When Adam and Eve were created, they received immortality under the condition of perfect obedience to God’s word. To have permanent access to the tree of life, they needed to develop a character in full harmony with God, through perfect and perpetual obedience to the divine Law. As a matter of fact, they possessed conditional immortality as long as they would eat of the tree of life. And God gave them power to be perfectly obedient children.

But when they transgressed the express word of God and ate the forbidden fruit, they immediately had to die the eternal death. “The wages of sin is [eternal] death” (Romans 6:23).The transgression of our first parents created two major problems for God’s government:

a. They did not develop perfect character as the basic condition for eternal life. Now, as corrupted sinners, they couldn’t obey perfectly God’s commandments. They became worthy of eternal death.

b. Breaking divine precepts, they became debtors to the eternal law. Their transgression could be paid for only by the Creator Himself. To save man from the pit of sin with all its terrible consequence, Christ was chosen to become man, to develop the perfect character that Adam failed to do, and to pay the penalty of sin, which is eternal death.

Sin is not only the action of transgressing God’s law. When our first parents disobeyed God’s word (action) they became sinners by nature and by tendency. Sin contaminated both humanity and nature. Man had been created in the image of God. Now, a sinner by nature and by sinful inclinations, he transmitted his corrupt conditions to his descendants. “Adam . . . begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image” (Genesis 5:3, emphasis added). David declared: “I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). The apostle Paul confessed:

“When we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. . . . I am carnal, sold under sin. . . . I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:5, 14, 23, emphasis added).

The presence of sin on this planet corrupted man and nature. Everywhere we see disease, violence in man and animals, and death. The more sin is spread, the more complicated the world’s situation becomes.

What solution was provided by Divine wisdom?

“God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

“God gave Christ to our world to save us from eternal death.”1

In His human nature Christ would do what Adam and Eve should have done—yet did not do because of their disobedience. Jesus would develop a perfect character and die in their stead.

“Jesus lived the character of God. He was willing to be, or to do, or to suffer anything to save men from eternal death. He condemned sin that He might not be compelled finally to condemn the sinner. Jesus bore the penalty of death in order that the sinner might not suffer this terrible consequence, and made an atonement for us.”2

The first condition of eternal life, Christ met during His life of 33 years. During this time, He kept perfect obedience to God’s commandments and developed a pure and perfect character. Now He was prepared for the sacrifice, because only a spotless life could be accepted as a perfect sacrifice. The second condition for our salvation He would meet by surrendering His pure life on the cross of Calvary.

Close to the end of His earthly life, Christ declared: “The prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me” (John 14:30).

“Amid impurity, Christ maintained His purity. Satan could not stain or corrupt it. His character revealed a perfect hatred for sin. It was His holiness that stirred against Him all the passion of a profligate world; for by His perfect life He threw upon the world a perpetual reproach, and made manifest the contrast between transgression and the pure, spotless righteousness of One that knew no sin. This heavenly purity annoyed the apostate foe as nothing else could do, and he followed Christ day by day, using in his work the people that claimed to have superior purity and knowledge of God, putting into their hearts a spirit of hatred against Christ, and tempting His disciples to betray and forsake Him.”3

“Satan could find nothing in the Son of God that would enable him to gain the victory. He had kept His Father’s commandments, and there was no sin in Him that Satan could use to his advantage. This is the condition in which those must be found who shall stand in the time of trouble.”4

After partaking of the Passover meal with His disciples and instituting the ceremony of feet washing and the Lord’s supper, Christ headed to Gethsemane. Arriving at that place, He experienced terrible anguish. What was happening to the Son of God? The sins of the entire world were placed upon Him. Because of sin, He felt the separation between Him and His Father. Then He prayed three times: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me” (Matthew 26:39). “Father, if it is possible, pass from Me this cup.” But He finished His petition, adding the words of submission to God’s plan: “Not my will, but thine, be done” (Luke 22:42). After that terrible ordeal in Gethsemane, Christ was arrested and taken to the presence of Annas, and then to Caiaphas, the high priest, then to Pilate, to Herod, then back to Pilate—and from the hall of judgment of Pilate, He was taken to Golgotha.

“ ‘That He might sanctify the people with His own blood,’ Christ ‘suffered without the gate’ (Hebrews 13:12). For transgression of the law of God, Adam and Eve were banished from Eden. Christ, our substitute, was to suffer without the boundaries of Jerusalem. He died outside the gate, where felons and murderers were executed. Full of significance are the words, ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us’ (Galatians 3:13).”5

“Jesus was to be crucified for the sins of men. What suffering, then, would the sinner bear who continued in sin? All the impenitent and unbelieving would know a sorrow and misery that language would fail to express. . . .

“Jesus was earning the right to become the advocate of men in the Father’s presence.”6

“While the soldiers were doing their fearful work, Jesus prayed for His enemies, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ His mind passed from His own suffering to the sin of His persecutors, and the terrible retribution that would be theirs. No curses were called down upon the soldiers who were handling Him so roughly. No vengeance was invoked upon the priests and rulers, who were gloating over the accomplishment of their purpose. Christ pitied them in their ignorance and guilt. He breathed only a plea for their forgiveness—‘for they know not what they do.’ . . .

