John Calvin: Jesus Both Became A Curse AND Was Cursed By God On The Cross

The Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write these glorious words: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree'" Galatians 3:13

Here, the Holy Spirit makes clear that Jesus became a curse ("by becoming a curse for us"), and, by citing Deuteronomy 21:23, He makes it clear that Jesus was cursed by God as well ("Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree").

John Calvin understood and taught both these truths. He even understood that becoming a curse was worse than being cursed by God: 

Now, Christ hung upon the cross, therefore he fell under that curse. But it is certain that he did not suffer that punishment on his own account. It follows, therefore, either that he was crucified in vain, or that our curse was laid upon him, in order that we might be delivered from it. Now, he does not say that Christ was cursed, but, which is still more, that he was a curse, - intimating, that the curse "of all men was laid upon him" (Isaiah 53:6.) If any man think this language harsh, let him be ashamed of the cross of Christ, in the confession of which we glory. It was not unknown to God what death his own Son would die, when he pronounced the law, "He that is hanged is accursed of God." (Deuteronomy 21:23.) But how does it happen, it will be asked, that a beloved Son is cursed by his Father? (emphasis mine)

(John Calvin, Commentary On Galatians, Galatians 3:13)

Notice Calvin pointed out that the first part of Paul's statement does not say that Christ was cursed but was a curse - which Calvin wrote is more than being cursed by God. Yet later in the same paragraph, Calvin asked the question about how God's beloved Son is cursed by His Father, indicating that he also believed the text teaches that Jesus was cursed by God. A brief survey of Calvin's sermons demonstrates that Calvin believed (along with the Holy Spirit and the Apostle Paul) that not only did Jesus become a curse on the cross, but He was also cursed by God as well:

For inasmuch as we see that the Son of God . . . was pronounced accursed by God's own mouth. (emphases all mine)

(John Calvin, Sermons On Galatians, (Audubon, New Jersey: Old Path Publications, 1995), 295-296)

. . . the son of God was fain [pleased] to suffer our curse, and to endure that death which is so slanderous before men, yea and to be cursed of God's own mouth . . . .

(John Calvin, Sermons On Galatians, (Audubon, New Jersey: Old Path Publications, 1995), 713)

How does the inheritance of heaven belong to us, except in that He was made a curse for our sakes, and He was cursed not only before men, but from the mouth of God His Father?"

(John Calvin, The Gospel According To Isaiah: Seven Sermons on Isaiah 53 Concerning The Passion And Death Of Christ, Trans. Leroy Nixon (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1953), 16)

It is said that He is the Lamb of God without spot. Since He is the Lamb of God, He must be condemned for the sacrifice. The word “Lamb” implies that He is to be offered. And what does the Law pronounce of sacrifices? That they stand for sins and curses. That is why it is said that our Lord Jesus was accursed for our sakes, that is, that He received the curse which was due to our sins. This, then, is the quality and condition under which He is condemned, since God appointed Him as a lamb which must be offered in sacrifice.

(John Calvin, Fifth Sermon on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

There is, then no other means to acquire grace, except that we come to our Lord Jesus Christ, and that we have all our refuge in Him, since we are unburdened of such a load, when He was willing to be as it were cursed and detestable for our sakes, in order that we might find favor before God and that we might be acceptable to Him.

(John Calvin, Sixth Sermon on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

How is it that he is able to conceive of a Kingdom in Jesus Christ? He there perishing on the cross, He is cursed both by God and by men. For this sentence of the law had been pronounced by the mouth of God, "Cursed is he who will hang on the tree."(Deuteronomy 21:23.)

(John Calvin, Sixth Sermon on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

For she sees our Lord Jesus hanged on the cross, in such shame and disgrace that all the world is opposed to Him, and He is even there, as it were, cursed by God.

(John Calvin, Eighth Sermon on the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

Yet, how this exposes the malice and perversity that is in man! For when Paul declares that our Lord Jesus Christ became a curse for us, it washes over us. There are even those who are so depraved that they will see this as an occasion to behave scandalously, abandoning the gospel altogether when they hear of the way in which Christ has redeemed us. Such people say, "What! Can it be that the Son of God, the fountain of all that is good, and the one who sanctifies us, has been cursed?" To their way of thinking, God has acted in an unreasonable and disorderly fashion! But, (as I have been saying), God had to stoop to this "folly" because we did not respond to his wisdom, though the way was clearly evident; thus he exposes our own ignorance! We can only wonder at the mysteries of God, for their significance may be obscure to us and seem strange; for in the face of such wonders, our intellect fails and our powers of reasoning are confounded!

(John Calvin, When Curse Becomes Blessing)

How, then, did he come? In weakness; indeed, not only so, but he was accursed. If this had not been the case, our burdens would have crushed us and all would have perished in the abyss. When we understand that the Son of God, the Lamb without blemish, the mirror and fountain of all righteousness, that this One was cursed for us, should we not be horrified at the thought of all our sins and engulfed in despair until God rescues us in his grace and infinite mercy? Therefore, let us be aware that when God says he has redeemed us from the curse of the law, it is to bring us to a state of complete humility.

