According to the requirement of God’s righteous law, man should perish. In order to redeem man God Himself became a man to be our Redeemer. He stood in the position of a sinner and died on the cross as our Substitute to suffer God’s righteous judgment and be punished on our behalf by suffering the pain of death.
John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This Word is the Lord Jesus. Verse 14 says, “And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us...full of grace and reality.” Verse 29 says, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” From these three verses we can see that the Lord Jesus was God, yet He became a man to shed human blood for us; He was the Lamb of God to take away our sin. If He had not become a man, He could not shed human blood, nor could He have the created flesh to die for us. He needed to have a real body, not an abstract one but a created one, so that He could shed the blood of a created man for us. In this way He could die for the created man, and the human blood which He shed could make redemption for man’s sins.
In the Old Testament age, when the children of Israel slaughtered bulls and goats to offer as sacrifices, the blood which was shed was only a sign and could not take away sins (Heb. 10:4). This was because bulls and goats are not human beings and therefore could not die for men. Likewise, the blood of bulls and goats could not make propitiation for man’s sins; only the human blood can do this. The Lord Jesus was God, yet He became a created man with a created body and had the blood of a created man. Therefore, He could die on the cross for us and shed human blood to make redemption for our sins.
Matthew 20:28 says that the Son of Man came “to give His life as a ransom for many.” Man has sinned and is under God’s condemnation. According to the requirement of God’s law, the world is under the condemnation of God’s righteousness and therefore needs a Substitute. The Lord Jesus became the Son of Man by putting on the body of flesh and blood and gave His life as a ransom on the cross for many.
Those who do not believe that the Lord Jesus was a created man are the antichrists referred to in 1 John 4:3. These antichrists were the Docetists, who denied that the Lord Jesus was God who became flesh to be a real man and who considered the body of the Lord Jesus to be not a real body of flesh and blood but a mere phantasm. This is a great heresy. We must confess that our Lord Jesus is God and the Creator, yet He became a creature with the body and the blood of a created man. Therefore, He could indeed be nailed on the cross and pierced in His side to flow out the genuine human blood, even the blood of a sinless man, to redeem us from sins and to clear our record of sins before God.
Based on the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross and the precious blood that He shed, God can declare forgiveness. As our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus was judged on our behalf according to God’s righteousness and fully paid the debt of our sins. This is why His blood is a declaration, announcing that God has forgiven all the sinners. If anyone calls upon the name of the Lord Jesus, based on the Lord’s name and the Lord’s blood, God will forgive him. This forgiveness is the issue of redemption.
The Lord Jesus was crucified and suffered on the cross for six hours, from 9:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. In the first three hours He was persecuted and humiliated by men for doing God’s will; in the last three hours after the noon hour, He was judged and punished by God to accomplish our redemption. It was during this time that God counted Him as our Substitute to suffer God’s punishment for our sins. Therefore, darkness fell over all the land, and the sun was darkened because our sin, our sins, and all negative things were placed upon Him and judged by God. It was in this time that He was also forsaken by God. Therefore, He cried out with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46). The Lord Jesus had said that God never left Him but was with Him all the time. Why then did God forsake Him at that time? Isaiah 53:6 says, “Jehovah has caused the iniquity of us all / To fall on Him.” Moreover, 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “Him who did not know sin He made sin on our behalf.” He not only bore the sins of the world but was also made sin on behalf of the world. For us, He became a sinner in the eyes of God. Therefore, God judged and forsook Him on the cross. From God’s point of view, He was the Substitute for all the sinners. He suffered for us the judgment that we deserved. In the last three hours on the cross the Lord Jesus bore the sins of the whole human race and suffered God’s righteous judgment. Finally, the great work of redemption was accomplished. The problem of the record of sins was solved, the question of the law was cleared, and all the barriers between God and man were removed. Therefore, He prayed with a loud voice, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). After He accomplished His redemptive work, He entered into rest.