According to the Bible, God’s first judgment on man was at the cross of Christ. Man’s sins were judged by God on the cross so that He could forgive and save man. Without judging man’s sins, God, as the Ruler of man, would have no way to forgive or save man. In order for God to forgive and save man, He had to judge man’s sins on the cross of Christ.
God’s judgment upon man at the cross of Christ occurred at the Lord’s death in the year A.D. 30 approximately.
1. “The Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him” (John 19:17-18).
God’s judgment of man at the cross of Christ occurred at a place called Golgotha in Hebrew, which means “skull.” Golgotha was translated into Latin as “Calvaria” and anglicized as “Calvary.” Golgotha was a small hill outside of Jerusalem.
1. “Jehovah was pleased to crush Him, to afflict Him with grief. / When He makes Himself an offering for sin” (Isa. 53:10).
The One who judged man at the cross of Christ was the righteous God. God crushed Christ, as the Substitute for man, and afflicted Him with grief as an offering for sin. It was God who judged and punished Christ on His cross. On the one hand, men nailed Christ on the cross to kill Him, but on the other hand, God crushed Christ on the cross and killed Him. According to the record of the Bible, during the first half of Christ’s time on the cross, from 9:00 A.M. until 12:00 noon, man was putting Him to death (Mark 15:25-33). During the second half of His time on the cross, from 12:00 noon until 3:00 P.M., God was striking and judging Him. When God forsook Him, darkness fell over all the land (Matt. 27:45-46).
2. “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21).
According to this verse God made Christ, who did not know sin, sin on our behalf. God judged us in Him.
3. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46).
Since Christ was our Substitute upon the cross and was struck with God’s judgment, God left Him and forsook Him. When Christ was without sin, God was absolutely pleased with Him and never left Him. But when Christ was made sin on our behalf on the cross, God forsook Him. This proves that when God was judging and punishing Him, He considered Christ as our Substitute.
1. “Christ also has suffered once for sins, the Righteous on behalf of the unrighteous” (1 Pet. 3:18).
On the cross Christ was judged by God as the believers’ Substitute. He suffered on the cross as the Righteous on behalf of us, the unrighteous. He was judged by God for our sins.
2. “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf” (2 Cor. 5:21).
Christ, who did not know sin, was made sin on our behalf on the cross to bear God’s judgment in our place.
3. “Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree” (1 Pet. 2:24).
Christ was hung upon the tree; that is, He was crucified on the cross to bear God’s judgment for us. Thus, He bore up our sins in His body on the tree.
4. “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf” (Gal. 3:13).
On the cross Christ became sin on our behalf, bore up our sins in His body, and was judged by God in our place; therefore, He became a curse on our behalf and was forsaken by God. He was not a martyr because God does not curse or forsake those who are martyred for His name. On the contrary, He is pleased with such ones and will remain with them. However, Christ was cursed by God on the cross and then forsaken by God. This proves that He was not a martyr; rather, He was our Substitute, bearing God’s judgment for our sin. As sinners, we should have been judged by God. Without Christ’s substitutionary death, we would have had to bear God’s judgment for our sins; instead, we were judged in Christ’s judgment on the cross on our behalf.
1. “The soul who sins, he shall die” (Ezek. 18:20).
God’s judgment of us at the cross of Christ was based upon the righteous requirement of His law. God judged Christ on our behalf because He is righteous and we are sinful. The righteousness of His law required Him to judge Christ for us. Without His judgment of Christ, we would have to die and perish eternally; that is, according to the righteous requirements of His law, we would have to die and perish eternally.
2. “Christ has redeemed us out of the curse of the law, having become a curse on our behalf” (Gal. 3:13).
The righteous requirement of God’s law is that sinners deserve death; this is related to the curse of the law. This requirement is according to God’s righteous condemnation. Because of this requirement, this condemnation, Christ became a curse upon the cross for our sake. Since Christ was cursed for us on the cross according to the righteous requirement of God’s law, we were redeemed out of the curse of the law. The judgment upon Christ on the cross satisfied the righteous requirement of God’s law. The law cannot place further requirements upon us, nor are we under the curse of the law. Now God can forgive and save us according to His righteousness.
God’s forgiveness and salvation must be righteously based upon the righteous judgment of His government. If Christ had not borne God’s righteous governmental judgment on our behalf and had not satisfied God’s righteous requirement on our behalf, God would have had no way to forgive us or save us. Since Christ did all this for us, God can forgive us and save us.