(John Calvin, When Curse Becomes Blessing)

. . . we know that the Son of God had to suffer such a shameful death on our behalf. Who is he who seeks to have his triumphs and do his courageous deeds in this world, when he knows that the One who is the head of angels, to whom belongs all glory, majesty and authority, hung on a tree and was cursed and hated for our sakes?

(John Calvin, On Glorying Only in the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ)

It is true that there is no blemish in Him, but all pureness and perfection. Yet so it is, that He became weak as we are, that He might have compassion and help our feebleness; as it is set forth in the epistle to the Hebrews (4:15). He that had no sin suffered the punishment due to us; and was, as it were, accursed of God the Father, when He offered Himself a sacrifice: that through His means we might be blessed; and that His grace which was hidden from us, might be poured upon us.

(John Calvin, The Mystery of Godliness)

For when the son of God, who is ordained to be judge of the world, shall come at the last day: he may well say to us . . . You have born my name, you have been baptized in remembrance and record that I was your redeemer, I have drawn you out of the dungeons where into you were plunged, I delivered you from endless death by suffering most cruel death myself, and for the same cause I became man, and submitted myself even to the curse of GOD my father, that you might be blessed by my grace . . . .

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 422)

God governed it in such sort by his secret providence, that Jesus Christ was accursed when he hung upon the cross, according to that which had been spoken of him before.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1535)

But Saint Paul adds, that forasmuch as we be all accursed by the Law, our Lord Jesus Christ was same to bear our curse. And he bare it (says he) for he was hanged upon tree. And whereas the Law of God had said, Cursed than he be that hangs on tree: the same was verified in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . You see then that we be undone and past hope of recovery, unless the curse be abolished. And that was done in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, who as he has performed all righteousness, so has he also received the curse to himself which lay upon our heads, & he has born it in his person, to the intent that henceforth we should be free from it . . . Notwithstanding forasmuch as God has given his son to death, as the scripture bears witness, that he has so loved the world that he has not spared his only son, but has delivered him to death for us: Let us assure ourselves that God meant to show us to our faces, that he laid upon him the curse due to us, so as the thing which we had deserved was laid upon the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1536)

For we ought to be even ravished at the inestimable love of God towards us, in that he vouchsafed that his son, who is the head of the Angels, before whom all knees ought to bow, and unto whom all creatures ought to do homage, should so humble himself even to the lowest depths, and bear our curse. When we see that our Lord Jesus Christ has so forgotten himself, and had so little regard of himself; that for very servant love which he bare unto us, he took upon him the curse wherewith we were all overwhelmed, receiving it wholly to himself: is there any heart so hard, which ought nor to clue at the fight thereof? Again, how ought we to be inflamed to glorify our Savior, who has abased himself so far to save us?

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1537)

Now we see that whereas Jesus Christ is said to have been forlorn and accursed for our sakes: it did so little abase his majesty, that we ought the rather to magnify his glory in that behalf; assuring ourselves that we shall no more be accursed, because he has done away our curse, and born it in his own person . . . Also let us mark therewithal, that notwithstanding his being accursed before God, yet he ceased not robe Gods well beloved son, according to this saying uttered by the heavenly father himself, This is my dear beloved son in whom I am well pleased, and in whom I am pacified. And served that but far one instant? Nay it was to continue for ever. How is it then that Jesus Christ was accursed, seeing that the father was pacified by him? And that he was not only well liked himself, but also the mean to reconcile the whole world; He is our peace and although through our corruption of nature GOD hate us, yet are we beloved in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ; and how is it then possible that he should be accursed before God? They agree both very well. For (as I have said before) Jesus Christ has born our curse, yea and he has born it in such wise is GOD ceases not to love him for all that. And this curse is so abolished, that the reproach of his cross is turned into glory and triumph, because it is impossible that the son of GOD should not continue everlastingly the same that he was before.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1539)

. . . GOD ordained the tree of the Cross to be a record of cursing. Now then, whereas it is said, Cursed shall he be which performs not all the things that are contained in the Law: therewithal GOD sends us to his only son, and would have us to know that he was hanged on tree to the intent to be accursed. As how? Was he cursed in his own person? No, but for our sakes. Yet notwithstanding, we may now glory, that the curse of the Law has no more power over us, but that he has discharged us thereof.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1540)

Now, to knit up the whole, it remains to be known after what manner our Lord Jesus became accursed to set us free from the curse . . . Jesus Christ became accursed even by bearing Gods hatred as it were our behalf, to the intent that henceforth we should be beloved. Now I have told you already, (and it behoves us to print it well in our minds) that Jesus Christ was never hated of God his father, for that were impossible. But he was fain to bear our curse, because he was our pledge, and we could not be freed otherwise, than by the satisfaction of his death made once for all. And that is the very mean whereby we become in favor again & are beloved of God.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1541)

