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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Life After Death (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 56. Five Things Jesus Did
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Five Things Jesus Did
This brings us up sharply to just what Jesus did. It makes us see what a desperate task He undertook. It was nothing less than dealing with dead men. And the only way of doing it was to begin a new life within. In the beginning it was simply a matter of creation. But now, of a new creation, with the wreck of the old one to handle and clear away.
Man was enslaved to Satan (Rom_6:16). That slavery must be broken. But death was the stamp of the slavery, Satan's mark of control. Death must then be put to death, and he that had the power of death must be throttled.
Sin itself, with all the long damnable heart-breaking human story that has worked out of that break with God, became a slander on God's character and on God's management of the world. For God had let things run on in their bad way, instead of clearing the whole thing up at once, as He could rightly have done.
Then, too, it must be made clear what sort of a God God is, and why He has let things run on without prompt settlement. And then our hearts had become hardened against God. That separation brought hardening. And the hardening grew steadily harder, and yet more obstinately hard. That spirit death had penetrated clear into the inner marrow of our hearts.
Now, hush your hearts, and look with bated breath and reverently bowed heads at what Jesus did. He got into touch with us men, first of all. He lived, simply lived, a simple true human life, in all its commonplace round of duty and temptation, for thirty years, ten-elevenths of his full span of life. So He got in touch with us. So He really was one of us. So He kept in fullest touch with the Father in the daily round of a common human life.
Then He voluntarily gave His life up and out for us. He took upon Himself the death that belonged to us, death of body, aye, far more, and deeper, and bitterer, the death of spirit that was bound up with separation from the Father's conscious presence. That's the meaning of that heart-breaking cry; "Why didst thou forsake me?" He took upon Himself all that was coming to us.
He went down into the jaws of death, into the belly of hell. And there He put Death to death. He throttled it past any reviving. Through going to death himself, he utterly annihilated the power of him that has the power of death, that is the devil himself (Heb_2:14). Than having effectively dealt that death blow, He quietly rose up again, out of death's domain, back toward the true center of gravity of His own life.
And when He came up He brought something up with Him, a great priceless something. He brought up life, His own life, a new sort of deathless life that could never know any taint of death. He brought it up into plain view where all might see, and so could make their new choice, the choice of Himself, as Saviour and Redeemer and Master (2Ti_1:10 paraphrased).
So He settled up our sin score, set us free of our slavery to sin, gave us a new eternal sort of life, vindicated God's patient enduring of sin's havoc, and broke our hearts with His untenable love.
And, now, anybody who'll get in touch of heart with Him, Christ, will escape death and have life. He will pass out of that separation which is death into the full touch that is life (Joh_3:16; Joh_5:21; Joh_5:24; Joh_8:31; Joh_11:25). Yet freedom from the smaller item of death, bodily death, is not promised. In its place is promised a rising up out of the grave for our bodies even as His rose (Joh_6:39-40; Joh_6:44; Joh_6:54). And then something more and greater yet is promised. That is, such victory in our spirits over the dark fearsome enemy, death, that when it does come to our bodies we shall greet it with a joyous shout of victory (1Co_15:55-57). And meanwhile there remains always with us the glad possibility that His own return to earth shall spare us that last touch with our old enemy.
But Jesus does yet more. He's not through with death yet. Twice over we are told that he has "abolished death" (1Co_15:25-26 revised; 2Ti_1:10). That is, he made it wholly inoperative, put it completely out of action.
Taking all the Scripture passages concerned, that clearly means three things. It means that spirit death is done away for all who come into touch with Jesus. It means further that during the kingdom time, actual death, meaning bodily death, will cease on earth (1Co_15:25-26), probably gradually until complete.
And the third meaning is this. There will he a final abolition or destroying of death for all, at the end of things on the earth (Rev_21:4). That is, for all except Satan and anyone that incorrigibly insists on going his way (Rev_20:14-15; Rev_21:8).
Death is put to death for all who will have it so. And it is so only because Christ suffered what we are spared.