Death. Not a pleasant word, is it? Perhaps it brings to mind a loved one who has died. Perhaps this word makes you uncomfortable because you know that unless Christ returns first, you also are going to die. Or perhaps this word simply reminds you of the horrible reality of sin. After all, if there were no sin, there would be no death.

Death: not a happy word. But now, let’s change the term a bit. Instead of considering that one word by itself, let’s join it with another. Or more precisely, let’s add a name: Christ’s death.

That changes the whole picture, doesn’t it? All of a sud­den, instead of something nega­tive, we’re talking about something immensely positive. Instead of despair, there is hope. Instead of dread, there is joy.

Incredible, isn’t it? Death in and of itself is not something we like to think about. But Christ’s death is something we can revel in all day.

Not that we are sadists who find twisted pleasure in the death of our God and Savior. Rather, what Christ accomplished by dying on the cross, this is what we celebrate.

A Necessary Death⤒🔗

We might ask ourselves, though: did Christ really have to die? Yes. It was necessary because of the justice of God. It was made nec­essary by our sin and guilt, the sin that we and our children are born with, the sin that is ours from the time we were conceived.

But couldn’t God simply have said, “OK, all you sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, I know you’re all guilty. But don’t worry, I’ve decided to forgive you. There, that’s the end of the mat­ter.”

No, it was not enough to simply make such a declaration. God is a just God. He is a righteous God. And a righteous, just, holy God simply cannot overlook sin. Because of who God is, and because of what sin is, sin must be punished.

So sin had to be punished. But punished by death? Wouldn’t it have been enough to hurt Christ badly? Was there not a point be­fore he died where God could have said, “All right, no more. You’ve suffered long enough, sin is paid for. I’m stopping this cruci­fixion right now.”

Or how about like when Abraham was about to sacrifice his son Isaac. God stopped Abraham just before he reached the point of actually killing his son. “Yes Jesus, I see now that you are willing to sacrifice yourself. Just knowing this is enough. You can come down from the cross now.” No, that would not have been enough. Nothing short of death could pay the price.

We read in Genesis 2:16-17 God saying to Adam and Eve before they sinned, “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” You shall surely die. The punishment for sin must be death. Only death would do.

The Old Testament peo­ple of Israel were vividly re­minded of this truth every time they offered up an animal as a sacrifice. It wasn’t enough sim­ply to cut the animal to extract some blood, and then let it re­cover. It had to die. Death was the necessary result of sin.

Of course, the death of animals cannot pay for man’s sin. The sacrifice to death of bulls and goats could only serve to remind the people of the ne­cessity of death. Those sacri­fices could only point to the one perfect sacrifice, the one perfect death, of the Christ who was to come.

But getting back to the necessity of Christ’s death, con­sider this: if there had been any other way for the sins of God’s people to be paid for, if any other solution had been possible, don’t you think God would have done it? Consider how terrible it was for God to have to offer up his only beloved Son as an atoning sacrifice. But He did it, because it was necessary.

There are many people who don’t like the teaching that God had to satisfy the demands of his anger against sin with the death of Christ on the cross. It doesn’t seem to fit in with their whole notion of God being a lov­ing God. They think this makes God into a heartless, cruel God who enjoys suffering.

But the thing is, it is the cross itself that shows more clearly than anything else that God is in fact a loving God. Think about the alternative: if God did not need to appease His wrath, then there was no real need for Christ to go all the way to death. If that was the case, then God really had no good reason to make His Son suffer the way He did. God would then be a vindic­tive, vicious God who made His Son die just because He felt like it.

This is not the case at all. God is a God of wrath, but He loves us so much that He was will­ing to take that anger upon Him­self. That’s how great His love really is. He offered up His Son, in spite of the terrible cost, be­cause of His rich mercy and grace. Thanks be to God.

A Real Death←⤒🔗

But perhaps some, in a desperate attempt to try to turn God into someone who is more politically correct, might then say, “All right, you say God had to punish sin with death, therefore Christ died on the cross. But I say that Christ didn’t really die, at least not in the way that the Bible describes. The idea that God would have to actu­ally kill his Son in such a way is atrocious; therefore Christ didn’t die on the cross.”