Let us consider a little wherefore the only son of God yielded himself to such shame; as to be hanged on tree, and to be as it were accursed before God his father, (according as we have seen even in the one and twentieth Chapter of this book) and to be beaten by the hand of God, until he seemed as vile as a Leper . . . that he bare the burden of all our offences: as if he had been a miserable sinner; and was environed with such extreme sorrow that he will not what to say but to cry out: My God my God, why has you forsaken me? And think we that the son of God dallied when he was so humbled, yea and not only was made utterly of no reputation, as Saint Paul said: but also sought with the pangs and sorrows of death? He offered himself in the person of us, as a wretched sinner to bear that vengeance of God which was due unto us, so as (to be short) he knew that God was bent against him, to thunder down upon him for our sakes. Forasmuch then as we know that Jesus Christ abode such encounters for our redemption: stand we yet still scanning and replying, as who would say, O I cannot tell, and how can I be sure of it? Surely that were even as much as to deny the death and passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. For it is a plain scorning of all that he has endured and suffered for our salvation, when we acknowledge not the fruit that does grow unto us thereby. So then the first point is, that having the Gospel, we have whereupon to rest, so as we need nor to allege: What is he that shall go down into hell? For Jesus Christ has been there, to the end that we should not come there at all.

(John Calvin, Sermons On Deuteronomy, 1921-1922)

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

To learn more about the great King Jesus and His glorious Gospel message, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here with a free, 3 day trial.

Jesus Endured The Rod Of God's Anger - For Us!

Just like Assyria was the rod of God's anger and their hands were God's fury toward sinful Israel because of their rebellion against Him, so likewise, the Roman soldiers were the rod of God's anger and the hand of God's fury toward Jesus on the way to and on the cross because of our sins and rebellion imputed to Him (2 Cor. 5:21):

"Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger; the staff in their hands is my fury!" Isaiah 10:5 

"And they were striking his head with a rod and spitting on him" Mark 15:19 

"They came up to him, saying, "Hail, King of the Jews!" and struck him with their hands." John 19:3

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

For a more in-depth study of the beatings of Christ and how they relate to other parts of the Old Testament, like the book of Proverbs, see David Wenkel's, Jesus' Crucifixion Beatings and the Book of Proverbs.

Thomas Goodwin Answers: "Who Killed Jesus?"

"And therefore God's forsaking him was not such an one as befell Saul, when he also forsook God. No; Christ, though he kills him, does still trust in him." 

(Thomas Goodwin, Christ The Mediator, 280)

"See the love of God, who gave not his Son up only to the hands of men to be executioners of his body, but himself laid on upon his soul; and that because justice called for the soul, the very soul, ere it would be satisfied. Which no creature being able to reach, rather than we should not be redeemed, he will be the executioner himself; ties him to the cross, and with his own hand whips him, because no creature could strike strokes hard enough. A tender mother hath not the heart to whip her child for its own fault; God bruiseth Christ's soul himself for others; Zech. 13:7: 'Awake my sword against the man God's fellow;' yea, Isa. 53:10: 'It delighted the Lord to bruise him.' So much was his heart in our salvation, that this (otherwise the most abhorred act that ever was done) was sweetened to him by its end, our salvation, and made a matter of delight, not simply, but in relation to the end."

(Thomas Goodwin, Christ The Mediator, 286)

"They likewise see a greater and clearer instance and manifesto of his justice in putting to death his own Son, taking on him to be a surety for sinners, than if a world of worlds should have been damned for ever."

(Thomas Goodwin, A Discourse Of The Glory Of The Gospel, 10)

"There is the greatest of justice and wrath against sin. That God should put to death his own Son for sin, when he became but a surety for it, was a clearer manifestation of his anger, and a higher piece of justice against sin, than if he had made and there sacrificed millions of worlds."   

(Thomas Goodwin, A Discourse Of The Glory Of The Gospel, 21)

"If he be made sin, he must be made a curse; and which is more than all this, God himself must be the executioner, and his own Son the whipping stock."

(Thomas Goodwin, The One Sacrifice, 496)

"It was not the malice of the Jews, the falseness of Judas, the fearfulness of Pilate, or the iniquity of the times he fell into, that wrought his death, so much as God his father complotting with Christ himself, and aiming at a higher end than they did."  

(Thomas Goodwin, Christ Set Forth, 30)

"The death of Christ was the greatest and strangest design that ever God undertook and acted, and therefore surely had an end proportionable unto it. God, that 'wills not the death of a sinner,' would not for any inferior end will the death of his Son, whom he loved more than all creatures besides. It must necessarily be some great matter for which God should contrive the death of his Son, so holy, so innocent, and separate from sinners."

(Thomas Goodwin, Christ Set Forth, 31)

"And does it not move his Father, think you, who was the chief cause and motioner of his death, to think, my Son that was dead and died at my request for sinners is now alive again, and lives to intercede, and lives to 'see the travail of his soul' fulfilled and satisfied? " 

(Thomas Goodwin, Christ Set Forth, 120)

Be Like Christ - If I Could Be Like Christ!