“That prayer of Christ for His enemies embraced the world. It took in every sinner that had lived or should live, from the beginning of the world to the end of time. Upon all rests the guilt of crucifying the Son of God. To all, forgiveness is freely offered. ‘Whosoever will’ may have peace with God, and inherit eternal life.”7

“Jesus, suffering and dying, heard every word as the priests declared, ‘He saved others; Himself He cannot save. Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe’ (Matthew 27:42). Christ could have come down from the cross. But it is because He would not save Himself that the sinner has hope of pardon and favor with God.”8

Christ was crucified between two thieves, companions of Barabbas. By placing the Lord in the center, the Jewish authorities intended to imply that Christ was the main criminal. During the six hours He remained hanging on the cross, He suffered terribly. However, His physical pain was superseded by the anguish caused by separation from His Father.

“Upon Christ as our substitute and surety was laid the iniquity of us all. He was counted a transgressor, that He might redeem us from the condemnation of the law. The guilt of every descendant of Adam was pressing upon His heart. The wrath of God against sin, the terrible manifestation of His displeasure because of iniquity, filled the soul of His Son with consternation. All His life Christ had been publishing to a fallen world the good news of the Father’s mercy and pardoning love. Salvation for the chief of sinners was His theme. But now with the terrible weight of guilt He bears, He cannot see the Father’s reconciling face. The withdrawal of the divine countenance from the Savior in this hour of supreme anguish pierced His heart with a sorrow that can never be fully understood by man. So, great was this agony that His physical pain was hardly felt.”9

Although Christ had never committed a sin, He became sin (by imputation) in behalf of the entire world.

“For [God] hath made [Jesus] [to be] sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Where was the Father during the terrible ordeal Christ went through when hanging on the cross?

“In that thick darkness God’s presence was hidden. He makes darkness His pavilion, and conceals His glory from human eyes. God and His holy angels were beside the cross. The Father was with His Son. Yet His presence was not revealed. Had His glory flashed forth from the cloud, every human beholder would have been destroyed. And in that dreadful hour Christ was not to be comforted with the Father’s presence. He trod the wine press alone, and of the people there was none with Him.”10

What was the whole purpose of the terrible suffering of the Son of God? Two main purposes were involved in the mission of Christ on earth:

1. Reveal God’s loving and just character;

2. Save sinners.

“The spotless Son of God hung upon the cross, His flesh lacerated with stripes; those hands so often reached out in blessing, nailed to the wooden bars; those feet so tireless on ministries of love, spiked to the tree; that royal head pierced by the crown of thorns; those quivering lips shaped to the cry of woe. And all that He endured—the blood drops that flowed from His head, His hands, His feet, the agony that racked His frame, and the unutterable anguish that filled His soul at the hiding of His Father’s face—speaks to each child of humanity, declaring, It is for thee that the Son of God consents to bear this burden of guilt; for thee He spoils the domain of death, and opens the gates of Paradise. He who stilled the angry waves and walked the foam-capped billows, who made devils tremble and disease flee, who opened blind eyes and called forth the dead to life—offers Himself upon the cross as a sacrifice, and this from love to thee. He, the Sin Bearer, endures the wrath of divine justice, and for thy sake becomes sin itself.” 11

We praise God because Christ, in His human nature, was absolutely successful in His mission of redemption.

This expression is full of meaning. In spite of the suffering, mocking, torture, and extreme anguish that no human being can understand (except ultimately the lost), Christ was victorious over sin and Satan.

“To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, ‘It is finished,’ had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ’s victory.

“Not until the death of Christ was the character of Satan clearly revealed to the angels or to the unfallen worlds. The archapostate had so clothed himself with deception that even holy beings had not understood his principles. They had not clearly seen the nature of his rebellion.”12

“Through Jesus, God’s mercy was manifested to men; but mercy does not set aside justice. The law reveals the attributes of God’s character, and not a jot or tittle of it could be changed to meet man in his fallen condition. God did not change His law, but He sacrificed Himself, in Christ, for man’s redemption. ‘God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself’ (2 Corinthians 5:19). . . .

“The law requires righteousness—a righteous life, a perfect character; and this man has not to give. He cannot meet the claims of God’s holy law. But Christ, coming to the earth as man, lived a holy life, and developed a perfect character. These He offers as a free gift to all who will receive them. His life stands for the life of men. Thus they have remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. More than this, Christ imbues men with the attributes of God. He builds up the human character after the similitude of the divine character, a goodly fabric of spiritual strength and beauty. Thus the very righteousness of the law is fulfilled in the believer in Christ. God can ‘be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus’ (Romans 3:26).”13

“Christ is the Lord our righteousness. Let us take our stand on His side. Let none be ashamed to acknowledge Him as their leader, their counselor, their guide, and their exceeding great reward. Is this sacrificing anything? Is it an honor to be numbered among Satan’s army? Those who make this choice gain nothing. Only death, eternal death, awaits them.”14

Paul well knew the meaning of Calvary when he declared: “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).