Did Jesus Die the Second Death?

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#CC9966" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04600640dkesoe.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Medical Missionary Press</B></FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#006633" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#FF3300" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#CC0033" FACE="Arial" > </FONT><B> |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Medical Missionary Press"><B>home</B></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=190 BGCOLOR="#CC9966" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Articles"><IMG SRC="0410d0d0.png" border=0 width="13" height="13" ALT="up" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></A>       <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="7">      <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="7">      <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="1x1.gif" HEIGHT="13" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" WIDTH="13"></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Did Jesus Die the Second Death?</div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Did Jesus Die the Second Death?</B></div> <bR> <div> In recent years there have appeared in Seventh-day Adventism articles promoting the thought that Jesus died the second death. In view of the fact that most evangelical Christians believe in the immortality of the soul concept, and therefore do not conceive of Jesus really dying at all, it has been the Adventist position that Jesus experienced death in the sense of losing consciousness. We recognize, of course, the Bible teaching that in death a person loses consciousness and therefore we use the Biblical terminology when we say that such a person “sleeps.” For example see 1 Cor. 15:51.</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE SUFFERINGS OF CHRIST IN THE CONTEXT OF THE SECOND DEATH</B></div> <div> It is, perhaps, a major advancement in our conception of the final struggle and sacrifice of Christ when we contemplate that sacrifice in the context of the <I>second death</I>, and not just the first death.</div> <bR> <div> The Bible speaks of it being a prime evidence of a man's love for another if he will lay down his life for that person (John 15:13). We have all heard, at one time or another, a moving story of someone who was willing to give up their life for someone else. To expend one's life to save another is not considered in the same sense as to expend one's life because of not wanting to face life anymore.</div> <bR> <div> Yet to give up our life in the hope of saving someone else's life is a much easier consideration when the first death is involved, and there is the anticipation of a resurrection. But what if it is the second death that is involved in giving up our own life? It is a much greater test of our love for another if we are willing to accept the second death, and be eternally lost. The second death is more to be feared than the first death. The elements of fear which often exist in the human heart in its outlook toward the first death that comes to all as a sleep, are really more deeply related to the second death. It is because the first death is in reality symbolic of the second death that many have a fear of death, even though they may have little comprehension of what the second death really entails.</div> <bR> <div> Thus, when we consider the sacrifice and death of Christ to save us, it is of much deeper significance for us to consider it in the context of the second death. Indeed, the Bible actually requires that we consider it primarily in this context, as we shall see later. Anything less will significantly depreciate the sacrifice Christ made, and short-circuit our ability to have a truly deep and genuine heart appreciation for Christ and His gift. Even though they don't realize it, the Christians who do not understand the non-immortality of the soul will not be able to have much more than a self-focused appreciation for Christ. There will be an appreciation (and it can be very deep, emotional, and moving) that Christ endured the torture of the cross so that we don't have to. Our thankfulness at escaping such a cruel and dreadful death will be the main extent of our appreciation.</div> <bR> <div> Such an appreciation fails to grasp the significance of the sacrifice that was being made at the cross. Unless our vision can be enlarged to see the sacrifice of Christ in the context of the second death, we are doomed to a very limited and largely self-centered religious experience. Only in the context of the stupendous truths committed to Seventh-day Adventists (see <I>Testimonies for the Church</I>, v. 9, p. 19) is it possible to find the framework of truth in which a full appreciation and completely unselfish heart response to Christ can be fully developed in Christian experience. Only in this context is the fullest dimension of what Christ endured and what He gave for us fully understood, as far as our capacity can be enlarged to understand. And only with this understanding can we gain the purity of motive that will enable us to be secured, or sealed, for eternity.</div> <bR> <div> We must realize that no amount of commandment-keeping, however rigorous or detailed, can compensate for any of our sins, or draw us one whit back from complete rebellion against God. It is only as the heart realizes its helplessness and truly “sees” the extent of God's love manifested in Christ at Calvary, that a motive is initiated at some level in the heart which starts a person in the life of obedience,-of commandment-keeping. (See <I>The Desire of Ages</I>, p. 480). Commandment-keeping does not transform an unregenerate heart, but a transformed heart does desire to keep the commandments, and puts its energy into careful obedience.