I often dream

Cause He's in me
God says I'll see what I have dreamed to be
I dream to love, I dream to serve
Like Christ
If I could be like Christ
Oh, if I could be like Christ
Like Christ
If I could be like Christ
If I could be like Christ
Be like Christ, Be like Christ

By faith I try
To aim so high
For just each day if I could
Be that way
I dream to love, I dream to serve
Like Christ
If I could be like Christ
I wanna be, I wanna be like Christ
Like Christ, if I could be like Christ
Oh, be like Christ
Like Christ
If I could be like Christ
Be like Christ

"American Gospel: Christ Crucified" Gets It Right: God Killed Jesus And Damned Him On The Cross

The Gospel Coalition has published a review of the new American Gospel: Christ Crucified documentary. In this TGC review, Caleb Wait makes two seriously mistaken critiques of the documentary. The purpose of this post is to show how these critiques are misguided.

Did God Kill Jesus?

First, Wait critiques Voddie Baucham for saying that God killed Jesus on the cross. He writes: 

Intermingled with these accurate statements, however, are a few others that unnecessarily muddy the waters on this crucial doctrine. For example, Voddie Baucham says in the film: "Yeah, God killed Jesus. But did Jesus go to the cross unwillingly? No" [41:50]. This undermines what the film later notes, that God's decree to ordain Christ's death is not equal to the act of killing Jesus himself: "He was handed over by God’s set plan and foreknowledge, and you, by the hands of the lawless, put him to death by nailing him to the cross" (Acts 2:23).

 One wonders when an article will be written critiquing Job for saying:

"Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD . . . Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 1:21, 2:10). 

The critique might sound something like this: "Job's statements undermine what we learned earlier in the book, that Job's wealth and children weren't taken away by God, but by Satan, and Job did not receive evil from God, but from Satan." That would obviously be a wrong critique of Job's words, and, in a similar way, Wait's critique of Baucham is wrong as well.

Baucham is absolutely right: God killed His own Son on the cross. And He killed Him in two different senses.

God Killed His Son As The First Cause Of All Things

First, God killed His own Son on the cross in the sense that He is the first cause of all things. In the book of Job, we see that though Satan is the second cause of Job's great losses, Job attributes his losses to God, and Job attributes the evil done to him to God. Job said God has taken away! Job said he received evil from God! And lest we think it was wrong of Job to say this, God's Word makes it clear - in all of these words, Job was not sinning against God with his lips.

When Baucham said God killed Jesus, he wasn't sinning with his lips either. He, like Job, was simply speaking of God as the first cause of all things. Wait acknowledges that God ordained the death of Jesus, but his mistake is in thinking that Baucham, like Job, spoke in a wrong way by attributing to God the ultimate and final responsibility for the ends He ordained.

In both Job's case and with Jesus at the cross, God used second causes to bring His purposes to pass. And those second causes sinned. It was wicked and evil for Satan to destroy Job's family, wealth, and health (Satan is a murder from the beginning - John 8:44), and it was wicked and evil for Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Jews, the Gentiles, and the soldiers to crucify the Lord of glory, yet God sinlessly ordains the sinful actions of Satan and men to carry out His wise purposes for the good of His people and for His own glory. It is not wrong to attribute all of these actions to God as the first cause of all things. Therefore, it is right to say that God killed Jesus. No, God wasn't there using a hammer to nail the nails into Jesus' body, but He was there as the first cause putting Jesus to death, and it's very Biblical to speak this way. We must follow Job as he follows Christ.

God Directly Killed His Son For Our Salvation

Second, God killed His own Son on the cross, not only as the first cause of all things, but God was directly killing His Son to make propitiation for sin. Sinful men didn't kill Jesus for redemptive purposes, but God did. And the Bible makes it clear, over and over again, that God killed His own Son for the salvation of His people:

we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted (Isaiah 53:4)

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief (Isaiah 53:10)

"Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, against the man who stands next to me," declares the LORD of hosts. "Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered" (Zechariah 13:7)

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.(John 3:16)

Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood (Romans 3:24-25)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree" (Galatians 3:13)

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32)

My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. (Matthew 26:39)

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46)

God struck and smote His Son - to death!
God crushed His Son - to death!
God gave His Son - to death!
God put His Son forward - to death!
God made His Son a curse and cursed Him - to death! Death is a part of the curse!
God did not spare His own Son and gave Him up - to death!
God gave His Son the cup of wrath - to death!
God forsook His Son - to death!
God did this! God killed Jesus! 

Other Faithful Witnesses

There are other faithful witnesses who use the same language as Baucham to describe God's redemptive work on the cross. Thomas Goodwin, one of the most respected Puritans who was also on the Westminster Assembly, clearly wrote that God smote His Son to death: 

And considered either as lamb or shepherd, we find that God being angry with him whilst thus he bore our sins, insomuch as he is said in his wrath to have smitten this shepherd with his sword, and smitten him unto death. (emphasis mine) (Christ Our Mediator, Grand Rapids: Sovereign Grace Publishers, 1971, 370)

Side note: I cannot recommend Goodwin's work highly enough on the cross. He understands the fact that God was both angry with Christ and loved Christ at the same time while He suffered on the cross.

