The Death of God

Introduction

Heb. 2:14-15. Pg. 1002

We come together tonight to celebrate what we call, Good Friday

It is a celebration of the death of our God

The Christian religion is full of paradoxes and mystery, isn’t it?

One mystery; God died?

How is such a thing possible? Is immortality not an essential property of divinity?

A second mystery, if it were possible for God to die, how could we celebrate such a thing?

Is not mourning a more appropriate response?

Our God did die, and yes it should be celebrated, because in His death, eternal life has been secured for us

Read Text

Hebrews 2:14–15 “Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.”

Thesis:

Christ entered the world to die, thus destroying the dominion of Satan and liberating the children of God

Sharing in Flesh and Blood

It is appropriate for us to zoom out a little bit to get the whole picture of what the author of the book of Hebrews is teaching

We can do so simply by going back to Hebrews 2:10

“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.”

God, the One for Whom and by Whom all things exists, desired to bring many sons to glory.

He Became One of Us

And so, since God has determined that He would save these, His children.

And since these children all share in flesh and blood; i.e. they are human, He ( the Son of God) also partook of the same things.

This is what Christians have called the incarnation

In the fullness of time, the Son of God assumed to Himself a body and reasonable soul and became a man.

The Mystery of God Become Man

God, seeing us in sin and rebellion and death desired to save us, and He did so by becoming one of us

The second person of the Trinity, the Son of God, who the scriptures clearly teach to be God Himself; not a creature, or an angel, or a man, condescended to take upon himself our own nature, while still remaining God and not in any way laying aside His godness.

God dove into the sea of our misery as one of us to rescue us from that misery

Why did He become like us?

He Became One of us so that He might Die

v. 14 He partook of the same things so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death

The heinous perverted and wicked deeds that we perpetrate daily are deserving of death

But God determined that He would die so that we would not

There’s that ancient problem: How does God die? He cannot

His very nature is infinite and boundless being. He is the Great I Am

By definition of who He is as God, He cannot cease to exist.

It is not only a logical impossibility. It is also a practical impossibility

Because it is impossible for anything else to exist if God’s existence ceased

Rom. 17:28 Because in Him we live and move and have our being

Hebrews 1:3 “He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.”

God’s death is impossible… unless, He were to assume unto Himself another nature, not divine, but created.

Even human

This human nature of the divine person could die.

Or more accurately stated, the divine Son of God could die according to His human nature.

This is why He became man. This is why he partook of flesh and blood.

He became a man to die

And this is what we remember tonight

To Destroy

Why did He willingly go to that cross?

Why did He suffer such agony?

What did His death accomplish?

The text here shows us the two things He did through His death

He Destroyed

He Delivered

The Scriptures Speak of Satan as the ruler of this World

This present fallen creation is his domain

And His goal is twofold

To thwart the plans of God and torment the souls of men

His desire has been the death of man

And He exercises dominion over man and torments man through death

He made an entrance for death in the beginning

God said, “The day you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Satan said, “You shall not surely die.”

Because of the devil’s schemes, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and death spread to all men

So, the apostle Paul says that death reigns

And it’s reign is pervasive.

It does not merely haunt us in our winter years

It’s reign of terror permeates all of our days.

It’s claws reach out from the future grave and into the present through the fear of its inevitability.

It taints even our greatest joys

This is why v. 15 says we were subject to lifelong slavery through the fear of death.

Subjugated in life, devoured in death

Death is Satan’s Most powerful Weapon

He cause us to grieve and mourn because it has taken our dearest ones

We fear it our whole lives

And we will eventually all succumb to it

It is through the fear of death that we are lifelong slaves v. 15

We try to distract ourselves from death’s reality

We make ourselves busy, we become addicts, we amuse ourselves to death.

All so we can ignore its certain arrival

But ignoring it doesn’t make it go away.

In fact, there’s nothing we can do to make it go away.

This is our reality, our problem, our enslavement.

But we have a savior.

God Himself has stepped into our prison of death to set us free.

He suffered the same fear, the same pain, the same agony.

He breathed His last, the gave up the ghost, and entered into death so that the power of death would be abolished for us.

He suffered death to the uttermost. Even the abandonment and wrath of God

The death He underwent will never be experienced by those who trust in Him

Christ used Satan’s most powerful weapon against him to destroy him

v. 14b that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil

He pierced him with his own sword

In dying, our Lord removed the curse of death

To Deliver

No longer enslaved to the fear of Death

We will all die one day.

It is a reality.

But death no longer holds any terror for us

Because we have been freed

It has no more power or dominion over us than it had over our deliverer.

Death could not hold him and it will not hold us either

The chains of fear with which death had bound us are broken

And now, because Christ died, death is no longer our tormentor but rather our friend sent to guide us into the presence of our Savior

“If we remember that this unstable, vicious, corruptible, perishable, decaying, and rotten tabernacle of our flesh will be undone in order to be subsequently renewed in constant, perfect, incorruptible, and –in sum– heavenly glory, then faith will compel us to fervently desire that very death which nature dreads. If we remember that through death we are recalled from exile to dwell at home –indeed, our heavenly home– what can this thought produce but comfort?” -John Calvin

so the apostle Paul exclaims, 1Cor. 15:54-55 “Death is swallowed up in victory.“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”

In His death, Christ has achieved victory over our greatest foes.

Sin, the devil, and death.

And so, our death is no longer our defeat, but it is our victory, and it is our entrance into the blessed presence of the One who has liberated us from our bondage

Conclusion

Our God took upon himself flesh and blood that he might suffer and die as a man

And in so doing, He has defeated the ancient serpent, He has removed the sting of death, and He has granted us everlasting freedom and eternal life

Everyone fears death. Are your fears legitimate?

What is on the other side of your last breath?

If you are not trusting Christ, a greater death is on the other side of your last breath.

So turn from your sins, trust in God, and the death of Christ will be your everlasting life