The Death of Christ

Christ’s Redeeming Death

In order to redeem fallen man for His purpose, God came in the Son through incarnation to be the Lamb of God (John 1:1, 14, 29). As the spotless Lamb of God offering Himself to the Father as our substitute, Christ died on the cross and shed His blood to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). First Peter 1:18-20 reveals that Christ was foreordained, prepared before the foundation of the world by God to be the redeeming Lamb. This means that the death of Christ was not an afterthought, but rather an integral component of God’s original design.

God’s Purpose
It is critical that we see Christ’s redemption in the larger context of God’s purpose. Did God redeem man only because man was a sinner otherwise destined to perish? Or did God have a loftier purpose in redemption? The Bible reveals that God’s purpose for man is eternal, predating the fall, and that Christ’s redemption is one step—an essential step—in its fulfillment. According to this purpose, God wants to be intimately united with man by entering into man as life (Gen. 2:2-9, 16-17). But due to his fall, man lost his qualification to receive the righteous, holy, and glorious God. He therefore needed to be redeemed in order to become a suitable vessel for the life of God. This is similar to the need to cleanse a dirty cup before pouring a beverage into it. The Bible reveals that man, like the cup, is a vessel, a container (Rom. 9:20-24). As a case in point, the Lord Jesus specifically designated Paul as a “chosen vessel” unto Him. Also, as Paul himself later testified, “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Cor. 4:7), referring to the Christ of glory (the treasure) within the believers (the earthen vessels). Vessels have a function unlike that of instruments or tools: they are meant to be filled. But unless fallen man is washed through redemption, God cannot enter into him. Christ’s redemption of man is for God’s life-impartation into man.

The Tree of Life
In his original, sinless state in the garden of Eden, man was entitled to eat of the tree of life. After his fall in chapter three of Genesis, however, man forfeited this privilege. God therefore stationed cherubim with a flaming sword in front of the tree of life to guard it from sinful man. The tree of life represents God as the source of the divine life to man. The cherubim with the flaming sword guarding the tree of life represent the requirements of God’s righteousness (sword), holiness (flame), and glory (cherubim). Accordingly, Paul pointed out that “there is none righteous, not even one…. for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:10, 23). But through His death on the cross, Christ fully satisfied the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory that man may once again receive the life of God. Hence, when Christ came, He declared, “I have come that they [redeemed humanity] may have life and may have it abundantly (John 10:10b). By this statement, Christ indicated that through His death, He will restore to man the riches of the tree of life.

Christ Dwelling in the Believers to Unite Them with God
According to Colossians 3:5, Christ is the believers’ life. Christ came into the believers to be their life inwardly, that He might begin to dwell within them, and gradually bring them into a complete union with God in Christ. The Lord Jesus prophesied concerning this mutual indwelling to be accomplished on the day of His resurrection: “In that day you shall know that I am in the Father and you in Me and I in you” (John 14:20). Paul prayed that, based on this initial indwelling, Christ would go on to make His home in the believers’ hearts (Eph. 3:17). In his epistles, Paul also frequently directed the believers to the indwelling Christ, with phrases such as “Christ in you” (Col. 1:27); “Christ is in you” (Rom. 8:10); “Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20); and “Jesus Christ is in you” (2 Cor. 13:5); that through Christ and in Christ, the believers may be joined to God (Eph. 2:18; John 14:10; 17:21). Thus, the goal of Christ’s redemption is not merely to save fallen sinners from hell or perdition, but much rather, through the forgiveness of sin, the impartation of life, and Christ’s indwelling, to bring them into union with the Triune God. Following redemption, believers are regenerated with the divine life (1 Pet. 1:3) that they may eventually be transformed by life (2 Cor. 3:18), glorified by life (Phil. 3:21) and ultimately, be built up in the divine life into the Body of Christ (Eph. 4:16). This comprehensive lifelong process cannot begin without the initial step of the redemption of Christ.

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