Charles Spurgeon preached that God killed Jesus. To describe the cross, Spurgeon used the illustration of God's command to Abraham to slay his son, Isaac. But one major difference Spurgeon pointed out between Abraham and Isaac and what God did to His Son on the cross is that God actually did the deed and slayed His Son and drove the knife into His heart:

The death of Christ is traceable to God the Father . . . O! can ye tell the greatness of that love, which made the everlasting God not only put his Son upon the altar, but actually do the deed, and thrust the sacrificial knife into his Son's heart? Can you think how overwhelming must have been the love of God toward the human race, when he completed in act what Abraham only did in intention? Look ye there, and see the place where his only Son hung dead upon the cross, the bleeding victim of awakened justice! Here is love indeed; and here we see how it was, that it pleased the Father to bruise him. (emphasis mine) (The Death Of Christ, Sermon delivered on Sabbath Morning, January 24, 1858)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones affirmed that God killed Jesus. He wrote: 

But let me end by giving you this specific statement which literally tells us that it was God who was doing this thing on Calvary: Isaiah 53:6: "All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all." But have you ever realized that John 3:16 says this? "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son" - to the death of the cross - it is God who gave Him. Take again Romans 3:25: "Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God" - there it is again. Or Romans 8:32: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" He, God, He "spared not His own Son but delivered Him" - it was God who did it . . . Any idea or theory of the atonement must always give full weight and significance to the activity of God the Father. (emphasis mine) (Great Doctrines of the Bible, Volume One, Substitution, "The Necessity of the Atonement," Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 2003, 317-337)

Again, as he gloried in the cross, Lloyd-Jones wrote: ". . . he was put to death by his own Father . . . ." (The Cross, Crossway Books, Wheaton, Illinois, 1986, 82)

Contemporary pastors and theologians, like Voddie Baucham, also affirm this truth. John Piper writes:

One of my friends who used to be a pastor in Illinois was preaching to a group of prisoners in a state prison during Holy Week several years ago. At one point in his message, he paused and asked the men if they knew who killed Jesus. Some said the soldiers did. Some said the Jews did. Some said Pilate. After there was silence, my friend said simply, "His Father killed him." That's what the first half of Romans 8:32 says: God did not spare his own Son but handed him over - to death. (emphasis mine) (Who Killed Jesus?)

Stephen Wellum writes:

Texts such as Isaiah 53:10, John 3:16, Romans 8:32, and Jesus's prayer in Gethsemane and his cry from the cross, all teach that the Father deliberately sacrificed his Son for us . . . How is the Father justified in what he did at Calvary? What gave him the right to sacrifice his own Son? Two points require emphasis. First, Scripture presents the action of God the Father as a priest offering the sacrifice of his only Son, as a demonstration of his love, justice, and righteousness. Second, given the Trinitarian personal relations, the act of the Father also involves the active involvement of the Son and the Spirit, who together, and according to their mode of personal relations, act as the one God to redeem us. (emphasis mine) (Christ Alone: The Uniqueness Of Jesus As Savior, Zondervan, 2017, 211-212)

God killed His Son on the cross. Scripture testifies to it, and faithful, godly believers in church history testify to it as well. 

The Second Critique: God's Damning Of His Son

The second critique Wait makes is against the language R. C. Sproul used to describe what Jesus endured on the cross. He writes: 

. . . the film includes the unfortunate statement from the late, great R. C. Sproul, speaking of Jesus's cry of forsakenness on the cross: "It was as if there was a cry from heaven, as if Jesus heard the words 'God damn you'" [2:26:16]. The problem for the viewer is that these rather bombastic statements are contextless, and they paint a picture that goes further than the actual doctrine of PSA allows. As described by Begg and DeYoung, God does not hate the Son.

It saddens me that R. C. Sproul's faithful, powerful, and Biblical description of what Jesus endured on the cross is reduced to an "unfortunate" and "bombastic" statement. Really! God forbid!

First of all, no where in the documentary is it stated that God hates His Son. That is simply a false criticism. Second, R.C. Sproul is simply stating the truth of Galatians 3:13: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.'"

To curse means to damn. John Calvin, for example, used these words interchangeably: "Then are we all undone and damned as in respect of the Law, there is no more remedy, Cursed shall he be which does not all those things." (Sermon delivered on Wednesday, the first of January 1556, The 124th Sermon which is the fifth upon the one and twentieth Chapter)

R. C. Sproul is simply faithfully handling the text. 

Furthermore, numerous giants of the faith throughout church history have written this way about the cross, including Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wycliffe, John Owen, Herman Witsius, Francis Turretin, Wilhelmus à Brakel, A.W. Pink, J.I. Packer, John Piper, and Philip Ryken.

