He Poured Out His Soul to Death
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Taken from the third chapter of the book, We Have an Altar... THE SUPREME SUFFERING OF CHRIST
He poured out His soul to death
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| A book about the cross |
Good Friday was a day for demons that
delighted in inciting men to do their absolute worst to inflict all the
punishment possible on the Son of God. The demons were surely present in the
unseen world around the cross. In his inspired prophecy, David wrote, “Many bulls have surrounded me; strong
bulls of Bashan have encircled me” (Ps.22:12) and “dogs have surrounded me” (v.16). A few verses later he speaks of “the paws of the dog… the lion’s mouth… the
horns of the wild oxen…” He was not speaking of literal animals, but of spiritual
beasts, which attacked His soul. This battled raged, in addition to the
physical suffering. Jesus fought them in the spirit and triumphed in the cross.
He foretold it in John 12:31, “The ruler
of this world will be cast out.” Paul stated (I quote from the Amplified
Version, Col.2:15), “[God] disarmed the principalities and powers that were ranged
against us and made a bold display and public example of them, in triumphing
over them in Him and in it [the cross]”.
Please allow me - I think it is worthwhile to
get some confirmation and some excellent observations from leading commentators:
Warren Wiersbe says: “The death of Christ
on the cross looked like a great victory for Satan, but it turned out to be a
great defeat from which Satan cannot recover… He ‘disarmed the powers and
authorities’.” Albert Barnes: “There
can be no doubt, I think, that the apostle refers to the ranks of fallen, evil
spirits which had usurped a dominion over the world… Satan and his legions had
invaded the earth and drawn its inhabitants into captivity, and subjected them
to their evil reign. Christ, by his death subdues the invaders and recaptures
those whom they had subdued… Paul says that this was now done ‘openly’ - that
is, it was in the face of the whole universe - a grand victory; a glorious
triumph over all the powers of hell.” Matthew Henry: “The Redeemer conquered by dying… Never had the devil's kingdom such a
mortal blow given to it as was given by the Lord Jesus…” And John Wesley: “And having spoiled the principalities and
powers - The evil angels, of their usurped dominion, He - God the Father,
exposed them openly - Before all the hosts of hell and heaven. Triumphing over
them in or by him - By Christ.”
The cross produced yet greater torment within
the very depths of Christ’s being. Above all, we must concentrate upon it, if
we are to understand to any degree the significance of the cross. We come now
to the heart of the substitutionary work in the sacrifice of the Lamb of God.
He was sinless. In a human body for 33 years
He knew the power of temptation, but never once succumbed to it. We must
understand also that not only in life, but in all eternity not once had sin
ever marred Him. Throughout endless past ages, never had He felt the inner
pangs of uncleanness for having committed some kind of unrighteous, untruthful
or dirty act. Never had he known what it meant to feel guilty for having
disobeyed God or having harmed another human being.
Now we read: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross…” (1 Pt.2:24). Sins
were heaped upon Him. They were dragged from all parts of the earth and from
every period of history. They were pulled from concentration camps, abusive
homes, the assassins’ hide-out and the palace of the oppressor. Have you
thought about it? The most shameful offenses, the filthiest acts, and the
cruelest deeds – He felt the weight of them all. Torture, hatred, greed and
abuse were placed upon the spotless Lamb. He not only carried evil acts, but
also evil thoughts and motives, which were never actually performed. He was
spared nothing – God “did not spare His
own Son” (Ro.8:32). Far beyond the physical torture, this was what He
suffered.
However, He not only carried our sins, but the apostle declares, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin…” (2 Co.5:21). He not only
is holy, but He is the Author of all holiness that has ever been manifested or
experienced in heaven or upon earth by men or by angels. He, who was the eternal
fountain of holiness, became sin. It is one of the mind-boggling mysteries of
the cross, for which we can never find a satisfactory explanation. The
embodiment of holiness and purity in a human vessel, not only took sins upon
Himself, but sin became His state-of-being. I repeat, Jesus Christ became sin
upon that cross! Such was the depth of His pain; it reached to the core of His
being.
I remember reading, “Run, Nicky, Run”, the testimony
of Nicky Cruz, many years ago. The saddest part of the book takes place near
its beginning. Nicky’s mother and father were deeply into witchcraft. On one
occasion to punish the little boy, his father left him to panic in a dark room.
It was a demonic act, only out-done by one from his mother. Surely in the
throes of an evil spirit, she lashed at him, “I hate you! You are not my son; I
have never loved you as a son!” Nicky
was hurt many times in rumbles on the streets of New York. Once he was kicked into
unconsciousness and his assailants continued to kick him thereafter. But no
bodily pain ever matched the cruelty of those words by his own mother, which
ripped his soul to shreds.
Ah, it is a poor, human example, but I submit
it, because it may give our little finite understanding some small idea of what
follows. We have come now to the apex of Jesus’ pain. In the first chapter, we faced
the immense problem of the scriptural truth that God, in Christ, was put to
death. “I am the life,” Jesus said
(Jn.14:6). Life died! We have just tried to deal with the complexity of His
holiness and the fact that He became sin. Now, we contemplate another great
mystery of the cross: Seemingly, perfect, eternal love and communion were
broken.
There had never been the slightest friction
within the godhead in all the history of the universe and before history in the
timeless ages of eternity. Father, Son and Holy Spirit always enjoyed the sweetest
fellowship. The love is deep, beyond compare and human comprehension. Its
failure was unthinkable, for God’s “love
never fails” (1 Co.13:8). When John the Baptist doubted, when his disciples
did not understand Him, when His people, the Jews, rejected Him and the Romans
mistreated Him, Jesus could always count on His Father’s love. The Father had
declared at His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration that He was well
pleased with Him.
The Father looked upon the cross from heaven
and this time He saw putrid sins amassed in infinite quantity. In the
transaction of taking on sin and as a sacrifice for it, the fierceness of the
unbridled wrath of God was poured out without measure upon Him. His Father’s
holy eyes could no longer gaze on the scene and He turned His back. Darkness
covered the earth in the middle of the day. For three hours, Jesus kept silent,
but the pain reached a peak and He could no longer contain the grief nor
restrain his voice. Please, hear His loud cry in Mark 15:34: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”
It was the most horrible moment in time and eternity.
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| Click to enlarge the letters |
Perfect righteousness was satisfied and
justice had been served to its fullness. The Lord Jesus deserved none of it,
for He knew no sin. He was a Lamb without spot or blemish. Why then did all
this punishment fall upon Him? There is only one answer. That answer echoes
down the corridors of time for anyone who will hear. It has lost none of its
awe or wonder in this century of secular humanism and damning materialism. Why
does He hang there? Why does He suffer so? This is why: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.” (Jn.3:16)
The Father placed Him there in love for us and
the Son hung as a substitute for you and me, offering Himself through the
eternal Spirit, in love. It was a work of the triune God. It is love beyond
understanding, untarnished and unmixed in its purity, unbounded in its reach.
It is unmatched by any love known on earth. No mother knows this kind of love
for her baby; no man can equal it in his affection for his bride. This is an
intense, passionate love that takes enemies into its scope. Let Paul help us to
describe the indescribable: “While we
were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though
perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates
His own love (His unique,
incomparable love) toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us… For if while we were enemies
we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been
reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Ro.5:6-10). This is our heart-breaking altar, adorned by the
love of God…
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