Dear Reader,

When I was teaching a bible class in a Christian school some years ago, a question came up from one of the students, “Why did Jesus have to die?” In the moment I quickly, summarized the answer as: “So a way could be made for us to go to heaven when we die and be with Him and all those who went before us.”

Thinking back now, I wish I could amend my answer. My prayer is that over time, those children came to understand there is much more to the Truth than my simple explanation. I thought I was answering correctly for their age. However, I believe I was mistaken and this is the subject of this blog post.

If we think about it, the answer I used is taught all the time, in various ways. The problem is while true in some aspect, that it leaves out a very important aspect of what Jesus has done for us. In fact, that answer is more of a simple side note in comparison to the magnitude of the work accomplished in Christ. The entire truth is what sets people free.

What I should have said is: Jesus was the Son of God and the Son of man. He had to be both. It was the plan from the foundation of the world because God knew what Adam and Eve would decide to do in the garden when the Deceiver offered a distorted interpretation of the truth, “Did God really say…”

God the Father created humanity anyway. His creation was worth the sacrifice that would be needed to redeem them from the decisions they would make. It was, and is, evidence of His great, great Love for us that this Grace and forgiveness would be offered for us to receive.

I should have said that the Old Covenant had a law and that law held people captive because the Deceiver had a hold on any who violated it. He could accuse them and he would be correct. Condemnation was the verdict, according to the law. And the deceiver had great pleasure in carrying out that sentence. He had access to heaven; he was the prosecutor of the people God Loved. But there was one thing that could break that hold, and that, according to the law, was a sinless sacrifice.

The Law of Atonement in Leviticus 16 describes the sacrifice of a bull and the scapegoat. The goat would be chosen by lot, and the sins of Israel were placed upon it (symbolically speaking) and then sent out into the wilderness to die.

Think now, for a moment, when did Jesus go into the wilderness?

Jesus was baptized by John for repentance, yet Jesus lived a sinless life. Why? To identify with humanity. It is in Matthew 4 that Jesus goes into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.

(In the believer’s baptism at conversion, we identify with Christ’s death and resurrection.)

There are more correlations, but one of the most telling verse for me comes in Matthew and John:

 Matt 5:17-18 “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

and

John 15:25 “But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.'

Jesus lived a sinless life. He was sacrificed having taken on all the sins of humanity thus the law was fulfilled, and the ACCUSERS VOICE WAS SILENCED. The Deceiver and Accuser of God’s people no longer had a hold on them. The keys of hell and death are no longer in Satan’s possession.  

Revelation 1:18 John says, “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Many will say that Jesus did not go to hell as fully human without the Fully Divine part of Him, the Spirit. There can be much discussion on this (and thankfully our perspectives, while important, are not the key to our salvation). Here is why I think it is evident that Jesus did go to hell where Satan was and that He did suffer there.

The requirement of the Law was spiritual death. Spiritual death is separation from God. A place of torment. Can you imagine a place without the goodness of God?

Scripture says Jesus suffered our punishment for sin (my paraphrase). Could it then be said Jesus experienced a separation from God the Father? I know…that is such an offensive idea for some. But let us not reject it just because it is contrary to what we have always accepted, let us truly know by the Spirit so we will not be confused. And let us not mistake a stubborn loyalty to another’s interpretation over what the Word says in context.

If, for the sake of discussion, Jesus did experience a type of separation from the Father, where would that happen? It wasn’t in the tomb, as some suppose, while he was “napping.” We are not separated from God while we nap. We can still experience His goodness.

So, when did Jesus experience that separation? On the cross, physically, yes. He did say “I commit my spirit..."  Luke 23:46 says this and He is quoting Psalm 31:5. But I wonder, do you think Satan would give Jesus a “pass” if the suffering were only on the cross when the law that gave him power said the punishment also indicated separation, like with the scapegoat which had been required?

Just asking…

Personally, I don’t think so. It is my opinion that Satan delights too much in accusing and manipulating. He wants victory over God’s people, so I don’t think he’d give Jesus a pass on any part of suffering .  Also, Satan thought Jesus was full of sin for that was what he “saw” when all the sin was placed upon Jesus (scapegoat foreshadowed this in the Law). So, Satan thought he had won a victory when Jesus was condemned by those who ruled according to the Law. And when punishment came upon Jesus (Gal 3:13), Satan participated in the fulfillment of the law that would ultimately take away his power to accuse entirely It was the law that gave him accusatory power over humanity. The law said atonement was needed and the atonement had to be sinless. And while in the past animal sacrifices in the temple covered the sin, Jesus’ sacrifice, death and resurrection wiped out not only our sin but also the law used of Satan that pointed it out.