See the above link for numerous examples, but I'll simply list a few of my favorites here (all emphasis mine):

Martin Luther: So then, gaze at the heavenly picture of Christ, who descended into hell [I Pet. 3:19] for your sake and was forsaken by God as one eternally damned when he spoke the words on the cross, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani!" - "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" [Matt. 27:46]. In that picture your hell is defeated and your uncertain election is made sure. (Luther's Works, Vol. 42, Eds. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, Hilton C. Oswald, and Helmut T. Lehmann, Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1969, 105) 

John Calvin: Calvin's Catechism: 69. How is it possible that Jesus Christ, who is the salvation of the world, should have been under such damnation? He was not to remain under it. For though He experienced the horror we have spoken of, He was by no means oppressed by it. On the contrary, He battled with the power of hell, to break and destroy it. (The School Of Faith: The Catechisms Of The Reformed Church, Ed., Trans. Thomas F. Torrance, Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock Publishers, 1959, 16)

Not only the body of Christ was given as the price of our redemption, but there was another, greater, and more excellent ransom, for He suffered in his soul the dreadful torments of a damned and lost man. (Institutes, II.xvi.10)

For inasmuch as we see that the Son of God . . . was pronounced accursed by God's own mouth. (Sermons On Galatians, Audubon, New Jersey: Old Path Publications, 1995, 295-296)

Wilhelmus à Brakel: Christ did indeed suffer eternal damnation, for eternal damnation, death, and pain consist in total separation from God, in the total manifestation of divine wrath, and all of this for such a duration until the punishment upon sin was perfectly and satisfactorily born.(The Christian's Reasonable Service, Vol. 1, Trans. Bartel Elshout, Ed. Joel Beeke, Rotterdam, The Netherlands: D. Bolle, 1999, 591)

Philip Graham Ryken: To the Jews, this was absolute blasphemy: a cursed Messiah on a cursed cross.  No wonder the cross was such a stumbling block to them!  To put it in the most shocking and yet perhaps the most accurate way, the apostolic message was about a God-damned Messiah. (Galatians, Phillipsburg, New Jersey: Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing, 2005, 115)

Conclusion 

The critiques made by Caleb Wait are simply wrong and misguided. They are neither Biblically accurate nor supported by church history. And they do damage to a faithful and helpful documentary on the cross and the Gospel. Watch American Gospel: Christ Crucfied! They get the cross right in every way: God killed Jesus so that sinners might be saved and so that we might never be killed and destroyed in hell forever! Hallelujah! What a Savior!

"That's My King!" Who Created The Last Dance!

"Praise Him with tambourine and dance . . . ." Psalm 150:4

"That's My King!" Who Created Every Last Dance

He Made Michael Jordan To Glory Advance

Bird Said God Came As Jordan? Not Even A Chance

Jesus Is God And THE GREATEST TO EVER DANCE

All That Jordan Is Should Point To God's Glory Expanse

Christ Died And He Rose On Death Victory Stance

He Rules And He Reigns Over All Circumstance

Give God The Glory For Basketball Romance

Taste And See His Beauty At Even A Glance

And He'll Put You In An Everlasting Joy Trance!

That's My King! 

I wonder if you know Him today?!

"That's My King!" Who Began The New Creation As The King Of Every Nation And Came To Grant Salvation To Our Evil Population!

We see the genesis of Jesus Christ in the great beginning

He's the only one on the list Who always did no sinning
The wicked sins of His family will leave your head a spinning
This points to matchless mercy that will only leave you grinning
For He's the God-Man King Who died and rose now winning
And if you trust in Him, your sins He'll keep forgiving!

That's my King!

He came to earth to make all things new
The mess Adam made He came to undo
Even in us who meet here at Chew
And all in the world who sit in the pew
No matter what happens, He'll bring you through
And work all for good – everything He'll renew
With goodness and mercy He'll pursue
One day He'll make every sadness untrue!

That's my King!

He's "Yahweh Saves" – the Messiah of all
This list will prove His phenomenal call
He removed God's wrath when He tasted the gall
And rose up on high – the tallest of tall
Now He's King of kings with power not small
He takes wicked Saul and makes him cry "Christ is all!"
And if you trust in Him, you shall never ever fall!

That's my King! Do you know Him?

He's both David and Abraham's greatest Son
Fulfilling the kingship and covenant done
In His death and resurrection New Creation's begun
His power and might are second to none
His glory and beauty shine like the sun!

That's my King!

Jesus' family history includes an adulterer, murderer, and whore
His abundant love and mercy to richly underscore
To all types of sinners He's the saving open door
If you repent and believe, you He won't ignore
He'll pursue you in love – your hope and purity restore
He's the Dirty Rose Lover for all our sins He bore
Conquered death and hell providing grace galore
To get this lavish mercy you can’t work or do a chore
You only must believe and then do nothing more
His Spirit will live in you to cause you to adore
Then you'll do good works as you never did before
More and more all evil you will hate and fight, abhor
Against your filthy sin you'll wage an all-out war!

That's my King! I wonder if you know Him today?!

Wicked King Jechoniah is in Christ's family line
None of his son's will reign as God's humbling, cursed sign
So Joseph's not the father in Jesus' birth bloodline
But he's father for legal kingship in God's good design
Oh how great is our God, His plan is so Divine
The things that He assigns make His glory brightly shine
And every plan of His is gloriously fine!

That's my King!

Jesus has an amazing, grace-filled family tree
It shows God's great compassion if you’ve eyes to see
His grace and mercy were blood-bought and therefore always free
To all who trust in Him and with His Word agree
No matter what their sin, even to the evilest degree
So come to Him by faith and make your mercy-plea
Beg Him for salvation on humbled bended knee
To God’s Mercy-Heart may you always quickly flee!

That's my King! That's my King!

