The Death of Christ
By Rev Charles Seet
(Preached at Life BPC, Good Friday Service, 6 April 2007)

Romans 5:8

Tonight we will focus our thoughts on the last part of Romans 5:8 – “Christ Died for Us.” The Death of Christ is one of the most important truths in the Bible. It is the very heart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul emphasized this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-3 – “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, …For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” The Death of Christ was also foretold in the Old Testament. The prophecy in Daniel 9:26 even provided the timing for it – “And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself.” In the New Testament the importance of Christ’s death is seen in the fact that it is mentioned in it no less than 175 times!

The importance of the death of Christ stems from the fact that it was no ordinary death. In the newspapers the obituary pages are full of death announcements of people who have left this world. Although we may feel sorry for them and for their loved ones, we understand that death is an inevitable part of life on earth. Why then is Christ’s death so different from all other deaths? Because it was the death of the only begotten Son of God. Of all the lives ever lived on earth, none was ever as pure, precious, and important as His life. And yet it was His life that had to be sacrificed in death. And so we ask the question:

I. Why Did Christ Have to Die?

To understand why Christ had to die we have to go all the way back to the very first time that death is mentioned in the Bible: It is in the command that God gave in Genesis 2:17 – “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” We all know well that this is what happened to Adam and Eve, when they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit. Death came into existence! The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death” and Ezekiel 18:4 tells us – “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” How nice it would have been if sin had never existed: Then there would be no death and no need for Christ to die. But death is now the saddest reality of life, and it is all because of sin!

The good news is that God chose to manifest His grace to man to deal with sin and with death. This began at the point when the coming of Christ was promised as the Seed of the Woman (Genesis 3:15). Christ was also foretold in the coats of animal skin that God made to clothe Adam and Eve after they had sinned (Genesis 3:21). In order to make these coats some animals obviously had to die. This was the first time that animal sacrifice was made as God’s provision for our sins.

In the rest of the Book of Genesis, we see this implemented in the animal sacrifices that were offered by Noah (Genesis 8:20), by Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and by the rest of the patriarchs. Job, also offered animal sacrifices to God (Job 1:5). In all these sacrifices the animal was regarded as a substitute that died in the place of the person who offered it. This is the reasons why the person for whom the animal was offered first had to lay his hands on its head before it died. This means that the animal now represents him. The animal was to be killed by the extracting of its blood. And the blood had to be poured out on the sides of altar of sacrifice.

One of the best examples of substitionary death can be found in the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12). This came about when God brought the ten plagues upon Egypt. The last plague was the death upon the firstborn. Unlike most of the previous plagues which affected only the Egyptians, this one also affected the Israelites. All their firstborn children would also die in it, unless they had a Passover lamb to die in their place. So each family sacrificed a lamb, and sprinkled the lamb’s blood on the entrance of the house. When the Lord’s angel saw the blood at the entrance, he would pass over that house and go the next one, because the blood signified that a death had already taken place there (Exodus 12:13). But any house that did not have the lamb’s blood applied would lose every firstborn child who lived in it to death.

Now, there were two important requirements that the Israelites had to observe when choosing a lamb for the Passover. They are found in Exodus 12:5 –“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year” Why were these requirements given? It was because the Passover lamb was meant to be a preview of Jesus Christ. Hence it had to be without blemish in order to portray the sinlessness of Christ. And it had to be a male, like Christ. From all this we can now understand why Christ had to die: So that He may be our Passover Lamb, slain in our place, to die the death that we should die because of all our sins and rebellion against God. And the only kind of death He must die in order to save us is one that involves the shedding of blood. We have seen this in the animal sacrifices of Israel, as well as in the Passover ritual, where the animal’s blood was poured on the side of the altar, or sprinkled on the entrance of the house. And this is precisely how Jesus died – by shedding His blood on the Cross. Let us therefore consider now:

II. How Did Christ Die?

A The Trials of Jesus

According to the biblical account, Jesus went through a total of six trials in Jerusalem on the night before He was crucified – Three of them were Jewish trials: The one before Caiaphas the high priest, the one before Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, and the one before the Sanhedrin council. This was followed by three Roman trials – twice before Pontius Pilate, who was the Roman procurator of Judea, and once before King Herod Antipas.

