How Could Jesus Die If He Is 100% God?

How could Jesus die if He's 100% God? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of Core Christianity. Hi, it's Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. This is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. We'd love to hear from you, and our phone lines will be open for the next 25 minutes or so, so feel free to call us right now. Here's the number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now you can also post your question on one of our social media sites, and always feel free to email us anytime at questionsatcorechristianity.com. First up today, let's go to Jim calling in from Nebraska. Jim, what's your question for Adriel?

Uh, yes, yes. Thank you for taking my call. I'm going to reference to go back when God told basically Noah to build the ark. Here's my question. The way the United States is getting totally out of control and the world is going, getting totally out of control, I've just been wondering how much more is God going to put up with before, even before the end of the world this time.

Thank you. Jim, thanks for that question, and more and more I hear people who feel as you do. They look around the world and look around the country and feel like that things are getting out of hand. You think of abortion, for example, that terrible evil, and so many other things, you know, the ways in which we dishonor God, and it leads us to wonder, well, how much more is the Lord, the Holy One, going to put up with? Now you brought up the flood of Noah, and Jesus said in Matthew 24 that just like in Noah's days, you know, people were just living their lives sort of irrespective of the judgment of God, didn't care that God was holy and was going to judge the world. Just like that, that's how it's going to be when he returns, as were the days of Noah. But what Noah's story teaches us, one of the things we can draw from it, is the fact that God will judge sin.

And this is actually precisely what Peter highlights in 2 Peter. In 2 Peter, he's talking about God's judgment against false teachers in particular, and he uses the flood of Noah as an example. He says, if he did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, he goes on to say, you know, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passions, the lust of defiling passions, and despise authority. And then he says in chapter three, and I think this is where I would want to direct you and your question, you know, he says, well, how much, you know, it just seems like God is taking his time. Why hasn't he judged our evil, the evil in the world? And Peter says in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8, do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Why hasn't Jesus come back yet to judge the world? Peter says, God is patient toward you, you listening right now to my voice. God is patient toward you, calling you to repentance, to faith, to walk with Jesus. And so as we wait upon the Lord, as we say, Maranatha, come Lord Jesus, we're also saying, God, draw people to yourself. Let them not, you know, cast aside your long-suffering, your kindness, your patience, but instead let them embrace the gospel.

Do the work that only you can do. And so that's, you know, as we wrestle with the evil in the world, as we think about, you know, how things are going, remembering that God is patient and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and he is calling people home to himself. He's calling us to walk with him. And so that's what we're called to. That's what we need to do is to make sure that we're being faithful to the Lord, that we trust in Jesus, that we're serving him. And God help us all to do that.

Jim, God bless you, and thank you for reaching out to us. You know, Jim's question makes me think, Adriel, would there be a time where humanity becomes so evil in their deeds that God will say enough is enough and break into history? I'm thinking like right now, you know, we're messing around with DNA and talking about, you know, these combinations of humans and animals, and you just start to wonder, when will our Heavenly Father say, that's it?

Yeah, well, I mean, we are testing. It seems like the patience of God. The amazing thing about the Lord is just how gracious and merciful he is. And so, you know, will there come a day?

The answer is yes. Jesus talks about it. When we talk about the judgment of God, the second coming of Christ, that is, you know, when there's no more any opportunity, no longer any opportunity for repentance. And a lot of people, as you say, you know, they look around and they think, I think that day is coming.

I think it's here. I think rather than speculating, I think it's best to focus on what Jesus calls us to focus on. That's on our own repentance. That's on our own repentance. On growing in our relationship with the Lord.

On being a part of a local church, faithful to God. Here, let me just say one thing. Peter, in 1 Peter chapter 4, says, the end of all things is at hand.

It's bad, Peter says. Therefore, and what kind of advice does he give to people who are wrestling with this sense of the end of all things is just right here around the corner? What should we be doing? He says, therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Be committed to prayer. And then he goes on and be committed to hospitality.