The Sun Of Righteousness Shall Rise - A Biblical Theology Of The Sun Pointing To The Son

Mark 16:2, 6: And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb . . . And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.
He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Is there any significance to the fact that Jesus Christ rose early in the morning and Mark records that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome went to the tomb "when the sun had risen?"

May this Bible study revolutionize the way you think about the created sun as a pointer to the risen Son of God, and may every sunrise you ever see for the rest of your life remind you of King Jesus' and His resurrection from the dead! The sun and the sunrise ought to remind us of Jesus Christ (Who made the created sun and everything else!), and it ought to point us to His resurrection from the dead!

What was the first thing God spoke into existence in Genesis 1? Light! Just as the first thing God created in the first creation was light, so the first thing that dawned in the new creation was light: the light of the risen sun and, more importantly, the light of the risen Son – Jesus Christ our LORD!

1. God Uses The Created Sun To Describe Himself In His Word

Psalm 84:11: For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

Why is the created sun such a fitting metaphor for God? Why would God use the created sun to describe Himself?

a. The sun is the brightest of lights: The sun provides light to the world. You can't look at it – it is so bright it will burn your eyes!

God is light and in Him is no darkness at all – He is pure and holy and without sin and set apart!

b. The sun is powerful: Dr. Louis Barbier: The Sun's output is 5 x 10 (to the 23rd power) horsepower. How much is that? It is enough energy to melt a bridge of ice 2 miles wide, 1 mile thick, and extending the entire way from the earth to the sun (93 million miles), in one second.

The Sun releases energy at a mass-energy conversion rate of 4.26 million metric tons per second, which produces the equivalent of 38,460 septillion (1 with 24 zero’s after it) watts per second. To put that in perspective, this is the equivalent of about 9.192×10 (to the 10th power) megatons of TNT per second, or 1,820,000,000 Tsar Bombas – the most powerful thermonuclear bomb ever built - 3,333 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The visible part of the sun is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit, while temperatures in the core reach more than 27 million degrees F. One would need to explode 100 billion tons of dynamite every second to match the energy produced by the sun, according to NASA.

God is all powerful! He is King! He is sovereign! He made the sun and upholds the sun!

c. The sun is big: The sun is 1,000 times heavier than the largest planet, Jupiter, and it is more than 300,000 times heavier than earth. The sun lies at the heart of the solar system, where it is by far the largest object. It holds 99.8 percent of the solar system's mass and is roughly 109 times the diameter of the earth — about one million earths could fit inside the sun.

God is big! Children's Song: My God is so big and so strong and so mighty; There's nothing my God cannot do!

Psalm 8:3: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place

d. The sun is beautiful: Sunrises and sunsets are beautiful! Gorgeous beauty! We look and stand in awe!

God is the most beautiful of all beings! He is more beautiful than all the beauty of His creation combined!

Psalm 27:4: One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

e. The sun sustains life and provides for us: We need the sun to survive – light, heat, food, energy

We cannot survive without God. God gives life and provides for all of our needs.

Philippians 4:19: And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

f. The sun is the center of the solar system and holds all the planets in their proper orbit: The sun is at the heart and center of the solar system and all the planets revolve around the sun.

God is the center of the universe! God holds everything together! Our lives should revolve around God and point to God and glorify God!

Matthew 22:36-38: Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.

Colossians 1:17: And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

2. God Uses The Created Sun As A Metaphor To Describe Jesus Christ – The Messiah

a. Jesus is the Sun of Righteousness: Malachi 4:2: But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings.

John Calvin: There is indeed no doubt but that Malachi calls Christ the Sun of righteousness . . . The meaning then of the word sun, when metaphorically applied to Christ, is this, - that He is called a sun, because without Him we cannot but wander and go astray, but that by His guidance we shall keep in the right way.

b. Jesus is our righteousness: Jeremiah 23:5-6: I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The LORD is our righteousness.' 

c. Jesus is the Sun like a Bridegroom: Psalm 19:1-5: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber

d. Jesus is the Rising Sun that gives light: Luke 1:76-79: And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."

e. Jesus shined light on the Gentiles: Matthew 4:13-16: And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: "The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles - the people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned."

f. Jesus face shone like the sun at His transfiguration: Matthew 17:1-2: And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun

g. Jesus if the Bright and Morning Star: Revelation 22:16: I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.

h. Jesus is the Star that came out of Jacob: Numbers 24:17: I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel

i. Jesus face is like the sun shining in full strength: Revelation 1:13-18: and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last,  and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades."

Jonathan Edwards: He who made the sun to be a type of Christ saw [it fitting] that when Christ died, [it] should be darkened, that while Christ's sufferings on the cross continued, and he was deprived of joy and comfort, the sun should be deprived of light. That the sun is a type of Christ was probably one reason why Christ's resurrection was about the time of the rising of the sun, i.e. its first rising by its light, because the rising of the sun is a type of the resurrection of Christ . . . .