During these trials our Lord Jesus was falsely accused, mocked, beaten, scourged with whips, arrayed in a purple robe, and crowned with thorns. The Roman scourge consisted of a wooden handle to which several leather thongs were fastened. Into each thong small butterfly shaped pieces of metal or bone were fixed. Wielded by a powerful arm, the scourge was a deadly weapon. In a few strokes could strip the flesh from a man's back. Frequently death followed immediately after scourging, so that the victim did not survive for crucifixion.

B. The Crucifixion of Jesus

After being scourged in this manner Jesus was led away to a place called Golgotha which means ‘the place of a Skull’. It was customary for the condemned person to wear a placard (v. 20) giving his name and the nature of his crime and to carry the transverse beam (patibulum) of his cross. When Jesus reached Golgotha, He was crucified between two thieves. This began at about 8.00 or 9.00 in the morning, and ended when Jesus died at about 3.00 in afternoon.

Crucifixion was designed to be a slow and torturous form of execution. The pain and agony could last two to three days before death came through blood loss, hunger and exhaustion. It was used extensively by the Romans. Only slaves, provincials and the lowest types of criminals were crucified. At the place of execution (cf. v. 17), the victim was fixed to the cross by nails driven through the wrists and through the feet. He was stripped of his clothing and exposed to the mocking people, the heat of the sun by day, and the chill and dampness of night. The temperature in March or April at the altitude of Jerusalem might drop to as low as 4 degrees C. Frequently a crucified man might live as long as 36 hours, or even longer in an increasing agony, unless by exhaustion or dementia he finally lapsed into unconsciousness. Crucifixion was probably the most cruel, inhumane and diabolical form of death ever invented!

This is why crucifixion victims were known to respond very negatively: According to Josephus they would curse and swear at the people around them. They would spit in the face of their executioners and blaspheme the name of God. But how did Christ respond to this kind of death?

C. The Seven Sayings on the Cross

The gospel accounts tell us that Jesus uttered a total of 7 sayings on the cross. In the first three hours, His first utterance was: “Father, forgive them for they know now what they do.” (Luke 23:34). A little later He spoke to the repentant thief who was crucified beside Him – “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with Me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). And when He saw His mother and His disciple John standing at the cross, He said his third utterance: “Woman behold thy son” and to John He said, “Behold Thy mother” (John 19:26,27) 

After this, the  the whole sky became dark from noon till the time that Jesus died. In those three hours Jesus uttered His last 4 sayings. He said, “My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The next thing He said was, “I thirst.” And someone gave Him vinegar mingled with gall to drink. The two final utterances that come from our Lord on the cross were, “It is finished!” and “Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit” Each of these utterances of Christ was filled with deep significance. They tell us that His death was no accident or unfortunate turn of events. It was planned and purposeful, fulfilling God’s sovereign decree. Jesus was lovingly enduring the intense agony of being separated from God, for the sake of sinners. Let us now seek to appreciate as fully as we can:

IV. What Christ’s Death Accomplished for us

A. Atonement and Propitiation for Sins

The term ‘atonement’ means a covering for sin, so that sin no longer stands between the sinner and God. This term is found mostly in the Old Testament and once in the New Testament, in Romans 5:11 – “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” The other related term, propitiation, is found in 1 John 4:10 – “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” Propitiation means an appeasement for sin. God’s wrath against our sin has to be appeased. So by these two terms, we understand that the death of Christ has taken our sins away and turned God’s wrath away from us.

Nothing but Christ’s death could have done this for us, because our sins were like a stubborn unremoveable stain. Nothing that we do can ever take it away. Even all the Old Testament animal sacrifices did not actually take away anyone’s sin. Hebrews 10:4-5 makes this clear when it says – “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when He [Christ] cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering Thou wouldest not, but a body hast Thou prepared Me” Another verse that says this is Romans 3:25 – “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.”