Let me say/write that again, what the Son of God did as the Son of man closed any access Satan had before the throne of God to accuse God’s people. Atonement was made, the law fulfilled and set aside. No more condemnation for those who believe and receive it. (Romans 8).

Consider these references regarding Jesus as first born from the dead

Also, consider Romans 10-11 with all this in mind.

The sad thing is that people don’t realize what Jesus did.  Because of this lack of knowledge, they are susceptible to the only weapon Satan now possesses against the people of God. Deception. Many do think He came to make a way for us to go to heaven and they would not be wrong, but there is so much more.

Salvation is for now. Living in victory is for now. Forgiveness and Grace is for living now.

Think for a moment: What would it be like to live a day when NOTHING negative of the past limiting our obedience to Christ? 

Consider all bad decisions, trespasses against us having no cringing memories haunting thoughts/evaluations of ourselves, or others.

What if it didn’t matter what other thought or said? Not because we didn’t care, but because their opinion/evaluation didn’t change what God said about us or the identity we have as a part of His family, His Church, His kingdom?

Imagine a clean slate, freely forgiven and ties cut from preconceptions, misconceptions, searching for significance, looking for validation—

What if we didn’t have to be “right” all the time to feel justified? What if a mistake was just a mistake, forgivable, redeemable?

What if all of it was simply, gone, forgiven, without impact or influence?

What would you feel free to do? Where would you go? What would you say? Who would you help? Who would you forgive?

Sounds like heaven, right? It is. It is eternal life and In Him we have that now.

The exciting truth is according to Christ and the work He did…

We have all of that and more NOW.

We have a voice before the Throne of Grace.

We have the Word of Truth that divides falsehood from truth, that heals, forgives and changes our dysfunctional thinking, turns our mourning into dancing, replaces ashes with beauty…

We have the Holy Spirit to help us when we need it: our counselor, our friend, our teacher.

We have the Faith of God within and the ability to choose to believe.

We have the ability to choose to forgive, choose love, choose joy, choose goodness, etc…

Hebrews 4: 12-16 “Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest [salvation provided], so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

When we remain bound by the small thinking of “I’m just a sinner saved by grace” we make small the work Christ did for us.

When we believe our only goal is simply to get to heaven, we abdicate our responsibility as members of the Church Jesus is building and the mandate of that Ecclesia (governing body of the Kingdom with an assignment) now.

When we say, Jesus will come and make things right or take His people out of the mess they created, we imply that somehow plan A of God did not work because of humanity, making humanity more powerful than God’s plan. This implication is that Jesus did not do the complete work and now Plan B must be put into place.

And finally, when we will not allow dialogue about matters of faith, we show a lack of confidence in what we know and the reliance upon what others know. I experienced this in my own journey out of denominational thinking. I studied the Scriptures but remained strictly within the bounds of the denominational doctrine that I had adopted as my own. Thus, my loyalty was not so much with the Word of God as I had thought. My loyalty was in what people had told me about the Word of God according to the “founding fathers of that particular denomination.”  

This was a hard lesson to take at times. Pridefully, I did not want to think I had been mistaken for so many years and in turn all my efforts to be a “good follower of Christ” were somehow misguided and maybe useless. That would be 22 years of spinning my wheels and getting nowhere for Christ no matter how sincere I was! Ouch. What about the classes I taught! I needed to repent, and I did, but it was a difficult decision.

But God!

Not only was realizing all this a difficult thing, but also to remove the lenses and see the scriptures without them was frustrating. I kept slipping back into the cliches I’d learned. It took a community of believers and dialogue and study together from different perspectives to finally see what was happening.

All of this to say, the stewardship of the Gospel of Christ is important. It leads to the unity of the Church Christ prayed regarding in John 17. But we have to be willing to listen, discuss and come to a consensus. See also Eph 4

Dear Reader, there is so much more regarding the Kingdom and the Church that to go into now would make this an even longer blog. But I’ll leave this for another time or for you to study. My goal is to point out the freedom and victory you as a believer possess now because of Christ. I encourage discussion and study for all of us. We all need someone to whom we are accountable. And The Holy Spirit is good at His job. He faithfully reveals the truth to those willing to see.

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For brothers to dwell together in unity!

It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the edge of his robes.

It is like the dew of Hermon
Coming down upon the mountains of Zion;
For there the LORD commanded the blessing—life forever.

Psalm 133

Grace and Peace

Anne