3. We, The People Of God, Are Being Conformed Into The Image Of The Risen Son, Jesus Christ

Romans 8:29: For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son

Matthew 13:41-43: The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

4. The Son, Jesus Christ, Is The Light Of The World

John 8:12: Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

D. A. Carson: The light metaphor is steeped in Old Testament allusions. The glory of the very presence of God in the cloud that led the children of Israel to the Promised Land (Exodus 13:21-22) and protected them from those who would destroy them (Exodus 14:19-25). The Israelites were trained to sing, "The LORD is my light and my salvation" (Psalm 27:1). The word of God, the law of God is a light to guide the path of those who cherish instruction (Psalm 119:105; Proverbs 6:23); God's light is shed in revelation (Ezekiel 1:4, 13, 26-28) and salvation (Habakkuk 3:3-4). Light is Yahweh in action (Psalm 44:3). Isaiah tells us that the servant of the LORD was appointed as a light to the Gentiles, that he might bring God's salvation to the ends of the earth.

Kennedy Adarkwa: Throughout history, nobody has made such a bold, unapologetic, and emphatic statement besides Jesus. Herod the Great could not make such a statement; Caesar Augustus could not make such a proposition. Julius Caesar could not make such affirmation. Napoleon Bonaparte could not make such an assertion. Moses did not make such proclamation. Buddha could not make such a declaration. Krishna could not make such an announcement. Mohammed could not make such an utterance. The reason is obvious. These were powerful men and leaders in their own right, but all of them were mortals and finite. Death would not allow them to utter such a declaration. This is a statement of Deity; it is a declaration of Divinity and Immortality.

John 12:46: I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.

Spurgeon: To some, the rising of this Sun will bring healing and blessing; but to others it will bring scorching and withering.

Our only hope is the Gospel - repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ Who died and rose again to save sinners.

Ephesians 5:14: Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.

5. There Will Be No Created Sun In Heaven Because The Son (Jesus Christ) Will Be Our Everlasting Light

Revelation 21:23: And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Spurgeon: Jesus, like the sun, is the center and soul of all things, the fullness of all good, the lamp that lights us, the fire that warms us, the magnet that guides and controls us; he is the source and fountain of all life, beauty, fruitfulness, and strength; he is the fosterer of tender herbs of penitence, the quickener of the vital sap of grace, the ripener of fruits of holiness, and the life of everything that grows within the garden of the Lord. Whereas to adore the sun would be idolatry; it were treason not to worship ardently the divine Sun of Righteousness.

When you take the Bible remember that Christ is the center of the Scriptures. Do not put election in the center; some do, and they make a one-sided system. Do not put man in the center, - some do, and they fall into grievous errors. Christ is the center of the entire system of the Gospel, and all will be seen to move with regularity when you perceive that he is the chief fixed point; you cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of him. He is the center and King of all truth.

He is the center of the Church too. Not the pastor, not the church itself, not any rule or government, no bishop, no priest, and no pope can be our center, Christ alone is our central sun. We follow as planets where he leads the way: around him we revolve, and we own no other Lord.

Let it be so in the world that even there Christ governs and is the center of all history. You will understand history better when you know this, for this is the key of the world's story, the reason for the rise and fall of empires. You shall understand all things when you know Immanuel, God with us.

And let him have this place in your hearts. There enthrone him! Establish him as the central sun, and let him rule your entire being, enlightening your understanding, warming your hearts, filling all your powers, passions, and faculties with the fullness of his presence. To have Christ in us, the hope of glory – oh, what blessedness! But let us take care that it is so, for we know not Christ aright unless we give him such a place in our hearts as the sun occupies in God's world.

Not just once a year: He is risen! He is risen indeed!
Not just once a week: He is risen! He is risen indeed!
But every day the sun rises - which is every day - may we remember and rejoice that He is risen! He is risen! He is risen indeed! 

He Is Crushed! He Is Crushed Indeed!

He is crushed! He is crushed! He is crushed indeed!

He is stricken! He is stricken! He is stricken indeed!

He is cursed! He is cursed! He is cursed indeed!

He is forsaken! He is forsaken! He is forsaken indeed!

S. M. Lockridge - It's Friday, But Sunday's Coming!

It's Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter's a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
Pilate's struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don't even know
That Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary's crying
Peter is denying
But they don't know
That Sunday's a coming!

It's Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe Him in scarlet
They crown Him with thorns
But they don't know
That Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And His spirit's burdened
But you see, it's only Friday
Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
The world's winning
People are sinning
And evil's grinning

It's Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior's hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior's feet
To the cross
And then they raise Him up
Next to criminals

It's Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
The disciples are questioning
What has happened to their King
And the Pharisees are celebrating
That their scheming
Has been achieved
But they don't know
It's only Friday
Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
He's hanging on the cross
Being forsaken by His Father
Left alone and dying
Can nobody save Him?

Ooooh
It's Friday
But Sunday's coming!

It's Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields His spirit

It's Friday
Hope is lost
Death has won
Sin has conquered
and Satan's just a laughing

It's Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it's Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a coming!

By Dr. S. M. Lockridge

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

God And The Gospel

To learn more about the great and true Triune God, the God-Man, Jesus Christ, His cross, and His glorious Gospel message and everlasting Kingship, please watch American Gospel: Christ Alone. You can watch the full documentary here and here for free!