How can you respond to such thinking, except to say that Christ did in fact die. He died as part of the plan of the just God. His death was confirmed by expert killers.

He went through the nor­mal rituals that accompany death. He was buried. The gospels make a point of stressing this par­ticular fact. He went to the grave.

He really died. There is no getting around it. You can’t say He was just faking it. You can’t say He was never fully human, so He could never really die. You can’t say His Father let Him off with anything less than the full punishment for sin. No getting off on a technicality, no time off for good behavior, no postponement for appeal. He really died, right then, right there, plain and simple. He really paid the ransom. He really appeased the wrath of an angry God whose holiness re­quired the penalty of full and com­plete death.

A Consequential Death←⤒🔗

Hebrews 2:9 talks about how Christ tasted death for everyone, meaning everyone who is one of God’s children, everyone who is saved. He tasted death for all who are truly Christians. He experienced the death that should have fallen upon them.

This being the case, it would be logical to assume that Christ undergoing death for us means that we do not have to taste death ourselves. Death is punishment for sin, Christ paid that punishment for us, so there­fore there is no more need for Christians to die.

That might be sound logic, but as we are all painfully aware, it does not at all correspond to real­ity. Death is still very much a part of our existence.

Why? Death was sup­posed to have been conquered, done away with. We read in 2 Timothy 1:10 - “Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.” And yet, we still hurt, still grieve. We are still subject to death. If Christ has won for us life with his death, why do we still ex­perience the pain of death? There isn’t anyone, since Christ died and rose again, who in the long run has been able to resist the call of death. What gives?

The fact of the matter is, sin remains in the world. And we still suffer as a result of it. We are sinners in a sinful world, and the consequences of sin are still with us to a degree. Death will con­tinue to be with us until Christ re­turns and completely gets rid of sin and death.

Nevertheless, death really has lost its ultimate power. 1 Co­rinthians 15:55-57 —

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

But how can we say that death has lost its sting when it hurts us so much? Well, death will always hurt, it will always be something of an enemy. But when it comes right down to it, it’s become an ultimately power­less enemy.

In fact, the character of our death has completely changed because of Christ’s death. As the Heidelberg Cate­chism says, “Our death does not pay the debt of our sins, rather, it puts an end to our sinning and is our entrance into eternal life.” So, while death still causes grief, ultimately we know that death is not the end. It is just the begin­ning. Our death is the doorway to eternal life, because Christ opened that doorway with his death.

This does not necessar­ily mean that we look forward to dying. And it certainly does not mean that we do what we can to actively walk through that door­way. It’s not up to us when and how we are to enter into eternal life.

Our calling is to embrace life, to celebrate it. We must be pro-life in the truest and fullest sense of the word. And we must thank God for the gift of life.

Still, there is immense comfort in knowing that when this life is over, we will be with the Lord. There is comfort in knowing what Romans 8:38-39 tells us, that neither death nor life nor anything in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. One final thought: Christ’s suf­fering and death gives you the hope and the strength you need as you live the life He has blessed you with. Christ’s death gives you comfort as you live in His service. Imagine that: hope in the midst of suffering, as a result of suffering. You can be as­sured in spite of the struggles of life, because Christ suffered hell. He didn’t suffer it for nothing, but He suffered it for you, to deliver you.

As you go through life, there will be times of personal cri­sis and temptation. There will be times when you want to give up and give in. You’re tired of the fight. So much death all around, so many struggles. What’s the point? You wonder whether it’s really worth it.

Did Christ think it was worth it? Did Christ think you were worth it? Yes. You were worth dying for.

He died for you, because His love is so great, so great that He would suffer the torments of hell of your behalf. Think about it. He offered His life for you, so that you can look at death and all of its implications right in the face and say, “death, you have lost your sting, you have no ultimate power over me.”

It’s no wonder that when we think of Christ’s death, our hearts can sing. Thanks be to God for that death, and for the life that death has won for us.