Have people over for dinner, you know, be loving. Be committed to the church, be committed to the word of God. That's what we need to focus on. And so that's what we hope to help people focus on here on this broadcast.

Great advice. Thanks for that, Adriel. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Maybe you have a question about doctrine or theology or something happening in your church life that you're concerned about. Hey, feel free to give us a call right now. 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also leave a voicemail at that number anytime, 24 hours a day.

And here's a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners named Ann. Why do people say, why do people plead the blood of Jesus? I know the blood is for cleansing. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ gives his body for us on the cross. I didn't know that we'd be but seeking with his blood. I thought they said that there's power in the name of Jesus, and I thought the name of Jesus is what we use. Pastor, can you please answer that for me? Thank you so much.

Hi, Ann. God bless you. Thank you for your question. So what you're referring to is the practice of people pleading the blood of Jesus. It sounds here like in the context of spiritual warfare, you know, rebuking Satan and saying, you know, I plead the blood of Jesus. You know, so look, we want to be careful that we're not getting into superstition here, and sometimes we can. Christians can be superstitious about, you know, Christian-ese type things. Oh, well, I hang up a rosary here in my house in order to ward off evil spirits.

You know, I've known people, friends who are Roman Catholic, of course I'm not Roman Catholic, but who sort of, you know, I got it hung up right here in my car because it's going to protect me from a car accident or something like that. You know, I think we can be superstitious with regard to some of these things, including this idea of pleading the blood of Jesus or using the name of Jesus or the blood of Jesus, like this sort of magical incantation or something like that, that's going to ward off evil spirits. Truly, at the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess to the glory of the Father. There is no other name given under heaven by which men must be saved. There's power in the name and in the blood of Jesus.

I'm just saying, I think we want to be careful that we're not veering into superstition, and yet at the same time, I think that there's a way in which we can go about this in prayer, pleading the blood of Jesus, if you will, that is actually good. I think about what the Apostle Paul said in Romans 8 in verse 31. He says, "'What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?'" In one sense, he's focused on the blood of Jesus, on the fact that God has given us his Son, that Jesus has laid down his life for us, and if God has done that, if he's offered us his very body and blood, how much more in Jesus will he not also supply the needs that we have, provide for us those smaller things? God has met our ultimate need in his Son, Jesus, and so I think we can come before God and we come to the Father through the Son, through the blood that he shed, and in that sense, we're pleading the blood of Jesus.

We're saying, God, I have nothing. I'm coming before you as a sinner in need of your grace, and all I have is the precious blood of your Son that is washed over me, that has made me fit to approach your throne of grace boldly, and so I'm coming in the name of Jesus. That is, to properly plead the blood of Jesus. But if, again, we're veering into superstition, that sort of a thing, then I think there can be some problems, and so I appreciate your question. God help us to approach God in prayer with confidence and through Jesus the Son, and in that sense, to plead the blood of Jesus.

Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life.

Perhaps there's a passage of scripture that's always kind of stumped you and you'd like some clarification on that, or maybe you have some doubts about the Christian faith. Hey, we're open to those questions as well. Here's the number. It's 833-THECORE.

That's 833-THECORE. You can call us for the next 10 minutes or so at that number. I also want to mention a great new resource we have. It's absolutely free, and it's called The Five Names of God You Should Know. Yes, get a hold of this resource. We talk about Immanuel, the divine name, Abba, as God has revealed himself to us as our Father, and the significance of these names that we find throughout scripture for you personally in your walk with the Lord. Again, as Bill said, this is a free resource, and so I encourage you to get a hold of it. Once again, Five Names of God You Should Know.

Call that. You can find that at corechristianity.com forward slash offers. By the way, when you're at our website, feel free to browse around. We have some other great core guides and core questions, various booklets you can download, PDF downloads, and some awesome core Bible studies on books from both the Old and the New Testament.

So if you lead a small group or a Sunday school class, these would be awesome for you to use in that setting. You can find all that at corechristianity.com. Well, let's go to a voicemail that came in from one of our listeners.

