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Scripture Reading: Isa. 53:6b, 11b, 10a, 5; 1 Pet. 2:24; 3:18a; 2 Cor. 5:21; Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; John 12:31; 16:11; Heb. 2:14b; Col. 2:15; Gal. 6:14; John 12:24; 19:34
In the previous chapter we said that incarnation was the first step of God’s redemption. In this chapter we will consider the second step of God’s redemption, the cross. The cross speaks of Christ’s death; hence, to consider the cross is to consider Christ’s death.
Christ died on the cross in order to accomplish God’s plan. God’s plan is to dispense His life into man, but man fell before he could receive God’s life. As a result of the fall, man became sinful and corrupt within, and man belonged to Satan. Hence, in order to accomplish God’s plan, Christ had to deal with the three problems: man’s sin, man’s fallen humanity, and Satan. Christ also needed to release God’s life in order to fulfill God’s plan. Through His death on the cross Christ dealt with man’s sin, man’s corrupt nature, and Satan, and He also released God’s life.
God has a purpose in His plan, but man’s fall brought in three problems. In order for Christ to fulfill God’s plan, He had to deal with all three problems and also fulfill the original purpose of God’s plan. To deal with the problems that are the result of man’s fall, Christ had to die on the cross and accomplish redemption. Redemption dealt with the negative problems in order to bring fallen man back to God. Moreover, through His death on the cross Christ released God’s life to His redeemed people to fulfill the positive purpose of God’s plan.
On the cross Christ dealt with the problems of sin, the corrupt human nature, and Satan, and He also accomplished God’s purpose of releasing His life. Hence, for us to have a thorough understanding of Christ’s death on the cross, we will consider these four aspects of His death, according to the revelation of the Bible.
As a result of the fall, man’s first problem before God is sin. Sin contradicts God’s righteousness, and God’s righteousness cannot tolerate sin. God loves the man whom He created, but His righteousness requires Him to condemn man because of the fall (Rom. 5:16). God’s heart may accept man, but His righteousness cannot tolerate man’s sin. If God were to receive fallen man based only on His love, His righteousness would be offended. Righteousness is the foundation of God’s throne (Psa. 89:14). Therefore, God must condemn man. God must be righteous and abide by His law; He cannot loosely tolerate or forgive man’s sin based only on His love for man. If God were to receive man based on His love, He would not be righteous. No matter how much God values, treasures, or loves man, His righteousness requires that He condemn man because of sin.
According to God’s righteousness, death is the punishment for sin (Ezek. 18:4; Rom. 6:23). Death, which was brought in by sin, includes eternal perdition (Rev. 20:14). According to His righteousness, God condemned man; hence, man cannot escape death. However, God’s plan cannot be accomplished if man must perish. According to His love, God does not want man to perish, and thus, satisfying the requirement of His righteousness is complicated by His love; God’s government complicates the fulfillment of His plan. In order for God to solve this problem, He must satisfy both His righteousness and love so that His government and plan are not hindered. God solved this problem by being incarnated as a man in order to be man’s Substitute, that is, to bear man’s sins and die in man’s place. As a man, Jesus Christ was accountable to God’s righteousness and suffered the punishment that man should have suffered on account of sin. He satisfied the requirement of God’s righteousness for man and fulfilled the desire of God’s love for man so that God’s government would be upheld and His plan could be accomplished.
In His death on the cross the Lord Jesus bore man’s sins; He was punished on behalf of man. He was not crucified as a sacrificial martyr but as our Substitute, bearing our sins and suffering God’s righteous punishment on our behalf. In the first three hours of His crucifixion, from 9:00 A.M. to noon, evil men put Him to death, but in the last three hours, from noon to 3:00 P.M., He was punished by God (Mark 15:25; Matt. 27:45). He was punished because He stood in the position of a man, bearing our sins. God caused the iniquity of mankind to fall on Him, to be borne by Him, judging our iniquity in Him (Isa. 53:6b; 1 Pet. 2:24). Therefore, God forsook Him on the cross (Matt. 27:46). Before Christ’s crucifixion God had always been with Him (John 16:32). If He had been a martyr, God would have intensified His presence with Him because God delights in martyrs (Acts 7:54-59). But when Christ was on the cross, God forsook Him.
