The Death of Death in the Death of Jesus Christ

The atheist philosopher Voltaire (1694-1788) once criticized Christianity as a “bloody religion.

The French philosopher felt Christians placed too much emphasis on blood, particularly the bloody death of its founder, Jesus Christ.

Many, like Voltaire, who read or hear the word "blood" only think of the red internal liquid of the human body. And thus, Christianity is called "a bloody religion."

Those who deem Christianity "bloody" misunderstand the significance of blood. In the Bible, blood is used as a synonym for life, and the loss of blood is a synonym for death.

For example:

"For life... is in the blood" (Leviticus 17:11) 

"Without the shedding of blood (ie, loss of life), there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22).

In the Old Covenant, the blood of the sacrificial animals played a prominent role in Jewish worship. 

From the priest dipping his fingers into the blood and sprinkling it on the ground and the altar to the various instructions for the use of the blood according to the kind of sacrifice being offered, blood was a predominant theme. 

However, there was no magic in the blood of the sacrificial animals, and there is no magic in the blood of Jesus Christ. 

The blood represents life, and the loss of blood represents death.

When Christians sing songs like Nothing But the Blood, or Are You Washed in the Blood?  or Oh, the Blood of Jesus, and There Is Power In the Blood, the thought processes of the worshipper often wrongly move toward the red liquid plasma in the body of Christ. 

We should be considering the death of Jesus Christ, not the red blood cells of our Savior. The shedding of Christ's blood is simply a synonym for His death. God, in His love for us, sent His Son to die in our place. 

It is not the actual blood of Jesus that saves us, it is the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ - conquering death for sinners - that saves us from the punishment of sin, which is death.

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried,that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. (I Corinthians 15:3).

Christ died willingly (voluntary). No man took His life, He laid it down for us (John 10:18). 

Christ died and took the punishment for sin (penal). The word penal, as in 'the penal system,' means "punishment" for offenders. 

"God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus." (Romans 3:25-28). 

Christ died as a Substitute for us, the real sinners (substitutionary). 

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." (II Corinthians 5:21). 

God punished the Son He loves with death so that He might remove the punishment of death for those who love His Son. He gives to those who embrace Christ the free gift of eternal life (Romans 6:23). 

Because the emphasis in Scripture is on God providing His Son to die for sinners, salvation from God's punishment is called "salvation by grace."

Sinners who believe in Christ "gain approval with God by faith" (Hebrews 11:39). 

Accountability to the Creator

Ultimately, the problem skeptics have with Christianity is the idea that God holds people accountable for their sins--or maybe to drill down even further--that there is even such a thing as sin.

 Yet, it is clear from logic and the logos (the Word) that God, that the righteous Judge of the universe, punishes with the sentence of death those who hate Him and harm others in this life.

What kind of judge would He be if He didn't?

Yet, God's punishment is not arbitrary or capricious. He is holy and righteous in all His actions. The punishment will always match the crime. 

This is why Scripture declares that the sentence pronounced by God for sinners varies according to one's sin (Matthew 10:15), but the end of all sinners is ultimately a death (Proverbs 14:12), called "the second death" (Revelation 21:8). This second death is different from the first death in that there is no resurrection - it is a final and eternal punishment. Notice, eternal punishment is a noun - once for all - not a verb. It is not eternal punishing, but eternal punishment. Death is final. 

John Stott came to the conviction that the judgment of God for sinners is eternal (eternal death). Stott believed God righteously judges sinners according to their sins, meting out sentences of judgment in various degrees and lengths, but in the end, every sinner experiences the second death. 

I am convinced that Scripture teaches eternal punishment (death), not eternal punishing (torment). The punishment is eternal; the punishing is temporal (after the Judgment). This difference is essential. 

On one hand, all the riches of God's grace are the possession of every believer in Christ. 

Christ died for our sins. He rose for our justification. All the rewards of Christ are ours because of His active obedience (His life) and His passive obedience (His death). As those who trust in the work of Christ, we become co-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). 

But those who answer for their sins themselves will receive judgment "according to their sins" with the final result for every sinner being "eternal death."

So the next time you sing about the blood, reflect on what it is that you are actually singing. The emphasis in Scripture is not on the red corpuscles in the body of Jesus as if they possess some magical powers...

The blood of Jesus Christ is His death.

Are you thankful for the gift of eternal life? Give thanks to Him who conquered the sentence of death in your place by His resurrection from the dead. One day, the First Fruits of Resurrection (Jesus the Anointed One) will raise His people to life eternal, and the wicked to Judgment and ultimately eternal death.

There is the death of death in the death of Christ for those who believe in Him.