[This is the third in a series on the humiliation of Christ. Here are part 1, & part 2]
Crucifixion was excruciating, to say the least. At that time, it was the most horrid way to die. It is not the intent now to detail the humiliating depths of crucifixion. It is enough for our purposes to say that it was a painful and shameful way to die.
That Christ hung on that tree and suffered the most horrendous form of death reminds us that Jesus endured the full brunt of God's wrath. He was, most definitely, in hell.
When thinking about the cross, we must not forget that his sufferings were not just physical, but mental and emotional too. He was experiencing His Father's anger. The blessings of life in all its forms (i.e. light, happiness, communion with the Father) were being withdrawn from him.
No doubt his mind was swirling with grief and despair. So much was his inward pain that he cried out with anguished voice, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
All this is to assure us that Jesus bore the curse which was due to us for sin. The tree of Eden had been the arena of the first sin. The tree of Calvary became the means of reversing that ordeal. The warning that the Lord had first issued was that "the day you eat of it you will surely die." The Creed serves to remind us that Christ took that curse upon himself at the cross.
Crucifixion was excruciating, to say the least. At that time, it was the most horrid way to die. It is not the intent now to detail the humiliating depths of crucifixion. It is enough for our purposes to say that it was a painful and shameful way to die.
That Christ hung on that tree and suffered the most horrendous form of death reminds us that Jesus endured the full brunt of God's wrath. He was, most definitely, in hell.
When thinking about the cross, we must not forget that his sufferings were not just physical, but mental and emotional too. He was experiencing His Father's anger. The blessings of life in all its forms (i.e. light, happiness, communion with the Father) were being withdrawn from him.
No doubt his mind was swirling with grief and despair. So much was his inward pain that he cried out with anguished voice, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
All this is to assure us that Jesus bore the curse which was due to us for sin. The tree of Eden had been the arena of the first sin. The tree of Calvary became the means of reversing that ordeal. The warning that the Lord had first issued was that "the day you eat of it you will surely die." The Creed serves to remind us that Christ took that curse upon himself at the cross.
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