Good Friday: Christ's Precious Death

In the heavens the Lord Jesus dwells, sitting at the right hand of His Father, to pray for His people, and to give them the washing away of their sins. All this, because He gave His blood to save sinners.

The Lord Jesus suffered physically, mentally, and spiritually. Prophecy was fulfilled because He suffered in body and soul. He suffered in body throughout all of His life, but especially at the close, when He died on the cross. Jesus’ spiritual suffering was also severe. His soul was exceedingly troubled in the garden. He felt forsaken of God on the cross.

There was purpose in Jesus’ suffering. He sustained the wrath of Cod against sin. God’s wrath was very severe. God’s curse upon sin had to be met by the Savior. Christ sustained God’s curse and received the blow of sin for His people. It is sufficient only for the elect from eternity, that they may accept Him only by true faith. Jesus was always conscious of the supreme price which He had to pay for sin. He said,” As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up.” He alone could qualify as our Mediator, and of necessity He died to atone for His people. Jesus was not a martyr, though He was an object of public vengeance. He Himself said to Peter,” The cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” He said as it were,” No man taketh My life from Me, but I lay it down Myself.” Jesus fulfilled all righteousness; He humbled Himself and voluntarily offered His life for His people.

Dear reader, we haven’t laid our sins upon Jesus Christ; we do not want that and we are not able to do that. We are dead in trespasses and sins. But the Father of His only-begotten Son did it. Jesus Christ was the sufferer for the sins of guilty people. The wrath of God is an undivided wrath. But the application can only be received by those who may learn first to flee to the throne of grace— and that through soul-saving faith. Listen to the Lord Jesus:” Ye will not come to Me.” The Word of God teaches us clearly that Christ offered Himself for His people, for those given Him by the Father. The cause of the suffering and death of Christ lies in our terrible sins against a holy and righteous God.

Jesus suffered in body and soul, in His human nature. The Godhead couldn’t suffer and die. He bore the punishment of a righteous God as if He were a sinner. He suffered to give poor people life. He bore the burden of God’s wrath all the time He lived on earth, and especially on the tree He lamented,” My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even unto death.” He entered into death as the Lamb to satisfy God’s justice; as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to bruise Satan’s head, being confident of His victory. He could say in uprightness of heart,” I have finished the work which Thou gavest Me to do” (Jn. 17:4). He was the only sacrifice which could satisfy and please His righteous Father in heaven.” Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows.” God’s child may know this by faith—given faith.

“By whose stripes ye were healed,” says our text. He was condemned not because of His own sins, but because of our guilt; that His unjust condemnation might take the place of our most righteous condemnation; that the prophecies might be fulfilled that by His enemies He was nailed on the cross. Under all this the Lord Jesus remained to the end, holy, guiltless, undefiled, separate from sinners. The righteousness of God demands that satisfaction be rendered to the injured majesty of God, that the penalty be paid.

Dear friends, the wrath of God is a terrible thing. But the great wonder is that through the suffering of the Lord Jesus,” His anger endureth but a moment; in His favour is life” (Ps. 30:5). What a great blessing it would be if there were more the experience in our hearts of” Cursed is every one who continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them.” Then, my friends, we would have to say,” Oh God, there is no hope for me! I am too great a sinner.” But hear then of the wonder, through the work of the suffering Christ, in Galatians 3:13,” Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

Our text speaks of the fruit of the suffering of Christ,” by whose stripes ye were healed.” Isaiah said,” And he bare the sins of many and made intercession for the transgressors.”

Christ saves from death, hell, and damnation. He suffered for the sins of His people in soul and body. How we have to fear for the result of sin, namely hell! But His people do not come in hell. He was in hell for them, and closed the door to all eternity.

We ask you: Are you, people of God, able to make yourselves happy, and can you bring yourselves in heaven? No, you cannot, but He opened the heavens for true beggars because He is the Lamb without blemish and without spot. If we learn these lessons, then our walk on earth will be different, then our talk will be different, and then we will seek the things above where Christ is. Oh, that there were more a longing in the hearts of the children of God to be sinless through Him who suffered and died for such great sinners! The wrath of God is universal since our deep fall in Adam, but grace is particular, grace is special, and it can only be learned by the work of the Word and Spirit in our hearts.

The Lord Jesus suffered in both body and soul that He might redeem our bodies and souk from everlasting damnation.

Children, is there sometimes in your heart a prayer to be a child of the Lord Jesus? It would be the best way for you. Then you could learn to hate sin and to walk in the way of the Lord.

Young people, is there sometimes a question in your heart:” Will the Lord think of me? I have forgotten Him; I have heard of Him out of the Bible, in catechism class, in church. But I have to say, that until now I have sought my own pleasure in the world.” Oh, that I could bind it upon your soul! We have but one life. And if our soul is lost, all is lost!

Fathers, mothers, grandparents, we go to eternity, and the Lord says in his dear testimony that the heart of the wicked is little worth (Prov. 10). Remember that Christ gave us an example, to walk in his ways. And only through grace may we learn to flee from sin, and to bear with patience the sufferings which come over us through sin.

The Lord Jesus suffered in both body and soul that He might redeem our bodies and souls from everlasting damnation. His redemption is complete. If God opens our hearts then our old manner of life and conversation will be crucified with Him and the corrupt inclinations of the flesh will no more reign in us. We must be crucified with Christ.

Dear reader, may the Lord make us servants of Christ; yes, give us a dying life to sin, a dying life to ourselves — that we might live near to God. Once there will be no more sins, no more sufferings, no more tears, no more sorrow. And then will be fulfilled what the psalmist said:” They that sow in tears, shall reap with joy.” We wish you wholeheartedly God’s blessing as you travel to eternity.

“I Will Never Leave Thee”

O Zion, afflicted with wave upon wave,
Whom no man can comfort, whom no man can save;
With darkness surrounded, by terrors dismay’d,
In toiling and rowing thy strength is decay d.

Loud roaring the billows now nigh overwhelm,
But skilfu Vs the Pilot who sits at the helm,
His wisdom conducts thee, His power thee defends,
In safety and quiet thy warfare He ends.

“O fearful! O faithless!” in mercy He cries,
“My promise, My truth, are they light in thine eyes?
Still, still I am with thee, My promise shall stand,
Through tempest and tossing FU bring thee to land.

“Forget thee I will not, I cannot, thy name
Engraved on My heart doth for ever remain:
The palms of My hands whilst I look on I see
The wounds I received when suffering for thee.

“I feel at My heart all thy sighs and thy groans,
For thou art most near Me, My flesh and My bones,
In all thy distresses thy Head feek the pain,
Yet all are most needful, not one is in vain.

“Then trust Me, and fear not; thy life is secure;
My wisdom is perfect, supreme is My power;
In love I correct thee, thy soul to refine,
To make thee at length in My likeness to shine.

“The foolish, the fearful, the weak are My care,
The helpless, the hopeless, I hear their sad prayer:
From ali their afflictions My glory shall spring,
And the deeper their sorrows, the louder they’ll sing.”

—James Grant, 1784

Rev. A.W. Verhoef is pastor of the Netherlands Reformed Congregation (Gereformeerde Gemeente) of Beekbergen, The Netherlands.

Deze tekst is geautomatiseerd gemaakt en kan nog fouten bevatten. Digibron werkt voortdurend aan correctie. Klik voor het origineel door naar de pdf. Voor opmerkingen, vragen, informatie: contact.

Op Digibron -en alle daarin opgenomen content- is het databankrecht van toepassing. Gebruiksvoorwaarden. Data protection law applies to Digibron and the content of this database. Terms of use.

Printen