</div> <bR> <div> That is why it is possible to say that only in the context of the truths given to Seventh-day Adventists can the purity of motive exist which will enable a person to attain the level of character perfection in which they can be sealed for eternity.</div> <bR> <div> <B>ELEMENTS OF THE SECOND DEATH</B></div> <div> Having shown why we must consider the sacrifice of Christ in the context of the second death, we will now consider at more length some of the elements of the second death.</div> <bR> <div> The Scriptures require that we consider the sufferings of Christ in this context. Notice Hebrews 2:14-15 where we are told that through death Christ destroyed the power of death. Also notice verse 9 where it tells us that Christ tasted death for every man. Rather than say that He <I>died</I> for every man, it says that He <I>tasted death </I>for every man. In reality He both died for every man, <I>and</I> tasted death for every man. It was through the experience of tasting death for every man that He overcame the power of death.</div> <bR> <div> Please consider carefully that to die does not require that a person have any consciousness of the event. In some of the deaths that occur we speak of people not even knowing what happened. Many people die while in a state of unconsciousness. A lot of people die while they are sleeping. None of these can be said to have “tasted” death. In order to “taste” death a person must be conscious and possess full awareness of all that is transpiring. To “taste” death in the fullest sense (which would be necessary in order to taste it for every man) would require every perceptive ability to be functioning at maximum capacity. Any mind deadening substance, or any pain-killing drug would diminish the “tasting” ability and thus Christ would not have tasted in a full and complete sense. We therefore can say that in order to “taste” death Christ had to do more than just die,-He must experience in full consciousness every aspect of all that possibly can be experienced in connection with death.</div> <bR> <div> But that is not all. Not only must Christ fully experience with complete consciousness all the experience of death (contradictory as that may sound), but the death He was to experience is one that destroys the power of death.</div> <bR> <div> It should be readily apparent that if by dying a person destroys the power of death, then the power of death was destroyed by Abel when he died at the hands of Cain. However, we know that Abel's death did not destroy the power of death. Indeed, no death of any man save that of Christ has been thought to destroy the power of death. We therefore must conclude that the death which is discussed in connection with Christ is of a different order than the death of Abel, or any other human. We are thus compelled to the conclusion that it was not the common first death experience, but a second death experience which Christ tasted for every man, and which in fully experiencing He destroyed the power of death. In tasting death for every man He made it possible for every man to withstand the power of the second death.</div> <bR> <div> We might note in passing that none need fear the first death as a sentence that has passed upon all men. Although “it is appointed unto all men once to die,” it is also appointed unto all men to be resurrected. Christ has purchased the right to resurrect every man by His power. Thus there will be a resurrection of the just and also of the unjust. John 5:28, 29. All men have the promise of a resurrection. So we see that the first death really need not be feared any more than sleep. In fact, to many a pain wracked person death has come as a sweet release. The one element of the first death which arouses fear more than any other is the sense of finality that accompanies it. But this sense of finality, in terms of destiny being irreversibly determined, is but a token of the irreversibility of the second death, where eternal destiny is carried out.</div> <bR> <div> In the foregoing discussion we hopefully can see that the “tasting” of death most appropriately is terminology applying to the second death experience. In discussing the “experience” of death we find some significant insights in M. L. Andreason's discussion of Hebrews 2. He writes:</div> <div> “A man who dies does not necessarily by that fact taste death. Most people who die are unaware of what is taking place. Few are able to evaluate their own reactions as the end draws near, and most of them are unconscious some time before the event. But even such as are conscious of their state lose that consciousness at the moment death takes place, when of all times they should be alert if they are really to taste death. Thus in a certain sense it may be said-though this seems a contradiction-that no man who has died has ever fully tasted death. This can only be done by being conscious at the moment of dissolution.</div> <div> “In the same sense it may be said that no man who has died has ever tasted suffering to the full. However much he has endured, when death comes, the suffering ends. A person of weak bodily resistance is not able to endure as much physical suffering as one with a stronger constitution and hence will succumb earlier. But however strong a person may be, he can withstand only a certain amount of suffering and torture, and then he dies. Were he given super-human strength, and thus enabled to live beyond the point where he ordinarily would have died, he could more truly be said to have suffered to the full.</div> <div> “It should be had in mind that the moment of death is not all that is included in death as a punishment. Though death is the climax of the punishment, it is also the end of suffering.