Item number six says that the Triune God—the Son as the good shepherd, the Spirit as the fine woman, and the Father as the loving father—works together to seek, save, and receive the repentant sinners who turn to Him. In Luke 15 we have first a good shepherd that came to seek for the lost sheep. Next we have a fine woman that sought for the lost coin. These two seekings brought the sinner back, resulting in a loving father receiving the prodigal son. The prodigal son came to his senses, not due to himself, but due to the woman, who is the Spirit, whose enlightening is based on the good shepherd’s seeking. This results in the prodigal son coming to himself and returning. Finally, we even see the loving, waiting father receiving him back to his home. In this chapter we see the Triune God. The Son is the good shepherd, the Spirit is the fine woman, and the Father is the loving father. The Son came to redeem, the Spirit came to seek, and then the repentant sinner returns to the Father. Once the sinner repents to the Father, he is brought back in the Son to the Father, and the Father receives him with His loving hand. In this way we are brought back to the Father’s house to enjoy the eternal love of the Father. This is the Son, the Spirit, and the Father, the three working and cooperating together to seek, save, and receive the repentant sinner.
Item number seven says that the Triune God, the Son with the Father and by the Spirit, died and shed His blood for the sinners in the flesh of Jesus’ humanity, accomplishing the eternal redemption. Often we say that Jesus Christ died for us, yet we do not realize that the One who died for us is the Son with the Father by the Spirit. It was not just Jesus Christ who died for us; rather, it was the whole Triune God who died for us in the human flesh. This is a very mysterious matter, but it is all based on the Scriptures. You can read carefully Romans 8:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 Corinthians 15:3, and Hebrews 9:14, 12.
Item number eight says that when the Lord Jesus died on the cross to accomplish redemption for sinners, God forsook Him according to God’s economy. This was why He cried, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). On the cross He bore our sins and even became sin for us, suffering the righteous judgment of God. At that moment, God forsook Him as far as God’s economy is concerned. But as far as God’s essence is concerned, God was passing through the death of the cross together with Him, for the essence of God was forever in Him; it never departed from Him. Hence, according to His humanity in the flesh He was indeed crucified on the cross. But according to the Spirit of holiness, He was made even more alive! This is why 1 Peter 3:18 says, “Being put to death in flesh, but made alive in spirit.” Not only was His spirit made alive; verse 19 of the same chapter even says that by this spirit He went to prison to proclaim to the rebellious ones His victory. When the Lord Jesus died on the cross, it was the flesh of humanity that died shedding the human blood, but the divine Spirit was not put to death. On the contrary, it was made more alive.
Item number nine says that the blood of this God-man shed on the cross is the blood of Jesus the Son of God. First John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.” The blood of Jesus is genuine human blood. It was man that sinned; therefore, only the blood of man can cleanse the sins of man. Jesus was a man. The blood that He shed was genuine human blood and was qualified to redeem man from his sins. Not only so, here it does not say that this is “the blood of Jesus the Son of Man”; rather, it says that it is “the blood of Jesus the Son of God.” This proves that the human blood shed by Jesus has the guarantee of the unlimited power of God’s divinity. His unlimited divinity has made the redeeming efficacy of the human blood that He shed both eternal and unlimited. Therefore, the redemption that Christ has accomplished is an eternal redemption.
The death of the Lord Jesus is the death passed through by both God and man. The human blood that He shed is able to redeem man from sin. But this blood is also the blood of Jesus the Son of God which has the unlimited divinity of God, and it has made this redemption eternally efficacious. He died once for all, shedding His blood to redeem all those who believe in Him throughout the ages. The efficacy of the blood of Jesus the Son of God is universal, eternal, and it is not limited by time, space, or function.