Jesus Did Not Die Spiritually Pt 1 – KAU#023

A terrible misunderstanding has arisen (mainly among charismatics) concerning the death of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world. Some say Christ had to be tortured in Hell to redeem mankind. Others simply say that His spirit had to die; they reject the part about His suffering in Hell. However, both of these ideas are wrong; dead wrong! The Bible is clear on the matter:

1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

One can’t get much plainer than that. Our sins were paid for by the death of Christ’s BODY on the Cross. It was by His “stripes” that we were healed. Webster refers the word “stripes” to the punishment Christ endured on the
Cross. Even if one applied it to the scourging Jesus endured (Mark 15:15), it was there that His precious BLOOD first began to be poured out. “Stripes” therefore refers ONLY to the physical shedding of blood in the whole process of crucifixion. How can “stripes” refer to the death of
Christ’s spirit? Our sins were paid for by the physical death of Christ. Christ’s spirit did not die. First it must be established that Christ did indeed GO to Hell.
Nevertheless, this was AFTER He had atoned for the sins of the world on the Cross. Christ did not suffer in Hell; He only went there:

Acts 2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Christ’s descent into the heart of the earth makes Hell more complicated than many suspect. Christ did not suffer; He went to Paradise! Scripture appears to teach that at one time, Hell contained Paradise within it:

Luke 23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Christ was in the heart of the earth; yet He was in Paradise. It appears that this Paradise is no longer a region of Hell. It has been moved up to one of the heavenly regions in the Third Heaven:

1 Corinthians 12:2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.
4 How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

There is certainly no “heaven” in the center of the earth, therefore Christ moved Paradise upwards (probably some time after His Resurrection):

Ephesians 4: 8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Why doesn’t the Bible simply say Christ went to Paradise? Why call it “Hell” if Christ did not go to the terrible place of darkness? It is for the simple reason that Paradise was a region in Hell at that time. Christ did go to Hell. Only, He did not have to experience torment in its
dark regions.

This can be better understood by taking note of how the Bible (KJV) speaks upon other subjects. The Bible says Hell is female in type:

Isaiah 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

This is quite interesting since man’s body and soul are likewise figuratively revealed as female. Notice how king David speaks of his own soul:

Psalms 34:2 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

The Bible says man has a “spirit” within this soul:

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

As marrow is inside the bone, so is the spirit inside of man’s soul (Ps.63:5, Prov.17:22). This is all made to connect with the present subject when one realizes that in Scripture man’s whole being is often referred to by simply his soul alone. The Bible certainly does not mean to leave out the spirit, which is the highest intellectual part of man. Yet, it often refers to the whole man himself simply as a “soul”:

Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

The earth is seen as female in type, just like the soul (Gen.4:11). The earth is often a picture of man. The outer shell of the earth would be a picture of man’s outward body. Therefore, just as the earth has within her an inward region called Hell, so does man’s body have within it an inward region called the soul. Yet, if one were to cut open man’s body, one would not be able to see the soul with physical eyes. Neither perhaps, (unless God revealed it) would one be able to see all of Hell if one were enabled to dig deep enough into the earth.

Inside of Hell, at one time, was Paradise. Inside of man’s soul is a spirit. Thus, when one refers to man as a soul this does not rule out the spirit (Gen.17:14) since the spirit is within her. In the same way, Christ was said to go to Hell, since He went to the region of Paradise that was once within her.

From: KA Udate #23