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Scripture Reading: Luke 23:26-56
We have seen in the foregoing message that the Man-Savior was put to death as our Substitute, as our Redeemer, by God. Now we need to see that the Lord Jesus died an all-inclusive death. His death on the cross was not merely vicarious; it was also all-inclusive. Because the Man-Savior is an all-inclusive Person, on the cross He died an all-inclusive death. Let us now go on to consider different aspects of the Lord’s all-inclusive death.
According to the record of the entire New Testament, when the Man-Savior died on the cross, He died as seven items. First, He died as the Lamb of God to deal with sin and sins. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Here the world denotes mankind. From 1, 1 Cor. 15:3 Peter 2:24, and Heb. 9:28 we see that as the Lamb of God the Lord Jesus died for our sins. Furthermore, according to 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Hebrews 9:26, His death dealt with sin. Therefore, both sin and sins were dealt with by the Lamb of God, who was under God’s judgment on the cross.
When the Man-Savior died on the cross, He also died as a man in the flesh. As the Word which was with God and which is God, He became flesh (John 1:1, 14). 1 Peter 3:18 tells us that He was “put to death in flesh.” As a man in the flesh, He had only the likeness, the form, of a fallen man; He did not have the nature of a fallen man. This means that He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3), but He did not have the actual nature of sin. Because the Man-Savior died as a man in the flesh, His death dealt with the fallen flesh. Praise the Lord that sin, sins, and the fallen flesh have been dealt with by the death of the Man-Savior!
The Lord Jesus also died as a man in the old creation. This is the reason Rom. 6:6 says that our old man was crucified with Him. Because the Lord died on the cross as a man in the old creation, our old man was dealt with through His death.
It may come as a great surprise to hear that the Man-Savior died on the cross even as the serpent. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life” (John 3:14-15). Here the Lord Jesus applies to Himself the type of the brass serpent lifted up by Moses in the wilderness (Num. 21:4-9).
No doubt, the Lord Jesus was crucified as a serpent in form in order to deal with Satan, the Devil, the old serpent. As fallen human beings, we all have been bitten by this serpent. Do you know when we were bitten? We were bitten in the Garden of Eden when Adam was bitten by the serpent and poisoned by him. Therefore, it was necessary for our Savior to be crucified as the serpent in form in order to deal with the old serpent.
It was through being crucified as the serpent that the Lord Jesus crushed the head of the old serpent, the Devil (Gen. 3:15). In this way, He judged the ruler of this world. Concerning this, John 12:31 says, “Now is the judgment of this world; now shall the ruler of this world be cast out.” By His death on the cross, the Man-Savior destroyed the Devil, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14). Therefore, as the One who died as a serpent under God’s judgment, the Man-Savior dealt with the Devil and with his world, the satanic system.
When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, He died as the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15). With respect to His humanity, Christ was the first item of God’s creation. When He died on the cross, He died as this first item of the old creation. Hence, through His death on the cross the entire old creation was dealt with.
In Ephesians 2:14 and 15 we see that Christ died as the Peacemaker, as the One who makes peace: “For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of partition, the enmity, having abolished in His flesh the law of the commandments in ordinances, that He might create the two in Himself into one new man, making peace.” Here we see that Christ died on the cross to abolish all the ordinances among mankind. In particular, He died to take away the partition between the Jews and the Gentiles. Not only was there a partition between Jews and Gentiles; there were also partitions between every nationality and race. Without the removal of these partitions, there would be no way for us to be one in the Lord Jesus as His Body. Praise the Lord that all the ordinances were abolished by the Man-Savior on the cross! Now in the church life we have people of all races, colors, and nationalities.
Finally, Christ died on the cross as a grain of wheat: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24). The Lord died on the cross as a grain of wheat in order to release the divine life from within Him.
The New Testament reveals that the Lord Jesus died on the cross as seven items: the Lamb of God, a man in the flesh, a man of the old creation, the serpent, the Firstborn of creation, the Peacemaker, and a grain of wheat. This is not merely our word; this is what the Bible reveals. We need to proclaim the fact that, according to the Word of God, the Man-Savior died as these seven items.