This came in earlier this week. Hi Pastor Sanchez. So my question is about Jesus's death. We know that Jesus is 100% God and 100% man, so I was just wondering, how is it possible for Jesus to die if he was 100% God?

This is an excellent question. I love this question because it gets us into some really important Christology, the doctrine of Christ in particular. We're thinking about what's called the hypostatic union, the union of these two natures, divine and human, in the one person, the divine person, uniting humanity to himself so that now you have one divine person, the eternal son of God, with two natures, human and divine. And so one of the objections that cults will make, Jehovah's Witnesses will make to the Christian faith, is they'll say things like, well, and Muslims will do this as well, you know, how could God die?

Who was overseeing the cosmos while Jesus was in the tomb? And of course, right, we don't believe that God as he is in himself ever ceases to be or anything like that, and yet we have to say that the one divine person, the second person of the Holy Trinity who assumed humanity for us, did in fact suffer and die on the cross for our sins, and this is what the Bible teaches so clearly. I think of what we read in Acts chapter 20 verse 28. Listen to what Paul says to the Ephesian elders that he's talking to.

He says, pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock in which the Holy Spirit is made you overseers, to care for the church of God which he obtained with his own blood. God's blood! How does God have blood?

That's getting to your question. Similarly, Paul in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 8 says, none of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. That's the God. We're talking about God here. So how God here? So how could God be crucified?

How could God quote-unquote suffer and die? The answer is in a proper understanding of the incarnation and that union I spoke about earlier. The theologians have talked about the hypostatic union.

Here it is. The eternal Son of God and Word of the Father, the second person of the Holy Trinity, assumed humanity, united humanity to himself, born of the Virgin Mary, so that in that humanity he might, as the divine person, suffer and die for us so that our sins would be forever cleansed. And you might think, okay, man, we're splitting hairs here. First, let me say this is something that theologians in the ancient church really wrestled through.

I mean, there was a lot of talk about this. Some of the most ancient heresies had to do with failure to understand these distinctions that I'm drawing here. But the reason it's so important, let me just hammer this home for you. You know, if you're listening to this, it sounds like we're splitting theological hairs.

No, here's why it's important. It's because as the eternal Son of God, offering up atonement for us, now this work of redemption, which he's accomplished, is of infinite value to cleanse you of all your sins. This wasn't a creature, a mere man who died for you to save you. No, this is the Son of God himself, the precious blood of the Lamb, offered up for you so that you would be cleansed, so that you would be forgiven. And as a true man who assumed humanity, right, again, the second person of the Holy Trinity assuming humanity, as a true man, he represented you perfectly. He rendered the obedience that you did not offer to God like you should have, so that you could be justified in the sight of a holy God.

This is why it's so important. So how does God die? Well, in the incarnation, the Son of God assumes humanity, and in that, humanity suffers and dies for us and for our redemption. Thank you.

Great explanation. Thank you for that, Adriel, something that all of us need to understand. No, I mean, it's preaching about Christology here, but it is important, Bill, and our listeners need to know. And I think that really begs the question, how many Christians today have a good, just even basic grasp of good doctrine, good theology?

I think a lot of them don't, and that can get you wrecked in the wrong ditch, right? Yeah, absolutely. So, I mean, and again, a lot of these things were things that the ancient church wrestled through. That's why church history is so important, because a lot of the things that we, you know, we speculate about sometimes today, or just, you know, we're trying to reinvent the wheel, actually, really godly people before us have talked about these things, and they have a lot to say, yeah. Amen.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Colette, who's calling in from Missouri. Colette, what's your question for Adriel? Hello? Hello, Colette? Yes. Good to hear.

