No Friday Fun post this week. Instead just a reminder of what happened on the Greatest of Fridays.
Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him (Isaiah 53:4-5)
God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Romans 3:25)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole. (Galatians 3:13)
Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God’ (1 Peter 1:18)
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter (2:24)
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
I believe in God,the Father almighty,Creator of heaven and earth,and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary,suffered under Pontius Pilate,was crucified, died and was buried;he descended into hell; on the third day he rose again from the dead;he ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty;
Is it in the Bible? Well, sorta.
Most Christians would cite the following Bible passages, Acts 2:31; Ephesians 4:8-10; 1Peter 4:6; and 1 Peter 3:18-20. However, none of these passages use the exact phrase “he descended into hell”. And over the years Christians have differed on exactly what these passages mean. [1]
So why then do we recite it in the Apostles’ Creed?
What is clear in the Bible, is that when Jesus died on the cross, He took upon Himself all of our sin and all of our punishment (2 Corinthians 5:21, Colossians 2:13-15, 1 John 4:10). This likely would include the punishment of Hell. As John Calvin put it, Jesus underwent, “the severity of God’s vengeance” and “the terrible torments of a condemned and forsaken man”.[2] Another way of thinking about it is, on the cross Jesus took upon Himself the fullness of our sin. And in Hell Jesus took upon Himself the fullness of our punishment.
What does this phrase means for us today?
The song In Christ Alone sums it up perfectly:
In Christ alone my hope is found He is my light, my strength, my song This Cornerstone, this solid ground Firm through the fiercest drought and storm What heights of love, what depths of peace When fears are stilled, when strivings cease My Comforter, my All in All Here in the love of Christ I standIn Christ alone, who took on flesh Fullness of God in helpless babe This gift of love and righteousness Scorned by the ones He came to save ‘Til on that cross as Jesus died The wrath of God was satisfied For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live
There in the ground His body lay Light of the World by darkness slain Then bursting forth in glorious Day Up from the grave He rose again And as He stands in victory Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me For I am His and He is mine Bought with the precious blood of ChristNo guilt in life, no fear in death This is the power of Christ in me From life’s first cry to final breath Jesus commands my destiny No power of hell, no scheme of man Can ever pluck me from His hand ‘Til He returns or calls me home Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand
Because Jesus conquered sin, death, and Hell, now all who trust in Him have nothing to fear, for it is in the power of Christ we stand!
Alan Conrow 