What Happened At Calvary
Posted: Saturday, May 03, 2008
by John Waddey
firstcenturychristian
The darkest hour in human history occurred in Jerusalem some 1970 years ago. Sin reached its highest pinnacle; human depravity sank to its lowest ebb when Jews and Gentiles together crucified Jesus the Son of God. Against this black background of wickedness the one who came as the light of the world glowed in all his holy glory. As the blood freely flowed from his wounds, many world shaking and world altering events were taking place.
2. The sin debt of all humanity was being paid in full as our Jesus hung suspended between heaven and earth. It has always been true that apart from the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins (Hebrews 9:22). Likewise it was impossible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins (Hebrews 10:4). But the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, does cleanse us from all sin (I John 1:7). While some might be willing to die for the good man who is his friend, the marvel of it all is that Christ died for us while we were weak ungodly sinners and enemies of righteousness. Now we are justified by his blood and we shall be saved from future wrath (Romans 5:6-9). The blood of the wounded Savior cleanses our guilty conscience (Hebrews (:14). The effective benefits of his sacrifice extend backwards to Eden and forward to the end of this age (Hebrews 9:15). So effective was this sacrifice of his life that it need never be repeated. He was once offered to bear the sins of many (Hebrews 9:28).
3. Christ tasted damnation for us as he hung there. It was heaven's plan that Jesus should "taste of death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9). Most people think only of his physical death when they reach such verses, but much more in involved. His death was a vicarious one. "Jehovah hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6). He made "his soul an offering for sin" (Isaiah 53:10). Although he died physically, all humans yet die, whether saved or sinners (Hebrews 9:27). There is, however, a death that faithful children of God will never taste, i.e., the second death, or death of the soul which is to be separated from God in eternity (Compare II Thessalonians 1:9 and Revelation 20:14-15). Do you recall how our Lord cried out in agony when the darkness fell upon the earth scene, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" (Mark 15:33-34). What does this mean? God laid upon the Son all the sin guilt of humanity as he hung dying on the Roman cross. But sin cannot stand in the presence of a righteous, holy God. So God drew back, separating Himself from His own Son in that awful moment. But what does it mean to be separated from God? That is nothing less than damnation itself. For to be lost is to be separated from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). Our King paid a price far more dear than merely dying in a painful way. He tasted even the horrible second death for us that we might be saved!
4. As those terrible scenes transpired the way to heaven was being opened for us. We can now boldly enter the holy place of heaven itself "by the blood of Jesus, by the way which he dedicated for us, a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh" (Hebrews 10:19-20). Since we have been "reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved by his life" (Romans 5:10).
5. That day the old covenant was being removed as God's governing law. We were made dead to the law of Moses by the body of Christ (Romans 7:4). He "blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and he hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross" (Colossians 2:14). Since we are now lead by the Spirit, we are not under the law (Galatians 5:18).
6. As the old covenant was passing away, the new covenant was being ratified and dedicated. When instituting the holy supper, the Lord said of the fruit of the vine, "This is my blood of the covenant..." (Matthew 26:28). The Hebrew writer further explains, saying, "For this cause he is the mediator of a new covenant." He further adds, "For where a testament is, there must be the death of him that made it... wherefore even the first covenant hath not been dedicated without blood" (Hebrews 9:15-18). Our New Covenant would be but worthless paper without the death of Christ to certify its message.
7. As the hateful crowd jeered the dying Messiah, the purchase price was being paid for his church. Paul reminds us all that the church of the Lord was "purchased with his own blood" (Acts 20:28). If the modernist who rejects the doctrine of the saving power of the shed blood of Christ is correct, the church, the Bible, and the very idea of salvation are all made void and meaningless.
8. As the unnatural darkness settled over the land, the old age was dying and a new age was coming into existence. The age of law had come through Moses, now the aeon of grace and truth was beginning (John 1:17). The kingdom which John the Baptist and Jesus both had promised was now ready to be built upon the one foundation (Matthew 16:18; I Corinthians 3:11). Later that day his disciples would lay his mangled body in a borrowed tomb, but God would raise him on the third day even as prophets had foretold. After showing himself alive by many infallible proofs he would ascend into the heavens to take his seat at the right hand of the Father where he would rule and reign until the end of the Christian age (Acts 2:32-36).
As we behold this dreadful scene outside Jerusalem's walls on Calvary's hill, we, by the knowledge which our Scriptures offer, can see the salvation of humanity with all its attendant blessings. The question of the hour is: "Have you appropriated these blessings for yourself?"
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Excellent explanation, succinct; very clear, easy to understand. Thank you!
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