Isaiah 53:12b says that Christ poured out His life unto death. The Hebrew word for life literally means "soul." Thus, the Lord poured out His soul unto death. This corresponds with the Lord's word in John 10:17-18: "I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it again. This commandment I received from My Father." In the Lord's death He laid down His life, and in His resurrection He received it back.
Christ poured out His human life to be an offering. Every offering, if it is a sacrifice, must be killed, and the blood must be poured out. No sacrifice that is still living can be an offering to God. Every sacrifice must be killed, and the blood must be shed. Then it can be an offering accepted by God. In His death Christ poured out His life in such a way.
Thus far, we can see that in Christ's crucifixion, man did something, God did something, and Christ Himself did something. Christ's crucifixion could not have been accomplished without the participation of any one of the three parties. Man did the murdering, the killing, but God carried out the legal judgment to kill Him as a legal Substitute that He might die a vicarious death for the ones for whom He died as a Substitute. Moreover, He Himself was willing to be such an offering. He made Himself that offering, and He poured out His life for that purpose.
Christ's crucifixion was for the accomplishing of God's eternal redemption (Heb. 9:12), that the believers in Christ may be redeemed (forgiven of sins—Acts 10:43, justified—Acts 13:39, and reconciled to God—Rom. 5:10) unto the life union in His resurrection, the reality of which is the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45b; Rom. 8:9b; Phil. 1:19b). Christ's redemption includes forgiveness of sins, justification, and reconciliation to God. As sinners, we all needed forgiveness and justification. We were not only sinners but also enemies of God; thus, we also needed reconciliation. Christ's redemption did all this for us. Christ's redemption accomplished the forgiveness of sins and justification for us, the sinners, and it also accomplished reconciliation for us, the enemies of God. These three things added together constitute Christ's redemption.
Redemption is unto a life union in Christ's resurrection. Romans 5:18 says that justification is "of life." This means that justification is for life, or unto life. We are justified that we may have life. This life is a life union in Christ's resurrection. In Christ's resurrection, which followed His crucifixion, we have life, and this life is a union. We enter into this union by being redeemed. Through Christ's redemption, we are justified unto this life union in His resurrection, the reality of which is the life-giving Spirit.
Christ's death was not merely a murder, nor was it a martyrdom; it was a redemption carried out by the Substitute for God's chosen people. It was Christ who bore our sin in total before God. Through such a death we were redeemed, forgiven of our sins, justified, and even reconciled to God. Such a redemption brings us into a life union in Christ's resurrection, and the reality of that resurrection is Christ Himself as the life-giving Spirit.
We all need to spend some time to know Christ in His four stages. Since we believe in Him as our Savior, have received Him as our Redeemer, and trust in Him as our life, we should know Him. Thank the Lord that there is a chapter, Isaiah 53, that tells us all these things concerning Christ, and thank Him that He has opened this chapter to us in such a way.