Reformation 500 WEEK 16: Heidelberg Catechism,
QUESTION 40-44
[No
Reformation History this week due to the length of the Catechism explanation]
Question 40: Why was it necessary for Christ to suffer death? Because the justice and truth of God required that satisfaction for our
sins could be made in no other way than by the death of the Son of God.
God is truthful and just. He said to our first parents Adam
and Eve that they would die if they disobeyed His commandment (Gen. 2:16-17).
The fact that they did not die instantly after they sinned shows that God in
His mercy had planned to send His Son to suffer the death that all sinners
deserve, and thereby to satisfy the justice of God. The eternal Son of God
“died according to His human nature only…for the divine nature…cannot die”
(Ursinus, 215). The Son of God in His humanity suffered the agonizing and
painful separation of His human soul and body by God’s severe wrath.
Question 41: Why was He buried? To show thereby
that He was really dead.
Jesus was buried, not only to fulfill the prophecy “He made
His grave with the wicked” (Isaiah 53:9), but also so that we would not be able
to doubt His death, on which our salvation depended. Pilate even posted a guard
to make sure that Jesus’ tomb was sealed so His disciples could not steal His
body (Matt. 27:64-66).
Question 42: Since,
then, Christ died for us, why must we also die? Our
death is not a satisfaction for our sin, but only a dying to sin and an
entering into eternal life.
Since Christ died in our place, and has fully satisfied for
all our sins, why do we still have to die? It is because when we are united to
Christ by true faith, we do not receive all the benefits of His death all at
once. We are justified but not perfectly sanctified in this life; and we do
not receive our resurrected bodies until Christ returns (Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor.
15:23). We have to wait until He returns to receive the perfect enjoyment of
all the benefits of His death, including the elimination of death itself (1
Cor. 15:26, 54). But since Christ died for us, our physical death is not a
satisfaction or punishment for our sin. Rather, our physical death puts an end
to our sinning and ushers our soul into the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ
in heaven (2 Cor. 5:8; Heb. 12:22-24).
Question 43: What
further benefit do we receive from the sacrifice and death of Christ on the
cross? That by His power our old man [our old
sinful nature] is with Him crucified, slain, and buried; so that the evil
lusts of the flesh may no more reign in us, but that we may offer ourselves
unto Him a sacrifice of thanksgiving.
When we are united to Christ by true faith, the first
benefit we receive from Christ’s death is justification, which means we
are forgiven the eternal punishment of sin (Rom. 8:1, 33). “The justice of God
demands that the sinner should not be punished twice. And as God has punished
our sins in Christ, He will not, therefore, punish the same in us” (Ursinus,
227). We also receive the further benefit of sanctification, which means
that by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit we are set free from the
enslaving power of our old sinful nature by receiving a brand new holy nature –
“a new creation” (2 Cor. 5:17). This does not mean we no longer have our old
sinful nature, but it does mean we are no longer slaves to our old
sinful nature. We have a new nature that desires to please God out of
thankfulness for salvation. Thus, “our old man was crucified with Him, that the
body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin”
(Rom. 6:6). “He, therefore, who boasts of having applied to himself by faith
the death of Christ, and yet has no desire to live a holy and godly life… gives
conclusive evidence that the truth is not in him; for all those who are
justified are willing and ready to do those things which are pleasing to God”
(Ursinus, 227).
Question 44: Why
is it added: He descended into hell?
That in my greatest temptations I may be
assured that Christ my Lord, by His inexpressible anguish, pains, and terrors,
which He suffered in His soul on the cross and before, has redeemed me from the
anguish and torment of hell.
In the Apostles’ Creed, the phrase
“He descended into hell,” follows the words “crucified, dead and
buried.” “The Roman Catholic Church takes it to mean that Christ literally went
to hell to suffer for three days and then took the Old Testament believers, who
had died, to heaven. The Lutherans say that Jesus’ soul went to hell not to
suffer but to proclaim His victory over His enemies” (Norman Jones, Study
Helps, 96).
The biblical view is that the term hell
is used not only to refer to the place of the damned, but also to signify the
most extreme distress and anguish. “The pains of death surrounded me,
and the pangs of hell laid hold of
me; I found trouble and sorrow” (Psalm 116:3). Therefore, the
phrase, “He descended to hell,” refers to the torments that Christ suffered in
His soul before He died. After He died, His soul did not go to
hell, but His soul went to Paradise (which is heaven – see 2
Cor.12:2-4). Christ told the believing thief on the cross: “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise”
(Luke 23:43); and right before He breathed His last breath, He said to his
Father, “into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). “The soul of Christ,
after His death, was, therefore, in the hands of His Father in Paradise, and
not in hell” (Ursinus, 229). There was no need for Christ to suffer in hell,
because His suffering to redeem His elect was finished when He died on
the cross. Before His last breath He proclaimed, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
Plus, OT believers “were not in hell; therefore, they could not be liberated
from that place” (Ursinus, 228). There was no need for Christ to go to hell to
proclaim victory over His enemies, because the Bible says He did that by His
resurrection and ascension (Eph. 4:8; 1 Pet. 3:21-22).
The reason why “He descended into
hell” follows “crucified, dead, and buried,” is to explain that He not
only suffered bodily, but “He also suffered in soul the most extreme torments,
and hellish agonies such as all the ungodly shall forever endure. The chief,
and heaviest part of the sufferings of Christ is, therefore, correctly placed
last, according to the order in the Creed; for it proceeds from the pains of
the body to those of the soul” (Ursinus, 232). When Jesus cried out, “My God,
My God, why have you forsaken Me?” He was suffering the inexpressible anguish,
pains, and terrors of hell. Therefore, He has redeemed all believers from the
anguish and torment of hell!
NOTE: These Posts were written and designed as bulletin inserts by Pastor David Fagrey of the Grace Reformed Church of Rapid City, SD .
Link to this blog entry as a bulletin insert: Reformation 500 HC QAs 40-44
For a double-sided PDF for easy printing: Reformation 500 Week 15
 |
| Official Seal of the RCUS |
This is the seal of the Reformed Church of the United States (RCUS). As you can see its history goes back to 1748, when the RCUS began. We celebrate with the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation we praise God for what is probably the most amazing spiritual revival in the history of the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment