Austin Bible Church
When Jesus Christ was on the Cross, He suffered great anguish and extreme mental and physical pain because He bore a heavy burden – the sins of all mankind. Isaiah 53:3-5.
“He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:3-5, NASB)
God the Father laid on Jesus Christ the sins of the whole world. Isaiah 53:6; 1 Peter 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:21; Col. 2:14; Heb. 9:27-28; Rev. 1:5.
“All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53:6, NASB)
“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NASB)
“having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:14, NASB)
“And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Hebrews 9:27-28, NASB)
“and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood—” (Revelation 1:5, NASB)
He died twice on the Cross. In Isaiah 53:9, “death” is really “deaths” and is the intensive plural of מָוֶת (mâveth) in the Hebrew.
“His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:9, NASB)
He died spiritually in His humanity, not His deity in bearing our sins. He had no fellowship with God the Father during the time He was bearing the judgment of our sins. God the Holy Spirit sustained His humanity’s soul through it all. Psalms 22:1; Matt. 27:46.
“For the choir director; upon Aijeleth Hashshahar. A Psalm of David. My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.” (Psalms 22:1, NASB)
“About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “ELI, ELI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” that is, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”“ (Matthew 27:46, NASB)
Our Lord’s humanity died physically by voluntarily by giving up His human spirit. Luke 23:46; John 19:30.
“And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, INTO YOUR HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT.” Having said this, He breathed His last.” (Luke 23:46, NASB)
“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30, NASB)
His spiritual atonement for our sins was complete and the sins of the world had been judged. Fellowship with God the Father was then restored. Everything had been accomplished by His spiritual death, bearing our sins.
Jesus Christ died twice that we might be born twice. Just as Adam in his fall became spiritually dead through sin and later died physically, so the Last Adam - Jesus Christ took on the divine judgement of our sins in spiritual death – separation from God the Father while the Father judged Jesus Christ’s humanity (His body) for us - then died physically.
The shedding of the Blood of Christ is a picture of the substitutionary spiritual death of the humanity of Jesus Christ on the Cross bearing the judgement in our place for the sins of mankind. His literal blood was never shed prior to His physical death.
It was necessary for Christ to die both physically and spiritually. His physical death and resurrection guarantee us a new resurrection body. He had to die physically in order to be resurrected. His death physically signified that the wages of sin (spiritual death) had already been paid for and atonement was an accomplished fact.
If you are not born again, you will have three deaths. You will remain in your spiritual death as an unbeliever, you will die physically as we all will, and then you will experience the Second Death following the Great White Throne Judgment where all unbelievers will be judged by Jesus Christ for their works – not their sins. Because all human deeds or works cannot ever be acceptable to God's perfect righteousness (+R), all unbelievers will all be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. This is the Second Death. Rev. 20:14; Matt. 25:41.
“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:14, NASB)
““Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;” (Matthew 25:41, NASB)