God cannot accept man because of his sinful nature, but the Lord Jesus was without sin. He even said, “Which of you convicts Me of sin?” (John 8:46). Before He was crucified, He was examined both by the Jewish priests, according to God’s law, and the Gentile officials, according to the law of the Roman Empire, but no one could find fault in Him (Luke 23:4, 13-15, 22). He was sinless, but God forsook Him on the cross because He bore our iniquity. In the eyes of God, Christ was a sinner on the cross. Although He was sinless and did not know sin, at the cross God caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Isa. 53:6). God made Him our sin offering and trespass offering so that He could bear our sins on our behalf (v. 10). Hence, God not only forsook Him but also smote Him, afflicted Him, and crushed Him so that He might suffer the pain of death and taste death on our behalf in order that the requirements of God’s righteousness might be fulfilled in us (vv. 4-5; Heb. 2:9). God caused the Righteous to suffer on behalf of the unrighteous so that He could redeem us and make us the righteousness of God (1 Pet. 3:18; Isa. 53:11).
Although Christ did not know sin, God made Him sin on our behalf (2 Cor. 5:21). In God’s eyes fallen man is not only sinful but is also constituted with sin. Thus, on the cross the Lord Jesus was also made sin on our behalf. According to God’s righteous requirements, not only are we ourselves judged by God but our sins are judged as well. The Lord Jesus was judged by God on the cross because He bore our sins and because He was made sin on our behalf. Our sins were judged by God upon the Lord Jesus, and we were judged by God in Him. Thus, we have been cleansed before God, and we have become the righteousness of God in Christ (v. 21). Because we are sinful and unrighteous, Christ bore our sins so that we could be forgiven by God, and because we are sin itself, Christ was made sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. He bore our sins so that we might receive the forgiveness of sins and be justified by God, and He was made sin on our behalf so that we might become God’s righteousness and be acceptable to God in Him. This is the first accomplishment of Christ’s death on the cross for us.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He not only bore man’s sins; He also bore our humanity. In His incarnation He put on humanity. He died on the cross as a man; hence, our human nature was crucified with Him. In the eyes of God, when Christ was crucified, He was not alone; we were all crucified with Him (Rom. 6:8). He is the last Adam (5:14; 1 Cor. 15:45). We are included in the first Adam, and his sin is our sin; similarly, we are included in the last Adam, and His death on the cross is our death (Rom. 5:18). Just as we are constituted sinners in the first Adam, we have been crucified in the last Adam. Just as Adam’s sin involved all those who are included in him, Christ’s crucifixion involved all those who are included in Him. Hence, when Christ was crucified on the cross, we were crucified with Him. His crucifixion was our crucifixion.
Noah’s ark is an example. The ark passed through the flood with Noah’s family and the living creatures (Gen. 7). Noah’s family and the living creatures passed through the flood with the ark because they were in the ark. This example applies to those who are in Christ. We are joined to Christ; hence, God considers us as being in Christ. God does not see us apart from Christ; He sees us in Christ. In God’s eyes we died with Christ (Col. 2:20). The Word of God reveals that the flesh, the old man, and the self of those who are in Christ have been crucified with Christ (Rom. 6:6; Gal. 2:20; 5:24). We have been crucified with Christ, and we have died with Him. In addition to our sins, the cross of Christ dealt with our person as well.
Many believers know that the Lord Jesus dealt with their sins on the cross, but they do not know that they also were dealt with on the cross. They know that the Lord died on their behalf, but they do not know that they died with the Lord on the cross. They know about the Lord’s vicarious death on the cross but not of their co-crucifixion with Him on the cross. The Lord’s death on the cross was not only a vicarious death; it was also a co-crucifixion. If the Lord had only vicariously died for our sins on the cross, the cross would have dealt only with our sins but not our person. We had to die with Him.
When the Lord died on our behalf, the record of our sins before God was wiped away in order to deliver us from the punishment of sin. When we died with the Lord, our old man was crucified so that we might be delivered from the power of sin (Rom. 6:6). If the Lord had accomplished only a vicarious death and we had not died with Him, we would have been delivered from the punishment of sin but not from the power of sin. We would have been delivered from the result of sin but not the bondage of sin. In other words, the salvation of the Lord’s cross would not have been complete. On the cross the Lord accomplished a vicarious death, and we also were crucified with Him. Hence, we can now receive the forgiveness of sins and be delivered from the punishment of sin and from the bondage of sin itself.
