8. Jesus Christ had no fellowship with God the Father while the sins of the world were upon Him.

 

The imputation of our sins to the humanity of Jesus Christ meant that there was a temporary separation (tantamount to “substitutionary spiritual death”) between God the Father and the humanity of Jesus Christ. To reiterate, God can have nothing to do with sin other than to punish it.

 

“Now from the sixth hour [midday] darkness fell upon all the land until the ninth hour [three p.m.]. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, Lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:45-46; cf. Ps. 22:1)

 

9. The Spiritual Death of man:

 

To understand the meaning and purpose of Christ’s substitutionary death, first we need to understand the implications of man’s spiritual death, beginning at the fall of Adam in the Garden. The following notes are taken from Max Klein’s Fellowship With God, Volume Two: Chapter Six ‘The Perfection of Christ’:

 

“When Adam committed the original  sin  of  disobedience  he  died spiritually – that is, he acquired a sin nature and lost his human spirit.  Adam was warned that in the day that he ate from the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would die spiritually.

“But from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you [Adam] shall not eat from it for in the day that you eat from it, dying [the Hebrew  infinitive:   מות / mut]  you  will  die [the Hebrew imperfect: תמות / tamut] .” (Gen. 2:17)

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In Genesis 2:17 the Hebrew verb  מות (“mut” = translated as “die”) is doubled, appearing in the text as מות  תמות (“mut tamut” - the infinitive form followed immediately by the imperfect). Many Bible translations render this construction as having an intensive force: “you shall surely die”.  However, this translation does not convey the true meaning of this verse. Certain scholars have argued that the double construction of the infinitive followed by the imperfect verb should be translated “dying you will die.” Theologically this rendering makes much more sense: the infinitive “dying” refers to spiritual death, and “you will die” refers to physical death.  Adam and his wife died spiritually immediately, but did not die physically until many years later.

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On the very day that Adam and his wife ate of the fruit, they acquired sin natures and lost their human spirits.  They demonstrated their possession of sin natures when they put on fig leaves (Gen. 3:7).  Here Adam demonstrated how man with a sin nature seeks to solve his relationship with God through some method of human good or religion.  Then, when the Lord came into the garden and called for them that He might judge them, they demonstrated the loss of their human spirits by hiding from the Lord (Gen. 3:8). 

 

No human spirit means no relationship with God; no relationship with God means judgment.  If Jesus Christ were to announce that He was going to visit your city tomorrow to judge, most believers would welcome him even if they were out of fellowship.  However, most unbelievers would stay out of sight since they do not have a human spirit, and therefore no relationship with God. Also, since Adam and Eve no longer had a relationship with God, they easily succumbed to the temptation of fear from their sin natures (Gen. 3:10). In their fallen states, Adam and his wife both possessed a sin nature, but no longer possessed a human spirit. As a result, Adam’s descendants also possess a sin nature at birth (Rom. 5:12), and are born without a human spirit (1 Cor.2:14; Jude 19). The progeny of Adam are born like fallen Adam.

 

“For this reason just as through one man [Adam, not the woman], the sin nature entered the world and through the sin nature, death [God legally imputes Adam’s original sin to the sin nature of the individual at birth.  This results in spiritual death], and in this way death [spiritual death] spread [through the male sperm] to all mankind because in him [the human race was seminally in Adam] all  have  sinned  [imputation  of  Adam’s  Original  Sin  at  birth].” (Rom. 5:12)

 

10. The “Substitutionary Spiritual Death” of Christ:

 

A theological synonym for Christ’s salvation work on the Cross is “substitutionary spiritual death.” He was our substitute – He “died” (i.e. took the punishment for our sins) instead of us. This is clearly seen in a correct translation of Romans 5:8:

 

“But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died [ἀποθνήσκω / apothnesko] instead of us [the Greek preposition υπερ (huper, meaning “instead”) with the genitive form of the plural pronoun ημων (hemon)].

 

However, in using the term ‘spiritual death’ we must be careful to understand that this refers to separation from God the Father, and not the loss of Jesus Christ’s spiritual life. He was still filled with the Holy Spirit and applying doctrine the whole time He was on the Cross (Phil. 2:8; Heb. 4:15).

 

11. Physical Death follows Spiritual Death.

 

This ‘death’ mentioned in Romans 5:8 (the Greek verb ἀποθνήσκω / apothnesko, the common word used in referring to the death of a person) refers to the separation of (the humanity of) Jesus Christ from God the Father. His substitutionary spiritual death occurred first, followed by physical death. Christ yelled in a loud voice “It is finished!” (perfect present indicative of the verb τελέω / teleo), telling us that His saving work on the cross was completed before He died physically.

 

“Therefore, when Jesus had received the sour wine [He needed to lubricate His throat in order to shout loudly], He said “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” (John 19:30)

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12. How did Jesus die His physical death?

 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, and a prophecy from Psalms also record Jesus’ final words.

              

“And Jesus cried out [shouted] again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” (Matt. 27:50)

 

“And Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed [ekpneou /exhaled] His last.”  (Mark 15:37)

         

“And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father [indicating punishment was over and now having ‘fellowship’ restored between the humanity of Christ and the Father], into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this, He breathed His last  [breath].”  (Luke 23:46)

 

Luke, like the other Gospel writers, does not record the entire statement, but provides us with a reference to the passage of Scripture that Jesus quotes from the Old Testament as written by King David:

 

 “Into Thy hand I commit my spirit; Thou has ransomed me, O Lord of truth.” (Ps. 31:5)

 

Putting these passages together we see that in Jesus' final breath he was shouting out the words “Oh Lord of truth” emphasizing the importance of doctrine.

 

13. Nobody killed Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus Christ was the author of His very own trichotomous (three-way) separation of body, soul and spirit – John 10:18). 

 

“I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” (John 10:17b-18a)

 

When the centurion [a Gentile] said, “Truly, this man was the Son of God”, Mark makes it clear in the Greek that it was because he witnessed Jesus breathing out His own life, a supernatural act.

 

“And the centurion, standing across from Him, seeing that He had breathed out his spirit [ekpneuo] in such a manner [hoti houtos] , said “Truly this man was the Son of God.” (Mar. 15:39 cf. Luk. 23:47) (see Matt. 11:26 for the use of 'hoti' + 'houtos' meaning 'because’ )

 

14. Jesus did not physically die because of a loss of blood.

 

After the soldiers broke the legs of those crucified with Jesus, and then seeing that Jesus was dead, the following event is recorded:

 

“But one of the soldiers pierced His side [pleuran = chest cavity] with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and water [hudor].” (John 19:34)

 

Understanding Blood and Water:

 

Blood consists of four main components: Red blood cells (44 percent of the blood liquid), platelets (less than one percent), white blood cells (less than one percent), and plasma (55 percent).