Hi, we can hear you. What's your question? Okay. My question is referring to the scripture in the Bible that says, when you are baptized, you receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Okay. So, is that the only way a Christian receives the gift of the Holy Spirit? Because I've heard some sermons and individuals say that, oh no, when you ask God into your heart, and you become a Christian, that you're automatically, you received the Holy Spirit at that time. But in reading scripture, I've never found anything that says that. The only place I find it is where it says that when you're immersed, and you do that in obedience, and you're basically replicating the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, that at that time you received the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Great question, Colette. I was just thinking about this yesterday for many Western Christians. Was Pentecost Sunday celebrating or remembering what happened in Acts chapter 2, where on the day of Pentecost, the disciples are gathered together, and Jesus had told them, go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise of the Father. You're going to be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now. And of course, on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God comes in like a rushing wind, we're told in Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 5. And the disciples speak with new tongues. They preach the gospel to the people that are gathered together for the Pentecost feast, the feast of weeks.

And there's this great harvest, harvest of souls. Many people come to faith and are baptized. And actually in Acts chapter 2, you do see this, right? Like Peter says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So baptism is this sign and seal of God's gracious covenant with his people.

Identifying with Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection, as Paul says in Romans chapter 6, it does exhibit these gospel promises. It's a real means of grace, and the Spirit of God does indeed work through the word and through baptism. Now the question here is, when do we receive the Holy Spirit? When are we sealed with the Holy Spirit? Or that promised spirit that's described in Acts chapter 2, when do we get it? Do we, you know, if I believe in Jesus, if I'm trusting in him, but I've not yet been baptized because my church hasn't gotten around to it, does that mean I don't have the Holy Spirit yet? Or maybe I have been baptized and I do believe, but then somebody comes along and says to me, have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit? Well, you haven't received the promise of the Father until people lay hands on you and you're baptized in the Holy Spirit and you speak in tongues. There are some Christian traditions that say that.

Here's, I think, where your answer is. It's in Ephesians chapter 2 and in verse 13. Paul says to the Ephesian Christians, in him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of his glory. In other words, here, Paul ties that sealing with the Holy Spirit to believing in the gospel.

Now, that doesn't mean that baptism is insignificant. That doesn't mean that the Spirit of God can't work in and through baptism, sealing someone with the Holy Spirit. I mean, the Spirit of God is sovereign.

He can do whatever he wants. But here, particularly, it's tied to faith, trusting in Christ, trusting in the gospel, so that if you believe in Jesus Christ, if you're truly trusting in him, something amazing has happened. You have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit. Now, your body is a temple for the Holy Spirit, and there are implications to that in terms of how you should live, how you should follow God, how you should honor him with your body. Your body is a vessel for the holy worship of God, not just on Sundays, but every day. And so, I think that text in Ephesians 2, verse 13, is really clear. And again, that's not to minimize the importance of baptism, the role of baptism in the Christian life as the sign and seal of God's gracious covenant for us, God's promises being really and truly exhibited in these signs that Jesus left for us, and certainly, in actual in Acts chapter 2, Peter, as he's talking about, he says, you know, repent and be baptized, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. So, I mean, you have it right there as well.

But faith being the key component for that sealing of the Spirit. Thank you, Colette. Thanks for that, Adriel.

This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Sarah in Missouri. Sarah, we've just got about a minute left. What's your question? Hello? Hi, Sarah.

Hi. I just had a question about Isaiah 65, and kind of verse 20, where towards the end of the, let's see, it says, where the youth will die at the age of 100, and the one who does not reach the age of 100 will be thought accursed. So, it's just kind of that passage talking about the new heavens and the new earth, is that talking, like, what is that talking about exactly?

I guess I'm confused. It's an excellent question, and I do believe that it's talking about the new heavens and the new earth. In fact, one of the things that confirms this is, if you go down a little bit later in verses 22 and 23, for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be, and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands, they shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity. And the language there in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, is very similar to what we find in Revelation chapter 22, verses two through three, describing the new creation.

So, your question is, well, if we're at the new creation, the glorified new heavens and new earth, why are people only living to be 100? And I think here we have to remember that the prophets, as they spoke, are communicating in ways that would have been understandable for the people there. It's called the prophetic idiom. So, we don't want to read it too literalistically.

He's saying, look, the life we're looking forward to is going to be abundant and full, and it is. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, go to corechristianity.com forward slash radio, or you can call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-THE-CORE. When you contact us, let us know how we can be praying for you. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.