Christ died an all-inclusive death because He is an all-inclusive Person. For example, if the king of a certain country were to die, a person with a twofold status — a man and a king — would die. As our Substitute, the Lord Jesus had a sevenfold status and therefore died as the Lamb of God, a man in the flesh, a man of the old creation, the serpent, the Firstborn of all creation, the Peacemaker, and a grain of wheat. Such an all-inclusive Person died an all-inclusive death.
Because the Lord’s death was all-inclusive, when He died on the cross many things were dealt with. Sin, sins, the flesh, the old man, Satan, the world, the old creation, and the ordinances were all dealt with. Furthermore, the divine life with the divine riches was released from within the Lord Jesus. His all-inclusive death took away all the negative things and released all the positive things.
Luke 23:44 and 45 say, “And it was already about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, the sun’s light failing; and the veil of the temple was torn down the middle.” The darkness here is related to sin, and the veil is a type of the flesh of the Lord Jesus. Hebrews 10:20 speaks of “a new and living way, which He dedicated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh.” On the veil that was rent when Christ died cherubim were embroidered. These cherubim represent the living creatures. This indicates that in His flesh Christ bore all the creatures. When the veil in the temple was torn, the cherubim embroidered on it were also torn. This means that when the flesh of Christ was crucified, all the creatures borne by Him were crucified as well. Through the death of Christ sin, sins, the flesh, and all the creatures were all dealt with.
The all-inclusive death of Christ was accomplished once for all. There is no need for Him to die again. The Lord’s all-inclusive death is eternal. If we see this, we shall praise the Lord that sin, sins, the flesh, the old man, Satan, the world, the old creation, and the ordinances have been dealt with, and the divine riches have been released and imparted to us. Now through the Lord’s all-inclusive death we are people of the jubilee.
Luke 23:50-56 speaks of the burial of the Man-Savior. Verses 50 through 52 say, “And behold, a man named Joseph, being a member of the Council, a good and righteous man (This man had not agreed with their counsel and action), from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was expecting the kingdom of God; this man came to Pilate and requested the body of Jesus.” After the Lord accomplished His all-inclusive death, His situation of suffering immediately changed into an honorable one. He was buried by Joseph of Arimathea, a rich man of high rank (Matt. 27:57). Joseph took down the body of Jesus and “wrapped it in a linen cloth, and placed Him in a tomb hewn in the rock, where no one had ever yet been laid” (Luke 23:53). This was for the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:9. In human honor of a high standard the Lord rested on the Sabbath day, waiting for the time to resurrect from among the dead.
The Man-Savior was buried in linen with a mixture of myrrh and aloes (John 19:39-40). He was despised on the cross, but He was honored in His burial. The Lord Jesus was buried in a very dignified way.
When the Lord Jesus was buried, He was buried as the all-inclusive One. If we know the truth in the Scriptures, we shall realize that we were buried with Him. With the Lord Jesus we were crucified and then we were also buried with Him.
As those who have been crucified and buried with the Lord Jesus, we have been terminated; we have been brought to a full end. When a person is buried, that is the end of him. Burial is a final termination. As fallen ones, those in the flesh and of the old creation, we have been crucified and buried. We have been buried with the Lord and we have been terminated in His burial. In His tomb all problems are gone because sin, sins, the flesh, the old man, Satan, the world, the old creation, and the ordinances have been dealt with. After dying such an all-inclusive death, the Lord was buried in a peaceful and honorable way.
We need to realize that we have been crucified with Christ. However, regarding this we still may have a struggle. But once we see that we have also been buried with Christ, there is no longer any struggle. Burial brings about a peaceful situation. Those who are buried do not struggle any longer. Since we have been buried with Christ, we should simply remain at rest.
Luke 23:54-56 says, “And it was a day of preparation, and the Sabbath was dawning. And the women who had come together with Him out of Galilee followed after, and beheld the tomb and how His body was placed. And they returned and prepared spices and ointment. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.” This was a real rest to all God’s chosen people and even to the entire universe; the Savior had fully accomplished redemption for them all.
