When God the Father, our Creator, found
Himself confronted with a world [this fallen planet] that had
rebelled against Him, He did the unthinkable: He frankly forgave
us all!
This astonished the unfallen universe.
He sent His only Son, GAVE Him, to die our
second death.
The death of Jesus was infinitely more than a
weekend of sleep (which any crucified person would appreciate;
crucifixion did not kill people, it merely tortured them); the
kind of death that Jesus died was what He described when He
screamed on His cross, "My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" The
death that Jesus died is God-forsakenness. That's what hell is.
He knew He was dying our second death; He knew
He was entering hell for us--the hell that has no ending, no
light at the end of its dark tunnel.
Someone may object, "but He was resurrected
the third day!" This understanding that many have diminishes the
sacrifice of Christ and deprives us of the ability to appreciate
its grand dimensions.
Crucifixion is a terribly painful experience
but it is not lethal. Victims could live on for days, even
weeks. It's just torture. But Jesus knew that the death He was
dying is the unending hell--the "curse" of God.
Moses had said it truly, "He that is hanged
[on a tree] is accursed of God" (Deut. 21:23). Everybody
believed Moses, including Jesus, which is why He screamed in His
agony, "My God why have You forsaken Me?" The cross was the
proof of God's forsakenness of Him.
Hell is the infinite curse of God, the Father;
there are no measurable dimensions to the extent of its horror;
yet Jesus chose to enter into that; and the Father chose to GIVE
Him to it! (Maybe more tomorrow.)
When we sinners even begin to see its
"breadth, and length, and depth, and height" (Eph. 3:18), there
is no end to the devotion that this divine love motivates us to
give to Him forever!