The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
I passed on to you what I received as of first importance: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. – Corinthians 15:3-5.
Preparation for death is your most essential preparation in life.
As we face medical issues, grow older, or experience ‘near-death’ accidents, our focus on death sharpens.
If thoughts of death have yet to enter your mind’s secure castle, know that the invading force of your mortality is rapidly approaching.
You may have read about Bryan Johnson, the millionaire who spends two million dollars annually to reverse the effects of aging. That’s not preparation for death; it’s simply a cosmetic postponement of aging.
Death is still coming for Bryan Johnson.
Death is still coming for you and me.
Preparation for death involves one word: Remember.
To be prepared for death, you and I must remember something.
- Teams prepare for a game by remembering their film preparation.
- Soldiers prepare for a battle by remembering their training.
- Workers prepare for a deal by remembering their orientation.
So, too, a person prepares for death by remembering.
The atheist philosopher Voltaire (1694-1788) once criticized Christianity as a “bloody religion.” He mocked the focus on “blood,” denigrating the “hocus pocus magic” of what he deemed to be blood potions.
Voltaire famously said:
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”
Voltaire thought, and others believe, that Christianity is absurd.
They hear “the blood of Christ” and only think of internal red liquid. They mistakenly believe “Christ’s blood is a potion.”
Sadly, the notion of “blood cleansing” is reinforced when agnostics observe institutional religionists gather and pass around a plastic cup of grape juice and a stale cracker and act as if something magical happens when eating it.
Don’t let the misunderstanding of doubters or the misapplication of disciples mislead you.
The act of communion isn’t vital; what you remember as you eat and drink is vital.
Remembering the work of Christ on your behalf is how you prepare for your death.
To remember Christ is to prepare for death.
Voltaire and others misunderstand the concept of blood in the Bible.
In Scripture, blood is synonymous with life. The loss of blood is synonymous with death.
The sacred Scriptures teach:
- For life… is in the blood – Leviticus 17:11
- Whoever sheds the blood of man (e.g., takes the life of a man), by man shall his blood be shed (e.g., his own life shall be taken) – Genesis 9:6.
- Without the shedding of blood (i.e., the loss of life), there is no forgiveness of sins – Hebrews 9:22.
In the Scriptures, the deaths of sacrificial animals played a prominent role in Jewish worship. However, there was no magic in the blood of the sacrificial animals.
The innocent lambs died so that the guilty men might live.
A life for a life.
But even those deaths of Old Covenant sacrificial animals had no power per se to take the place of deaths for men (see Hebrews 10:4-10). The sacrificial animals were only types or pictures of “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29-32).
Remember Jesus’ death as “The death of my death in the death of my Deliverer.
When Christians sing songs like Nothing But the Blood, or Are You Washed in the Blood? Oh, the Blood of Jesus, and There Is Power In the Blood, the thought process of the worshipper often wrongly moves toward the red liquid plasma in the body of Jesus.
The loss of blood in the Bible is a synonym for death.
When we sing songs about Christ’s blood, we remember Christ’s death.
It’s not the red blood cells of our Savior that save us; it’s Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead as “a life for a life” is given that men might live.
Again, the shedding of Christ’s blood is synonymous with His death. God, in His love for us, sent His Son to die in our place (see John 3:16).
I passed on to you what I received as of first importance: Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. He was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. – Corinthians 15:3-5.
Voltaire revolted against Christianity because he thought “God killed Jesus. Thus, Christians think they’re justified in killing others.”
But Voltaire didn’t see Jesus as Emmanuel (“God in the flesh”) and couldn’t grasp the love of God in coming to Earth to die in the place of sinners who deserve death.
- Christ’s death was voluntary.No man took His life. He laid it down – John 10:18.
- Christ’s death was penal.As in ‘the penal system,’ the word penal means “punishment” for offenders.
“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate His righteousness because in His forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— He did it to demonstrate His righteousness at present, to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” – Romans 3:25-28.
