What did Christ do with that body?
The following illustration shows exactly, what Christ did with that body. But we will now investigate the issue even more deeper. As we continue to search for how Christ saved us.
As the 2nd Adam, whatever Christ did would affect the whole human race because, He was not just one man anymore, but the "many in one" as the Biblical Solidarity concept teaches.
Remember why we are suffering here on this earth, because of what the 1st Adam did while we were still "in him" at his creation (Gen 2:7). And you may recall what God said at his creation (Gen 5:1-2), that "He called Adam, Mankind" not just one man, but the whole human race (Acts 17:26).
When Adam sinned, the door was open for the whole human race to do likewise. With Adam, we all have sinned. When Jesus died, the entire human race died with Him. We are one with Jesus. If we accept the fact that He has already paid the price for our sins, we may receive the freedom from guilt He offers.[1]
Image #1
II Cor 5 (v. 14) ....because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died....
How did all die, if only one man died?
....Because, God united the divine life of his Son, with our corporate condemned life, that needed redeeming ( I cor 1:30 ). ***To review it again, click here***
For 33 years Jesus obeyed the law perfectly without even one flaw....But that itself did not make Christ our righteousness even though that obedience was perfect. After doing that He took that humanity to the cross and He surrendered that humanity to the wages of sin. On the cross He said, “It is finished.” When He died it wasn’t one Man dying instead of all men; it was all men dying in one Man.[2]
Let us take a look at what the Apostle Paul has to say in the book of Galatians.
Image #2
Gal 2 (v. 20) I have been crucified with Christ....
Tell me, was he one of those two people that were crucified with Christ?
Take a look for yourself, in Matt 27: 37-38 (the two robbers were crucified with Christ).
So then, what was the Apostle Paul talking about?
He is telling us that when Christ died, he also died!!
By uniting Christ’s divinity with the corporate humanity of the human race that needed redeeming, Christ became the last Adam. Since we are, by the incarnation, “in Christ” by God’s act, His obedience can legally be credited to us....Christ’s humanity was not the humanity of one person. In Him, all humanity was gathered together so that when He obeyed the law and when He died on the cross, it was not one man obeying and dying instead of all men, but all men obeyed and died in one Man. The death of Christ, the obedience of Christ, was a corporate death and a corporate obedience.[3]
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We all were “in Christ”, when He was crucified; and so we all died with Him on the cross!!
Now let’s look at what the book of Timothy has to say about dying in Christ:
II Tim 2 (v. 11) This is a faithful saying, for if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
How important is this to believe for our salvation?
Rom 6 (v. 8) Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.
If we don’t believe that we have died with Christ, then we can’t expect to live with Him; because its all about what Jesus has done for us.
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What change happened to Christ because of this joining with mankind?
II Cor 5 (v. 21) For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us,...
How could He be made sin for us?
....Because, God united the divine life of his Son, with our corporate condemned life,
that needed redeeming ( I cor 1:30 ). ***To review it again, click here***
Wait a minute, if Christ was made sin, then He would need a savior Himself!
(....some would argue....)
Image #5
That is why, when the bible talks about the humanity of Christ, it has to use a qualifying word. Here are some examples:
- John 1: 14―He was made flesh (KJV)
- II cor 5: 21―He was made sin
- Gal 4: 4―He was made of a woman (KJV)
The word made means that He was “given” something that did not belong to Him by native right.
Jesus was born from a virgin without having a human father so that he would not have the inherited sin nature that comes through the seed of the man. Jesus is the only human born who is not a seed of Adam. Jesus was not in Adam when Adam sinned.[4] ***For more detailed information about this: click on this link***
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Christ had to “put on” the nature of what He came to redeem!!
Sin did not belong to Him, but it belonged to us; So He had to conquer sin in the flesh.
Rom 8 (v. 3) ....God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh.
He could not have condemned sin in the flesh, if it was outside of himself. He had to "put on" like a jacket, this fleshly nature that loves sin and deal with it.
Remember, the battle exists in the mind....it is a process, step-by-step....
Jam 1 (v. 14) But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. (v. 15) Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.
The bottom line is that, God has to be ethical in the salvation process!!
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What was the result of the joining of these two lives “in Christ”?
II Cor 5 (v. 21) ....that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
....Christ steps in and passes over the ground where Adam fell, enduring every test in man’s behalf. He redeems Adam’s disgraceful failure and fall by coming forth from the trial untarnished. This places man on vantage ground with God. It places him where, through accepting Christ as his Saviour, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature. Thus he becomes connected with God and Christ.[6]
What was the final result of this corporate joining?
Not only did we die "in him" on the cross, but we also were raised up together "in Christ."
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Eph 2 (v. 4) But God,...because of His great love....(v. 5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ....(v. 6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places "in Christ" Jesus.
We were raised up to heavenly places because, we are "in Christ" Jesus.
This is why we don't have to spend our entire lifetime trying to make it to heaven!!
In the next section, we will discover how Christ qualified to be our substitute and representative.
References:
1. Mark Finley, (1995). Beyond Orion’s Gates, p.138. Hart Research Center
2. Vineyard Ministries. “The In Christ Motif” Tape 7B. The Gospel in a Nutshell, Audiocassette.
3. Vineyard Ministries. “The Two Adams” Tape 6B. Romans, The Clearest Gospel of All. Audiocassette.
4. Cheryl Schatz, (2008). http://www.strivetoenter.com/wim/2008/03/10/circumcision-the-woman-and-the-kinsman-redeemer/
5. E.G. White, Selected Messages (book 3), p. 141-142
6. E.G. White, Bible Commentary (vol.6), p.1074
Image #1: The Gospel of Grace Ministries, (2015). Jesus came to destroy the power of sin. Retrieved from https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/jesus-came-destroy-power-sin-kim-balogh
Image #2: Butterflies in time, (2014). Two thieves next to Christ. Retrieved from http://buterfliestime.blogspot.com/
Image #3: Looking at the Bible from beginning to end, (n.d.). We believe that we shall also live with Him. Retrieved from http://slideplayer.com/slide/6182558/
Image #4: Ye Must Be Born Again!, (2016). He took my sin. Retrieved from http://www.jesusisprecious.org/fundamentals/born_again.htm
Image #5: Woman in Ministry, (2008). No human father and no personal sin, equals the spotless Lamb of God. Retrieved from http://strivetoenter.com/wim/2008/03/10/circumcision-the-woman-and-the-kinsman-redeemer/
Image #6: Diana Leagh Matthews, (2016). Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus. Retrieved from http://dianaleaghmatthews.com/joseph-witnesses-birth-jesus/
Image #7: Christ the Truth, (2008). Nicea comes before Chalcedon. Retrieved from https://christthetruth.wordpress.com/2008/05/28/nicea-comes-before-chalcedon/
Image #8: Milton Goh Blog, (2016). Crucified, Buried, Seated with Christ. Retrieved from http://www.miltongoh.net/miltons-blog/archives/06-2016
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