Without our co-crucifixion with the Lord on the cross, even His vicarious death would not be effective for us. The Lord brought us into His death so that we might be joined to Him. We can partake of His death because His death is our death, and His death was a substitute for our death. His crucifixion enabled Him to die for us; hence, His dying was our dying. We died with Him; we died in His dying.
May the Lord enlighten us to see that He died a vicarious death on our behalf and that we also died with Him. Just as our sins were dealt with by the Lord on the cross, our person also has been dealt with by the Lord on the cross. How we need to see that our sins were on the cross and that we also were on the cross. Our sins have been judged on the cross, and we also have been crucified on the cross.
We must know that we have died with Christ. This does not mean that we will die but that we have died. We do not need to die in ourselves, because we have died with Christ. We died when Christ died, and we even died where He died. Christ died more than nineteen hundred years ago on the cross at Golgotha, and we also died more than nineteen hundred years ago on the cross at Golgotha. Although we were not yet born, we were included in Christ.
As the Firstborn of all creation, Christ is all-inclusive (Col. 1:15). Therefore, His death is all-inclusive and eternal; it transcends time. All creation is included in Christ. Hence, when Christ died, all creation died with Him and in Him. This is a fact. From our point of view, we are still alive, but from God’s point of view, we have died. God considers that we died in Christ, and we also believe that we have died in Christ. Everyone who believes in the Lord is joined to the Lord and needs to be baptized into His death in order to be buried with Him and to terminate the old man and everything related to the old man (Rom. 6:4-6). This is the second accomplishment of Christ’s death on the cross for us.
The first creature in the universe to rebel against God and to seek to frustrate God’s plan was Satan. He is behind every act of rebellion against God in the universe and is God’s adversary. He introduced sin into the world, injected sin into man, and enticed man to commit sins. If the Lord had dealt only with sins and our fallen humanity on the cross, God’s enemy would be able to continue to frustrate God’s plan unhindered. Therefore, the cross had to deal not only with sins and fallen humanity but also with Satan and everything related to Satan. We need to see that when the Lord dealt with our fallen human nature, He also dealt with the Satan who was in man as well as everything related to Satan.
Satan entered into man when he enticed man to sin. He has been in man since the time of the fall, and his satanic nature is mixed with the fallen human nature. Thus, when the Lord Jesus dealt with man in His death on the cross, He dealt with the Satan who was in man. Before the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He said, “Now shall the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). The ruler of this world is Satan, whose sinful nature is mixed with fallen man and who has usurped fallen man. Our co-crucifixion with the Lord on the cross dealt with the fallen human nature, which is mixed with Satan and usurped by Satan. Hence, the Lord also dealt with Satan, who was mixed with man and who had usurped man. The Bible says that the Lord destroyed Satan through His death on the cross (Heb. 2:14). Seemingly, Satan was victorious when he entered into man by enticing man to sin. However, this was Satan’s downfall, because this gave God the opportunity to deal with him. Satan thought that he could trick man and usurp man by indwelling man as sin, but he was ensnared in man and able to be put under God’s judgment and destruction. God judged and destroyed Satan in man, whom Satan had tricked and usurped.
We were tricked by Satan into following him to sin and oppose God. However, when we were judged and put to death by God through the Lord’s death on the cross, Satan was judged and destroyed by God as well, because he dwells in us as sin. Furthermore, the angels under Satan—the rulers, the authorities, the world-rulers of this darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenlies—were also judged and destroyed with Satan by God (Eph. 6:12). When Satan was judged and destroyed, they were judged and destroyed, because he is their ruler, and they follow him (2:2; Col. 2:15). Satan and his angels have been dealt with by the cross of Christ. The cross destroyed Satan, the ruler of this darkness, as well as his kingdom of darkness with its rulers and authorities. Not that many believers know this fact, but Satan, his angels, and the demons in his kingdom of darkness are well aware of this matter. We know the power of the Lord’s cross when we cast out demons. In spiritual warfare we can overcome Satan when we experience the Lord’s cross and His shed blood (Rev. 12:11). Such experiences cause Satan and his angels to fall in shame.
The Lord’s cross judged and destroyed Satan, and it also judged and destroyed the world ruled by Satan. The God-opposing world is of Satan, and it hangs upon him. Satan has been judged and destroyed by the Lord on the cross; hence, in God’s eyes the world that hangs upon him has also been judged and destroyed (John 16:11). Those who have God’s view know that the world also has been crucified (Gal. 6:14).