- Christ’s death was substitutionary.“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21.
Scripture emphasizes God’s grace in coming to die for sinners.
Therefore, salvation is called salvation by grace.
God saves sinners. We cannot save ourselves. Left to ourselves, we die.
Sinners who believe Christ died for their sins and rose on the Third Day according to the Scriptures, “gain approval with God by their faith” – see Hebrews 11:39-40
Remember Christ’s death and resurrection from the dead for you.
Remembering Jesus’ death for you, whether young or old, is the best preparation for your death, whether sudden and soon or lingering and later.
Ultimately, the problem skeptics seem to have with Christianity is the idea that:
- God holds people accountable for their sins or
- There is even such a thing as sin (e.g., violations of the commands of God).
However, it is clear from one’s conscience, Jesus’ words, and the written Word of God that the Creator punishes with death those who rebel against Him and His Laws and harm other human beings in the process.
What kind of judge would the Creator be if He didn’t judge the wicked?
The Scriptures declare that God’s punishing varies according to one’s sins (Matthew 10:15), but death is the ultimate punishment for all the wicked (Proverbs 14:12).
This Final Punishment for the wicked is called the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
This second death is different from the first death (e.g., natural, physical death) in that there is no resurrection from the second death. The second death is the Final Judgment for the wicked.
God’s punishment of death for the wicked is a noun in the Bible. That means it is once and for all. God’s punishment is not a verb. God doesn’t keep eternally punishing the wicked. The wicked die the second death.
I’m convinced Scripture teaches eternal punishment (death), not eternal punishing.
Judging and punishing the wicked may vary according to their sins (Matthew 10:15), but God’s ultimate end for all the wicked is the same.
“What you earn because of your sin is death, but the gift of God is immortal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.” – Romans 6:23
Christ died for our sins. He rose for our salvation.
This is what you are to remember!
Everyone, both the righteous and the wicked, will be raised from their graves during the general Resurrection (see John 5:28-29).
The wicked will give an account of their lives on this earth to the Creator, while the righteous “stand beside Christ” and do not experience the judging or Judgment of the Creator.
The righteousness of believers that cause us to stand beside Christ at the Final Judgment is not of ourselves. It is His righteousness.
The rewards of Christ’s obedience are ours because His perfect life and the death we deserve are ours because of His passive obedience (He was put to death for our sins).
If you don’t trust in the death of your death in the death of Christ, you’ll answer for your sins.
Everyone, both the righteous and the wicked, will be raised from their graves during the Resurrection (see John 5:28-29). The wicked will give an account of their lives on this earth to the Creator, while the righteous “stand beside Christ.”
The right standing of believers at the Judgment is found in Christ, not ourselves.
Self-trusting sinners endure the fearful process of experiencing God judging them “according to their sins” (II Corinthians 5:10).
Then, the Creator will ultimately dispense the Final Judgment on those who wasted their lives in selfish rebellion against their Creator.
The second death – and final death – will occur for the wicked. There will be no hope of Resurrection after the second death. “God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked” (see Ezekiel 33:11), but the wicked will die in their sins because God is just.
Because of His grace, the righteous in Christ will live forever.
As you feel the invading force of your mortality, REMEMBER CHRIST!
His tomb is empty. His grace is plenty.
Scripture emphasizes the death of Jesus in your place, and the power of His resurrection as a guarantee of your resurrection to immortal life.
Are you prepared to die?
Depressed folks want to end living. Delivered folks enjoy living. Those delivered by God’s grace from death will enjoy life forever.
You’re prepared to die if you remember Him, who conquered the death sentence in your place by His voluntary death on the cross and His powerful resurrection from the tomb.
Soon, the First Fruits of Resurrection will come for the Full Harvest and raise all people from their tombs, judging the wicked according to their sins and giving the righteous eternal life.
Remember the death of your death in the death of Jesus Christ, and live!
