ANSWERING THE QUESTION :HOW CAN JESUS BE GOD , YET HE DIED ?
By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi
John 2:19 kJV “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”.
The religious folks of Jesus’ time sought for a sign to justify His claim to divinity and His reply was "Destroy this temple , and in three days I will raise it up" . It was three days after His resurrection that His disciples realized the true meaning of this profound statement which forms the bedrock of the Christian faith.
The question Christians face in line with the claim of the divinity of Jesus Christ is: how can God die ? To answer this question , it is important we defined death within the parenthesis of its true meaning in scripture. Rom 5:6 KJV says “ For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
The word ‘died’ as used here is not just a state of limbo that is synonymous with animal death. It is a process of metamorphosis , necessary for the unveiling of the new creation realities. It is the Greek word ‘apothnesko’ , it means to die off (literally or figuratively) it has its roots from two words ‘apo’ which means: away from something near, it usually denotes a separation ,reversal , cessation . The second word is ‘thnesko’ which means 'die' The scripture explains this process using the illustration from a seed.
1 Cor 15:35-39 TLB says “But someone may ask, "How will the dead be brought back to life again? What kind of bodies will they have?" What a foolish question! You will find the answer in your own garden! When you put a seed into the ground it doesn't grow into a plant unless it "dies" first. And when the green shoot comes up out of the seed, it is very different from the seed you first planted. For all you put into the ground is a dry little seed of wheat or whatever it is you are planting, then God gives it a beautiful new body-just the kind he wants it to have; a different kind of plant grows from each kind of seed.”However, Jesus' body did not decompose as a sign of dominion over death and hell (Psalm16:10, Acts 2:27)
Justice was satisfied when Jesus took upon himself the sins of humanity according to the law of Moses and was made the scapegoat for man to experience emancipation from the consequences of sins. It was necessary that He be crucified so that we may experience the death of the old corruptible nature haven been joined with Him by the Spirit. Like , the seed of wheat, Jesus did not die a helpless death but like the meaning of the word in the Greek He separated us from sin that was near us thus reversed the condemnation that was due us.
As prophesied by Jesus , the religious folks destroyed His temple (body) in fulfillment of prophesy (Isaiah 53) and He raised Himself because He is above the power of the grave Acts 2:24 KJV “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.” Jesus created death (John1:3) and cannot be ruled by it. He said in John 11:25-26 NIV.. "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die…." Death is the doorway to the invisible spirit world , and the believer has been given dominion over death (Eph.4:8-10,1 Cor 3:22-23, Rev.1:18) .One may ask , if Jesus Christ was God , why was he grieving about his death in Mark 14:34 NIV "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death," …."
This was necessary to validate his humanity , he must experience human pain for the sacrifice to be valid, He would have gone through the process without feeling a thing then that would have been against laid down procedures and prophesies (Isaiah 53:1-12). It was to fulfill all righteousness; it was also a camouflage, Satan has been on the lookout for Christ and if he knew who he was he would not have crucified Him and that would have hindered our salvation. 1 Cor 2:8-9, Satan destroyed himself through Jesus' crucifixion (Gen.3:15).
Prayer : Heavenly Father forgive me for my sins against you, I believe Jesus Christ died and was raised again for my salvation, I receive him as lord and saviour and receive grace to proof his existence through great signs and wonders in Jesus name.
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