On the cross the Lord dealt with sins, the old creation, Satan, and the world that Satan rules. When the Lord died on the cross, our sins, our old man, Satan, and the world were judged and dealt with there. On the one hand, the Lord bore our sins and suffered the judgment of death on the cross; on the other hand, He was crucified as a man, having put on humanity. In addition, Satan, who indwells man as sin, and the world, which hangs upon him, were crucified. The Lord’s cross dealt with these four matters in the universe. The cross delivers us from sin and our old man, and it also causes us to overcome Satan and the world. This is the third accomplishment of Christ’s death on the cross for us.
God’s purpose in His plan is to work His life into man, but Satan corrupted man by injecting sin into man. Thus, God’s purpose was frustrated. In order to accomplish His purpose, God dealt with these two problems—sin and fallen man—and also annihilated Satan through the cross of Christ. Nevertheless, God’s purpose still would not be fulfilled if the cross of Christ only accomplished this much. The cross of Christ dealt with sin and fallen humanity and annihilated Satan on the negative side, but the cross of Christ also released the divine life in Christ on the positive side. Now God’s eternal purpose can be accomplished.
The Lord Jesus said that He would abide alone unless He fell into the ground and died as a grain of wheat, but if He fell into the ground and died, He would bear much fruit (John 12:24). The Lord is the embodiment of God; the life of God is hidden in Him (Col. 1:19; 2:9), but the life of God that was hidden within Him could only be released through His death. Hence, Christ had to die in order for God’s life to be released so that man could receive the life of God.
Many believe that the Lord’s death on the cross accomplished redemption for our sins and dealt with the problems between man and God, but they do not see the life-releasing aspect, the life-imparting aspect, of the Lord’s death. In relation to dealing with the problems between man and God, the Lord’s death accomplished redemption for our sins. In relation to accomplishing God’s eternal purpose, the Lord’s death released the divine life. The life-releasing aspect, the life-imparting aspect, of the Lord’s death is typified by Adam’s deep sleep. God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and He took out one of Adam’s ribs. Then God built Eve out of the rib that He had taken from Adam’s side (Gen. 2:21-22). Similarly, God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the Lord Jesus when He died on the cross so that blood and water could flow out of His pierced side (John 19:34). Now the life of God is available to man in order to produce the church.
As a result of His death on the cross, the life within Christ was released to produce many grains of wheat so that God’s eternal purpose might be fulfilled. This aspect of the Lord’s death is for releasing life. One aspect of the Lord’s death is for redemption. The aspect of the Lord’s death as a grain of wheat, however, has nothing to do with redemption. Rather, it speaks of the release of the divine life from within Him. When God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, it was not for redeeming Eve but for releasing Adam’s life to produce Eve.
The Lord Jesus was incarnated as a man to accomplish God’s eternal purpose, which is to dispense His life into us so that we may become His many sons, possessing His life, just as the Lord Jesus possesses God’s life. The divine life was once confined within the shell of Christ’s humanity. The Lord went to the cross so that the divine life within the shell of His humanity could be released from within Him. His death on the cross destroyed His human shell so that God’s life could be released and then imparted into many through His resurrection in order to make them sons of God and thus accomplish God’s eternal purpose. This is the fourth accomplishment of Christ’s death on the cross for us.
Now that we have seen the four accomplishments of the Lord on the cross, we know the effectiveness of the cross. On the negative side, the Lord accomplished redemption for our sins, put to death our old man, the flesh, and the self, and annihilated Satan, who defiled us, and the world, which usurped us. On the positive side, the Lord released the life of God so that we might receive this life and become sons of God. Now all the problems in the universe have been dealt with, and God’s eternal purpose can be carried out. Now any person can draw near to Christ and be redeemed in order to receive the life of God. Every person can and should let God’s eternal purpose be fulfilled in him.
The cross of Christ dealt with sins, the old man, the flesh, Satan, demons, and the world. These things have lost their power, and they no longer are a frustration to the accomplishment of God’s eternal purpose in us. The eternal life of God was released on the cross of Christ so that we can receive this life in order to fulfill God’s eternal purpose. All the problems in the universe that existed between man and God have been removed by the cross of Christ, and the living water of the divine life is now flowing for man to receive.
