Some philosophise that a Father who sacrificed his own Son to save a bunch of evil, unknown enemies is no Father at all: Eph. 2:11-22.  Surely, these people do not understand God the Father, His Son Jesus Christ, or the serious state in which fallen humankind found them.  John explained the Father’s motive for giving His only Son in 3:16-18: “Because God so greatly loved and dearly prised the whole world, [every human on earth], He gave His only begotten Son [as the Fulfilment of the Dual Law], so that whosoever, [Jew or Gentile, personally] believes in, (accepts, trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

The Law of God prescribed an eye for an eye, a life for a life; a soul for a soul.

To atone for the fallen state of all humankind, the sacrifice had to be physical as well as spiritual, and completely holy and sinless, in order to fulfil all the requirements of the Dual Law.  God’s Son was the only One Who perfectly fitted these criteria, yet the Father did not force Jesus to take the place of humankind.  Jesus willingly stepped into our temporal dimension to Personally become the Sacrificial Lamb of God, so as to free all of humankind from Satan’s suffocating grasp: Mt. 26:52-53; Rev. 5:9-10.

“For God has done what the Law could not do… Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh as an offering for [all] sin, God condemned [the cursed sin-state] in the flesh, and overcame and deprived it of its power over everyone who [personally] accept that sacrifice.” - Rom. 8:3; Phil. 2:6-11; Heb. 5:8-9; 1 Pet. 1:18-19.

In order to achieve a personal relationship with humankind again, Christ had to destroy the physical First Testament that God upheld by the Dual Law, to replace it with the spiritual aspects of the Second Testament, which He now upholds by grace.

Jesus fulfilled the Moral Law of Love during His physical life.

And at Calvary He became the Sinless, Sacrificial Lamb of God Who was slaughtered once and for all in the place of the whole human race, thereby fulfilling the entire Ceremonial Law as well.

The moment that Jesus fulfilled every criteria of the Dual Law, the First Testament with its outward, physical requirements became Old.  God completely disposed of it and replaced it with the inward, spiritual statutes of the second Testament, which became New and relevant: Heb. 8:13; 10:1.

Henceforth, all other ceremonial sacrifices would be completely unnecessary.

Humankind’s attention to any part of the Ceremonial Law, (its physical sacrifices, requirements, rituals and ceremonies), became utterly obsolete: Heb. 9:11-15.

 

Although many denominations preach that Jesus received 39 lashes prior to His crucifixion, the HENRY MATTHEWS COMMENTARY states: “Jesus was scourged.  This was an ignominious cruel punishment, especially as it was inflicted by the Romans, who were not under the moderation of the Jewish Law, which forbade scourging above 40 stripes; this punishment was most unreasonably inflicted on one who was sentenced to die.”

The excruciating humiliation of Jesus was to buy healing for our emotional- and spiritual wounds, and for all our sicknesses.  He even “became a curse” to buy back our blessed state in God.  He was wounded for our transgressions of the Law; bruised, oppressed and afflicted for our iniquities, and He poured out His blood, His soul, as the Sacrifice for our entire state of sin: Isa. 53:5-12; Gal. 3:10; Heb. 9:13-14.

The innocent Jesus also endured the shame of physical nakedness so that God could clothe us with His mercy once again: Mt. 27:35.  His Royal Divinity was ridiculed by the draping of a scarlet robe over His shoulders so that the fallen kings of Eden could wear the mantle of God’s anointing yet again: Mt. 27:28-29.  He endured the crown of thorns for the dethroned kings of Eden to reign anew: 1 Pet. 2:9-10.

Without complaining, He carried the reed-sceptre of mockery so that His royal priests could have the spiritual authority to unlock His kingdom for all the others who would also choose to believe in Him: Mt. 16:19.  He was despised, rejected and scorned, for God to accept us into His honour and glory once again: Heb. 2:7-10.

Yet the crucifixion still awaited Him.

The cross became the altar upon which the Sacrificial Lamb of God was slaughtered.  The altar around which Old Israel incited the Gentiles to pour His Royal blood, His soul – thereby sharing in the guilt of crucifying God’s Gift to the entire human race: Lev. 7:2; Eph. 1:7; 1 Pet. 1:18-19.

The cross was the cruellest form of execution imaginable, diabolically designed to inflict the maximum amount of pain and suffering.  Some of the Roman emperors could not endure the cruelty of the cross and ordered their condemned prisoners first to be strangled and then to be nailed to the wood.

Yet, in our place, Jesus had to endure the full brunt of this Roman torture.

While the Christ literally became the Ultimate Sin-offering, He was chained in darkness outside the presence of the Father.  At that moment Jesus found Himself at an intensely deserted place without God.  A place of impenetrable darkness, where He had to atone for humankind’s separation from God.  He was rejected in darkness so that God could adopt us into His light, and it manifested in a physical night that lasted for three hours: Mt. 27:45-46; 1 Pet. 1:17-19.

At the moment of Jesus’ death, the price, which the Ceremonial Law commanded for humankind’s redemption, was fully rendered and He could cry: “It is done!  I have completed My task!” - Jn 19:30.  Matthew also described those decisive moments in 27:50-53: “Jesus, when He had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the spirit.”

Physically, Jesus was just a mere man.  On the point of death He would have been exhausted by inexpressible pain, in a completely dehydrated condition, utterly weakened by such a massive loss of blood, His lungs collapsing as He gave His last gasp, yet He “cried with a loud voice”.

This proves that the man Jesus Christ was indeed the Son of God.

Even after His enormous suffering, He died with a cry of war on His lips.  A roar of victory.  A loud cry of summons that arrested the devil and all his demons that were still fighting on the spiritual battlefield, for the Lamb revealed Himself at that moment as the Lion of Judah.  He came into this world as the Lamb, but he left it as the Lion.

When He returns to earth, it will be as the Lion - Rev. 5:5; 10:3: 1 Ths. 4:16.

In that day He will not come to save anymore, but to judge: Rev. 19:11-16.

When Jesus uttered His victory-cry, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom – another manifestation of the glorious outcome of this spiritual battle.  As we are going to discuss this in detail, we move the tearing of the veil out of order.  But remember, this is so important that it happened first – Mt. 27:51.

“The earth shook, the rocks rent; the graves were opened and many bodies of [true believers] which slept rose…” As the spiritual world shuddered under Jesus’ full-blown onslaught against the devil, the physical earth shook in reverent fear of receiving the Royal Blood and Divine Body of God’s Son.  The physical rocks rent as the Rock of Ages made His soul the atonement for His beloved humankind’s entire burden of sin.

In total triumph the crucified Jesus stepped into the spiritual dimension to strip Satan and his forces of all their power and authority: Col. 2:13-15.

The Lion of Judah snatched the keys of spiritual authority, which Satan took from humankind at The Fall, from the devil’s hand, relieving him of his power over sin, sickness, suffering, rejection and death - so that humankind could escape his stranglehold of fear and slavery forever: Rev. 1:18, Heb. 2:14-15.

This awesome spiritual earthquake shattered the rocks of the paranormal plane.

Those massive spiritual rocks that entombed humankind, cracked and crumbled as well.  From this day forward, the blood and broken body of Jesus would release every spiritually dead believer, who chooses to rise from his or her personal, spiritual grave: Gen. 3:15; Col. 2:13-15.  This incredible wonder manifested in the physical opening of tombs, and some of the true believers rose from the dead as a type of the resurrection that awaits all those who physically died IN Him: Mt. 27:52; 1 Ths. 4:14-17.

Continue to the next page

Find other discussions on the Home Page

Talk to us

 

 

 

 and the truth shall set you free!

the truth

You shall know