The first qualification is that Jesus died as the Lamb of God. John 1:29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Jesus died as the Lamb of God to take away the aggregate, the totality, of sin and sins.
The second qualification of Jesus in dying on the cross is that He died in the likeness of the flesh of sin. In dying in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He was made sin for the believers (2 Cor. 5:21), and God condemned sin in the flesh through His death (Rom. 8:3).
The flesh of sin is just we, the fallen human beings. As fallen human beings, we all are the flesh of sin. If you were to ask me what I was before I was saved, I would answer that I was nothing but the flesh of sin. Now I would ask you to consider what you were before you were saved. You, too, need to realize that before you were saved you were nothing but the flesh of sin. When the Lord Jesus became flesh, He became a man like us. But within Him there was no sin. He was only in the likeness of the flesh of sin. He was not in the actuality, the reality, of the flesh of sin as we are. We are in the reality of the flesh of sin, but He was not. Romans 8:3 says that God sent His Son in the likeness of the flesh of sin. Being in the likeness of the flesh of sin was the second qualification of Jesus in dying on the cross.
The third qualification is that Jesus died on the cross in the form of the brass serpent. In John 3:14 the Lord Jesus said that He would be lifted up on the cross as Moses lifted up the brass serpent on a pole in the Old Testament (Num. 21:8-9). In dying on the cross in the form of the brass serpent, the Lord Jesus bruised the head of the old serpent, Satan (Gen. 3:15), and destroyed him (Heb. 2:14).
The fourth qualification is that Jesus died on the cross as the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45b). The last Adam denotes the last man, the last of mankind. Hallelujah, Jesus is the last of mankind! When He died as the last Adam, the old man was crucified with Him (Rom. 6:6).
The fifth qualification is that Jesus died as the Firstborn of all creation (Col. 1:15). This means that He was the first item of all the creatures. Some Christians would insist that the Lord Jesus is the Creator, but that He is not a creature. But this is not logical. Since Jesus is a man, is He not a creature? As God He is the Creator, and as man He is surely a creature. A man who has blood, bones, skin, and flesh is certainly a creature. In dying as the first item of all creation, the Lord Jesus terminated the old creation and tasted death on behalf of everything (Heb. 2:9). Thus, He redeemed all created things (Col. 1:20).
The sixth qualification is that the Lord Jesus died as the Peacemaker. As the Peacemaker, He abolished all the ordinances and made peace for the creation of the new man (Eph. 2:14-15). He is our peace, and He made peace for us. He is the Peacemaker.
The seventh qualification is that the Lord Jesus died as a grain of wheat to release the divine life for His propagation (John 12:24).
If we would understand the all-inclusive death of Christ, we need to realize that Christ died on the cross with these seven qualifications: He was the Lamb of God, He was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, He was in the form of the brass serpent, He was the last Adam, the last of mankind, He was the first item of all the creatures, He was the Peacemaker, and He was the grain of wheat. He was not simple; rather, He was all-inclusive. He died on the cross with these seven qualifications because He had to deal with a number of negative things. As the Lamb of God, He took away the totality of sin and sins. In the likeness of the flesh of sin, He was made sin for us. On the cross, in the eyes of God Christ was made sin for us. He did not know sin, yet He was made sin for us, and through His death God condemned sin in the flesh. This is a profound matter. To take away sin is one thing, but to be made sin and to have sin condemned is another thing.
Christ had to deal with sin, and He also had to deal with Satan, the old serpent. Therefore, in the form of the brass serpent He destroyed Satan. Then, when He died as the last Adam, our old man was crucified with Him. Furthermore, as one of the creatures He terminated the old creation. When He died on the cross, at the very moment of His death, the veil in the temple was torn (Matt. 27:50-51). On the veil cherubim were embroidered, representing all the creatures (2 Chron. 3:14; Ezek. 1:1-10; 10:14-15). When the veil was torn, all the creatures were also torn. This indicates that when Jesus died on the cross, all the creatures died with Him.
Jesus also died on the cross to make peace. He took away all the partitions and abolished all the ordinances, habits, and customs between different nations, especially the ordinances which separated the Jews from the Gentiles. Through His death on the cross Jesus abolished all these differences to make all peoples one Body in Christ to be the new man (Eph. 2:14-16). He also died as a grain of wheat to release the divine life within Him, that He might be multiplied, that He might be increased and propagated. How wonderful this is!
We all need to see that Christ died on the cross such an all-inclusive death with all His qualifications. He dealt with sin and sins, He caused sin to be condemned, He destroyed Satan, He had the old man crucified, He terminated the entire old creation, and He abolished all the differences between the nations. On the negative side He solved all the problems. Then on the positive side He released the divine life from within the shell of His humanity to produce many grains. These many grains are His multiplication, His propagation, in order to produce a Body for Himself. This is what He accomplished through His death.