This teaches us that Christ death was the actual propitiation for the sins of all the Old Testament saints, like Abraham, Moses and David. The animal sacrifices they made had no power of their own to propitiate God’s wrath, or take away sins. They served only as a temporary measure, looking forward to the final sacrifice that Christ would make on the cross! In relation to us however, the death of Christ occurred about 2,000 years behind us. And yet it has atoned even for our sins. Christ did not have to to die more than once. Hebrews 10:12 tells us – “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.”

Hence, the death of Christ made a full and complete atonement for the sins of all of God’s people of all time, for those who lived before that death, as well as those who live long after it! Another thing that Christ’s death accomplished was:

 B. The Redemption and Ransom of Sinners

The term ‘redeem’ means ‘to buy back’ and it indicates payment. In what form was the payment for sinners made? 1 Peter 1:18,19 tells us – “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot”  

The related term ‘ransom’ is the amount that is paid to get a person released. It is used in Matthew 20:28 where Jesus Himself said, “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” Since you have been redeemed by Christ Himself, you now belong to Him and you must serve Him! As 1 Corinthians 6:20 says,“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.”

Once again we realize that nothing but the death of Christ can redeem us or provide a ransom to deliver us. Psalm 49:7 says – “None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him.” This verse, by the way tells us clearly that the ransom was paid to God the Father. This answers an erroneous teaching that Christ redeemed us by paying the ransom to Satan. Dear friends, Christ did not have to pay Satan anything to save us. His death did not make Satan richer and stronger, but poorer and weaker! And this brings us to the next accomplishment of Christ’s death:

C. Delivered from Satan’s Power

Before going to the cross, Jesus had already foretold that His death would bring an end to Satan’s rule. In John 12:31-33 He says, “Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.  This He said, signifying what death He should die.” Hebrews 2:14 tells us, “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil” Although Satan is still alive and active, he is a defeated foe. Christ already gave him a fatal blow on the cross! If we belong to Jesus we need not fear what Satan can do to us. We come to the fourth thing that Christ’s death accomplished, which is:

D. Reconciliation with God

Romans 5:10 – “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.” To reconcile is to mend a broken relationship. Instead of enmity in the relationship, there is now friendship and peace: Romans 5:1 – “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Such peace gives us the privilege of having full access to God, so that we can come boldly to God’s throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16). The death of Christ has not only reconciled us to God as His friends, but it also gave us the privilege of being His children. What a great honour and privilege we now have to be called the ‘children of God’! This only goes to show the wonderful love that God has for us. And this is the subject of the final accomplishment that we want to appreciate from the death of Christ:

E. The Revelation of God’s Love

Romans 5:8 – “But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Before Christ died, God’s love had already been shown to man in many other ways: He had delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt. He had provided for the needs of His people during their wilderness journey (manna, water form a rock). He had given them victory over enemies who were many times stronger than them. And He had settled them in a land flowing with milk and honey.

But the supreme manifestation of God’s love did not come until Christ died on the cross. It was the love of God the Father in giving His only begotten Son to be a sacrifice for our sins. It also revealed the love of God the Son who was willing to lay down His life to save us. Never before had such love been shown to objects that were so unworthy. This is why Paul prayed that the Christians at Ephesus “May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Ephesians 3:18-19).  

Dearly beloved, the death which Jesus died on the Cross is the greatest expression of love that has ever been shown to man. This world has never known any love greater than this. Do you desire to comprehend how immense and glorious this love of God is? If you do, you only need to let God reveal it to you fully in the Death of Jesus Christ.  And when God reveals it to you, you must respond to Him. If you are a Christian you ought to respond with a full-hearted surrender of your life to God. Let this be a night of reconsecrating your life to His service. If you are not a Christian, you must respond with repentance of sin, and most importantly by receiving Christ as your Lord and Saviour. May God draw sinners to Christ for salvation as His love is revealed in the cross where Jesus died!