</div> <div> “A man is sentenced to be hanged three weeks from the time the sentence is pronounced. Those three weeks are a vital part of his punishment. Every day he is one day nearer the fatal date, and his anxiety and torture daily increase. When at last the moment arrives, when the trap springs, when the neck is broken, his sufferings are over. Death is both the climax of, and the release from, suffering. No evaluation of the sufferings of death is adequate that takes into account only the moment of death. What goes before must be given due consideration.</div> <div> “If we apply this to the case of Christ's death, we find that no evaluation of His sacrifice and suffering is adequate if Gethsemane is left out. The garden experience is closely connected with Golgotha; the two cannot be separated. On the cross Christ suffered and died; in Gethsemane He also suffered and in some respects reached depths lower than on the cross. With this in mind, note again the extract previously quoted: `As the Father's presence was withdrawn, they saw Him sorrowful with a bitterness of sorrow exceeding that of the last great struggle with death.'-<I>The Desire of Ages</I>, p. 759.”</div> <bR> <div> Based on the last quoted passage from The Desire of Ages as well as other Scripture and Spirit of Prophecy passages, Andreason concluded with deep insight:</div> <div> “When He [Christ] rose from the struggle [in Gethsemane] `He had tasted the sufferings of death for every man.' On the cross He died. In Gethsemane He tasted death.” <I>The Book of Hebrews</I>, p. 112.</div> <bR> <div> <B>WHEN THE SUFFERING OF DEATH TAKES PLACE</B></div> <div> Not only can we say that Christ has tasted death for every man, but we can also say that Christ is the only one who has fully tasted the sufferings of death. Any discussion of the sufferings of death, or the tasting of death, must of necessity be a discussion of the elements of experience involved with death that precede the point at which unconsciousness begins. All elements beyond the point of unconsciousness are totally meaningless to the person because he feels nothing and knows nothing. Though it is hard for us to grasp completely, we may say that there is no difference in the experience of unconsciousness for a person in the first death and that of a person in the second death. While it is true that the state of unconsciousness lasts forever in the second death, that fact is meaningless to the unconscious person. There is no difference in the feeling of death for one year or for a billion billion years,-it all feels exactly identical to the unconscious person who feels nothing. He knows no difference at all in his state of unconsciousness in either the first death or the second. It is only to the mind in a state of consciousness that a sense of horror can be felt, and to all who experience the second death such a horror will be felt before they lapse into unconsciousness. It can be said that the primary sense in which their suffering, or “tasting,” exists is in what they consciously feel, touch, taste, and perceive in the time <I>preceding</I> unconsciousness.</div> <bR> <div> This, then, is the real torment of the second death. Once irrevocable unconsciousness has come upon a person they have no more perception, or “tasting,” of any length of that state of unconsciousness, nor do they have any capacity of hoping for a resurrection. I realize that we know all these things, but they need to be stated clearly so that we can discern their far-reaching implications. We can thus see that all real difference between the first death and second death in terms of <I>experience</I> resides in what transpires in the person's experience previous to the instant of expiration when consciousness ceases.</div> <bR> <div> In considering what was accomplished by Christ we must then evaluate primarily His experience in the final hours and moments preceding His last expiring breath when life and consciousness ceased.</div> <bR> <div> <B>WHEN DID JESUS GAIN THE VICTORY OVER DEATH?</B></div> <div> During most of my life, with a background of growing up in Adventism, I had assumed that Jesus gained the victory over death by being resurrected. I had viewed that Christ died in consequence of our sins, but that He triumphed over death by rising from the dead in that resurrection on the morning of the first day.</div> <bR> <div> Only in recent years did it dawn upon my comprehension that it was necessary for Christ to gain the victory over death <I>before</I> He died, or He would not be the victor over death. If He had been borne down by His death experience to the point of lying in the grave then He would have had to accomplish some further work in order to finally gain victory that would make the resurrection possible. But to hold such a position would be to entertain shades of the immortality of the soul teaching. For Christ to accomplish anything more than what He accomplished before He died would be, I say, to give credence to the immortality of the soul doctrine. Furthermore, we would have a basis for giving some validity to the concept of honoring Sunday as a day of victory when Christ was resurrected.</div> <bR> <div> In the experience of Christ we can see the connection of the two great pillars of truth that oppose the two great pillars of error. Sunday sacredness and the immortality of the soul are the two great pillars of the theological system of Babylon. The significance of the Sabbath and the non-immortality of the soul are inseparably connected in the events of Christ's life and death.</div> <bR> <div> Since we do not believe in the consciousness of the soul in death we must conclude that Christ accomplished the victory in His conflict with death <I>before</I> He “gave up the ghost.” This is in harmony with His statement proclaimed from the cross in strong trumpet tones, “It is finished.” But we must ask: Precisely what is it that was finished? We find a significant commentary on what was finished, or completed, in <I>The Desire of Ages</I>, p. 758.