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Christ Himself “bore up our sins in His body on the tree”—v. 24:
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The word tree in 1 Peter 2:24 is the cross made of wood, a Roman instrument of capital punishment used for the execution of malefactors, as prophesied in Deuteronomy 21:23; elsewhere in the New Testament the cross is called a tree—Acts 5:30; 10:39; 13:29.
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When Christ was on the cross, God took all our sins and put them on the Lamb of God—Isa. 53:6; John 1:29.
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Christ died once to bear our sins, and He suffered the judgment for us on the cross—Heb. 9:28; Isa. 53:5, 11.
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In the death of Christ we have died to sins so that we might live to righteousness—Rom. 6:8, 10-11, 18; 1 Pet. 2:24.
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When Christ bore our sins, He also took our curse—John 1:29; Gal. 3:13:
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The crown of thorns indicates this; since thorns are a sign of the curse, Christ’s wearing a crown of thorns indicates that He took our curse on the cross—John 19:2, 5.
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Because Christ was cursed in our place, the demand of the law was fulfilled, and He could redeem us out of the curse of the law—Gal. 3:10.
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Whereas the law condemns us and makes the curse official, Christ through His crucifixion has redeemed us out of the curse of the law—v. 13.
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The curse that came in through Adam’s fall has been dealt with by Christ’s redemption—v. 13.
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Not only did Christ redeem us out of the curse; He even became a curse on our behalf; this indicates that He was absolutely abandoned by God—v. 13; Mark 15:33-34:
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The Lord Jesus was judged by God for the accomplishment of redemption, and God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin—Isa. 53:10a.
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Our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with on the cross, and God forsook the Slave-Savior because of our sin—Mark 15:33-34:
ａ
God forsook Christ on the cross because He took the place of sinners, bearing our sins and being made sin for us—1 Pet. 3:18; 2:24; Isa. 53:6; 2 Cor. 5:21.
ｂ
In the sight of God, Christ became a great sinner, and God judged Him as our Substitute for our sins—John 3:14; Rom. 8:3.
ｃ
Christ was our Substitute and was even sin in the sight of God; therefore, God judged Him and even forsook Him.
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Because Christ bore our sins and was made sin for us, God, in judging Him as our Substitute, forsook Him economically—Mark 15:33-34:
ａ
The Lord Jesus was born of the begetting Spirit as the divine essence, who never left Him essentially—Luke 1:35.
ｂ
When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God’s judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being; nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically—Matt. 1:18, 20; 27:46:
⑴
Because the Lord Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit and was born of God and with God, He had the Holy Spirit as the intrinsic essence of His divine being; thus, it was not possible for God to forsake Him essentially—1:18, 20.
⑵
Christ was forsaken by God economically when the Spirit, who had descended upon Him as the economical power for the carrying out of His ministry (3:16), left Him; however, the essence of God remained in His being, and He therefore died on the cross as the God-man—1 John 1:7.
Morning Nourishment
1 Pet. 2:24 Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.Mark 15:34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is interpreted, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
When God was judging Christ as our Substitute made sin for us and bearing our sins, God forsook Christ economically.…The sixth hour [in Matthew 27:45] is our twelve o’clock noon, and the ninth [in verse 46] is our three o’clock in the afternoon. The Lord Jesus was crucified at the third hour, at our nine o’clock in the morning (Mark 15:25), and He suffered on the cross for six hours. In the first three hours He was persecuted by men for doing God’s will; in the last three hours He was judged by God for the accomplishment of our redemption. During that time God counted Him as our suffering Substitute for sin (Isa. 53:10). Hence, darkness came over all the land because our sin and sins and all negative things were dealt with there, and God forsook Him because of our sin. God forsook Christ on the cross because He took the place of sinners (1 Pet. 3:18), bearing our sins (1 Pet. 2:24; Isa. 53:6) and being made sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 176-177)
Today’s Reading
According to the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus was on the cross for six hours. During the first three hours, men did many unrighteous things to Him. They persecuted and mocked Him. Thus, in the first three hours the Lord suffered man’s unrighteous treatment. But at the sixth hour, twelve noon, God came in, and there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour, until three o’clock in the afternoon. The coming of darkness was God’s doing, and in the midst of it the Lord cried out the words quoted in Matthew 27:46. When the Lord was suffering the persecution of man, God was with Him, and He enjoyed the presence of God. But at the end of the first three hours, God forsook Him, and darkness came. Unable to tolerate this, the Lord shouted loudly, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” As we have pointed out, God forsook Him because He was our Substitute bearing our sins. Isaiah 53 reveals that this was the time God put our sins on Him. In the three hours from twelve noon to three o’clock in the afternoon, the righteous God put all our sins upon this Substitute and judged Him righteously for our sins. God forsook Him because during these hours He was a sinner there on the cross; He was even made sin. On the one hand, the Lord bore our sins; on the other hand, He was made sin for us. Therefore, according to His righteousness, God judged Him and forsook Him economically.The Lord was born of the begetting Spirit, who is God reaching man, as the divine essence, who never left Him essentially. Even when He was on the cross crying out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” He still had the begetting Spirit (God in the essential sense) as the divine essence. Then who left Him? It was the anointing Spirit (God in the economical sense), through whom He presented Himself as the God-man to be the all-inclusive sacrifice to God (Heb. 9:14), who left Him economically. After God accepted Christ as the all-inclusive offering, the anointing Spirit left Him. But although the anointing Spirit left Him economically, the Lord still had the begetting Spirit essentially.
When the Lord Jesus, the God-man, died on the cross under God’s judgment, He had God within Him essentially as His divine being. Nevertheless, He was forsaken by the righteous and judging God economically. (The Conclusion of the New Testament, pp. 177-178)
Further Reading: CWWL, 1985, vol. 3, “Elders’ Training, Book 6: The Crucial Points of the Truth in Paul’s Epistles,” ch. 5