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“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning?”
The following is a summary of this week’s sermon. I want to encourage you to watch the sermon. I believe it to be one of the most important messages I have ever given. I believe it to be so because it gives you deep insight into the suffering of Christ on your behalf. The following article only covers one aspect I cover in the sermon. I pray the sermon is a blessing to you.
When Jesus died on the cross, he passed into Hades. God made him to be sin on the cross (1 Corinthians 5:21); therefore, he died the death of a person with that kind of nature. God made him like you on the cross, so in him, God could make you like Jesus in eternity. Why did God need to make Jesus like you?
Ephesians 4:9 (Now this, “He ascended”—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)
and
Hebrews 2:14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Jesus had to become human for a few reasons. Mankind has dominion over the earth, so a man had to restore what was lost. No man could, so God sent his son as a human. Jesus first lived perfectly, fulfilling the law for us. In perfectly fulfilling the law, he qualified to be a perfect substitutionary sacrifice for the penalty of breaking the law. As the perfect sacrifice, he also qualified to bear the full weight of sin, which is death.
Jesus bore the total penalty of the law, and endured the full effects of sin. The total effect includes dying and passing into Hades as a human. He passed into the depths of Hades as a human to suffer its power and to break that power on behalf of humanity.
But he initially didn’t pass into Hades victoriously. His initial experience was to suffer in that place, just like he suffered on the cross. That place has its own sufferings as we see in many prophetic Psalms.
In Acts 2, Peter sets the precedent that some of the Psalms of King David are the prophetic words of the Messiah. We gain insight into the Messiah’s experience on the cross and in the grave from that precedent.
Acts 2:22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know—23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. (Psalm 16:8-11 see below) 25 For David says concerning Him: ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad; Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope. 27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the ways of life; You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’ 29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’ (Psalm 110:1) 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Peter quotes Psalm 16 and Psalm 110 and directly explains that David was prophesying of the Messiah in Hades. Why do I say in Hades? Because the language supports that he will not be left in that place? It doesn’t indicate that he will not go to Hades, it indicates that he will not be abandoned or left there.
Jesus provides a complete deliverance and salvation. One in which he faced and conquered everything that could separate you from God. You don’t ever have to be afraid of death or hell (hades) because Jesus went there and overcame. The faith of Jesus is stronger than death, and that faith is alive in you. You can actually live from a power that is stronger than death. (that’s another sermon)
Psalm 22 is another place we gain insight into the suffering of the Messiah. Psalm 22 is reflected in the very words of Jesus in Matthew 27:46 and Mark 15:34.
Psalm 22 is called The Suffering, Praise, and Posterity of the Messiah. As you read it, recognize that Jesus endured the cross and even death in Hades for you to set you free from sin and death. Read this Psalm as a meditative exercise, connect with his suffering for you. Read it slowly and imagine him in the grave, breaking the power of death and hell for you.
Psalm 22:1 My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning? 2 O My God, I cry in the daytime, but You do not hear; And in the night season, and am not silent. 3 But You are holy, Enthroned in the praises of Israel. 4 Our fathers trusted in You; They trusted, and You delivered them. 5 They cried to You and were delivered;They trusted in You, and were not ashamed. 6 But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7 All those who see Me ridicule Me; They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, 8 “He trusted in the Lord, let Him rescue Him; Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”
Psalm 18 is another Psalm that is a prophetic cry of the Messiah from the grave. The profound aspect of Psalm 18 is it also gives us insight into the Messiah’s experience of being rescued and resurrected from the grave.
Psalm 18:4 The pangs of death surrounded me, And the floods of ungodliness made me afraid. 5 The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; The snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the LORD, And cried out to my God; He heard my voice from His temple, And my cry came before Him, even to His ears. 7 Then the earth shook and trembled; The foundations of the hills also quaked and were shaken, Because He was angry. 8 Smoke went up from His nostrils, And devouring fire from His mouth; Coals were kindled by it. 9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet. 10 And He rode upon a cherub, and flew; He flew upon the wings of the wind. 11 He made darkness His secret place; His canopy around Him was dark waters And thick clouds of the skies. 12 From the brightness before Him, His thick clouds passed with hailstones and coals of fire. 13 The LORD thundered from heaven, And the Most High uttered His voice, Hailstones and coals of fire. 14 He sent out His arrows and scattered the foe, Lightnings in abundance, and He vanquished them. 15 Then the channels of the sea were seen, The foundations of the world were uncovered At Your rebuke, O LORD, At the blast of the breath of Your nostrils. 16 He sent from above, He took me; He drew me out of many waters. 17 He delivered me from my strong enemy, From those who hated me, For they were too strong for me. 18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity, But the LORD was my support. 19 He also brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me.
He suffered our death and experienced what we should have in Hades to give us the victory. He rendered demons powerless. He gained all authority. And he even preached the Gospel to those who died before him, giving them a chance to be saved through him.
Colossians 2:15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, 19 by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, 20 who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Revelation 1:17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. 18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.
This is a deep and profound aspect of the atonement. I pray you will watch the sermon and allow me to walk you through even more of what happened in the grave. I pray this insight helps you gain more of a sense of value and worth to God because you see the lengths to which Christ suffered to gain you as an eternal family member. May you know your worth to your Heavenly Father, and may you never again be afraid of death or hell.
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