</div> <div> “Christ did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, `It is finished.' John 19:30. The battle had been won. His right hand and holy arm had gotten Him the victory. As a Conqueror He had planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour's victory. Satan was defeated, and knew His kingdom was lost.</div> <div> “To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, `It is finished,' had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ's victory.”</div> <bR> <div> Very clearly then, the battle had been fought in Gethsemane and on Calvary, but the victory had been fully and completely gained while Christ was conscious. It was during His consciousness that He tasted and suffered death for all men. It was during His conscious moments that He drank the dregs and emptied the bitter cup. He had felt every torture and torment that it is possible for unabated guilt to force upon the human soul. He had felt the depths of the sense of the separation from God just as any human can possibly feel it knowing that it is for eternity. In other words, before Christ died the first death of unconscious sleep, He endured all the elements of conscious separation from God for eternity. But, praise God, Jesus had a faith that was stronger than death. Though He experienced the exceeding sorrow of death (Matthew 26:38), and though He consciously experienced “the dust of death” (Psalm 22:15), He passed through the struggle and emerged the victor over death <I>before</I> He yielded up His life. Notice again the words of <I>The Desire of Ages</I>, p. 758: “Christ <I>did not yield up His life </I>till He had accomplished the work which He came to do. . .  The battle had been won. . .  All heaven triumphed in the Saviour's victory.”</div> <bR> <div> On page 756 we read: “Amid the awful darkness, apparently forsaken of God, Christ had drained the last dregs in the cup of human woe. In those dreadful hours He had relied upon the evidence of His Father's acceptance heretofore given Him. He was acquainted with the character of His Father; He understood His justice, His mercy, and His great love. By faith He rested in Him whom it had ever been His joy to obey. And as in submission He committed Himself to God, the sense of the loss of His Father's favor was withdrawn. By faith, Christ was victor.”</div> <bR> <div> Here we see very clearly that <I>before</I> Christ died and went into the tomb, the sense of His Father's favor <I>was restored</I>. It was the loss of the sense of His Father's favor that had been so utterly devastating, and had even cut off His view of life beyond the tomb. Previous to His final moments of consciousness He “could not see through the portals of the tomb.” See The Desire of Ages, pp. 752-753. But now, in the closing moments as Christ hangs on the cross, He senses full restoration of His Father's favor. He has full assurance of the battle won and the victory gained, and He has the confidence of coming forth from the grave. He tastes the joy of victory first before He goes into the grave, <I>not when He comes out of it</I>. As He lays down His life voluntarily (John 10:17, 18), the next instant of consciousness He is coming forth from the tomb. As He gave up the ghost it was certain He would come forth from the grave on the third day because He had defeated every element that is feared in the second death. Thus it was that it was impossible that He could be holden by the tomb (Acts 2:24).</div> <bR> <div> <B>THE SABBATH CONNECTION</B></div> <div> Herein lies the connection with the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a unique type of “rest.” It is not the rest of weariness after hard labor. Rather, it is the “rest” of satisfaction in completing, or finishing, the work. It was when God finished the work of creating that He rested on the seventh-day and instituted it as the Sabbath. See Genesis 2:2, 3.</div> <bR> <div> It was only after Christ had completed, or finished, the work of gaining victory over the second death that He rested, or entered the tomb and quietly lay through the Sabbath hours. Thus we read that “As the last rays of the setting sun ushered in the Sabbath, the Son of God lay in quietude in Joseph's tomb. <I>His work completed</I>, His hands folded in peace, He <I>rested</I> through the sacred hours of the Sabbath day.” The Desire of Ages, p. 769. Christ would not have had the right to Sabbath rest if anything had remained to be done in order to complete the victory over death. If being resurrected was necessary in order to complete the victory, then Sabbath rest must follow the resurrection, and Sunday is indeed the new rest day. However, this is not the case. As we have seen, Christ completed the work, rested the Sabbath, and arose from the tomb after Sabbath rest was over.</div> <bR> <div> <B>DID JESUS DIE THE SECOND DEATH?</B></div> <div> We come back to the question posed at the beginning of this article: Did Jesus die the second death?</div> <bR> <div> To be consistent with truths committed to Seventh-day Adventists, which we have discussed here, we must say, “No, Jesus did not die the second death.” We may say that Jesus gained the victory over the second death. Jesus experienced the pain and torment of the second death, and it had nothing more it could put upon Him. The second death did not gain the victory over Him, as would be the case if He had died the second death. Jesus gained the victory over every element of the second death, and then He died the first death. In doing so He showed that the second death “has no power (Revelation 20:6)” over those who develop the “faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12)” and overcome as He overcame (Revelation 3:21).</div> <bR> <div> Hallelujah! What a Saviour! </div> <bR> <div> January 2005</div> <div> Bob Jorgensen</div> <div> Medical Missionary Press</div> <div> 474 Blue Hill Road</div> <div> Marshall, NC  28753</div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>