again in resurrection. Paul wrote that Jesus died for our sins and was raised for our justification (Romans 4:25).

These are deep mysteries to us. We get confused trying to understand the distinctions of physical death and the “second death” of eternal punishment after the last judgement. We think in terms of two deaths, but Jesus is only subject to one. Did he somehow suffer a “second death” in hell for us also, perhaps during the 3 days between the crucifixion and the resurrection? No, he did not.

No, Jesus did not suffer a death in hell for us. Here is why: Humans were never made for death at all. Adam and Eve sinned and brought the curse upon themselves, and their descendants. They had the dominion of the earth in their control, and so their failure encompassed all their domain. We are all their descendants and suffer the same outcome. Is it genetic? Or environmental? It does not matter. The Bible just says, we all sin and we all die.

When Jesus was born, he was true humanity, but sinless. By God’s love, God himself in the person of his Son, combined sinless original humanity with divinity through the virgin birth. The ground rules of the sacrificial substitute required he could use only the resources available to Adam and Eve, the original people. Just as we are required to do, Jesus submitted himself to God his Father and overcame all sin.

Having overcome all temptation by human faith in God, he qualified to lay down his life as a substitute for any person, to suffer the death we individually deserve. The death he suffered in crucifixion was so undeserved that it was a violation of every principle of God’s righteousness. Humans were never intended to suffer physical death! God’s original plan for humanity was to live a successful life for a while in worship of God. Having been faithful, God would allow us to eat of the tree of life and live forever, leaving time in the past. But we sinned.

When Jesus suffered the death of common sinners this was the most unjust outcome of eternity! But Jesus had to lay down his life as a substitute for us or we would not be forgiven and saved. So he did.

The physical death of Jesus, as the most unjust outcome of eternity, became the most precious act of love. His death was as tragic in heaven as his birth was joyous for the angels in heaven who sang at his birth. Therefore the physical blood of Jesus, which was his life poured out, became truly holy, even as the ceremonial blood of the Old Testament sacrifices was treated with utmost respect.

Although God is outside time, he has created us inside time, and designed the Old Testament sacrifices as prophetic pictures of the meaning of Christ’s death as a sacrifice for us. He spent millennia of years preparing the right nation and culture to receive the mission of his Son. God exalted Jesus Christ as not only a sacrifice for us but as a backdoor access for us to regain all we lost when Adam and Eve sinned and God locked the front door of the Garden.

Yes, it remains for most of us to experience physical death. But as the apostle Paul wrote, the sting of death is removed. Jesus has overcome it. Death is ugly and undesirable and fearful, but with faith in God, it is not the end. God has promised a resurrection life to all of us who put our faith in Jesus.

Should we who have caused the necessity of the death of Jesus get off so easy? Jesus laid down his life for us. Apparently we can not get off without physical death, because that is God’s current plan. But we who believe in Jesus are guaranteed that forgiveness is real and we will not experience the “second death” which is eternal life lost. Jesus said that second death is a never ending torment. The gift of eternal life comes through faith in Jesus Christ, the timeless Lamb of God.

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