How could God die?
Question:
My question was about Jesus, who is God and human. The Bible tells us that Jesus died, but Jesus who is God cannot die. That only leaves Jesus who is human. This means Jesus the Human died on the cross, which means a human paid for all human sins. Why doesn’t the Bible say so?
Answer:
Human beings are a combination of three things: a body, soul, and spirit. "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Thessalonians 5:23). You could say that the body is the container or vessel for the spirit that is within us.
Death, then, is the separation of the spirit from the body. "I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder, knowing that the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. And I will also be diligent that at any time after my departure you will be able to call these things to mind" (II Peter 1:13-15). Paul used the illustration of changing clothing or changing our dwelling. "For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord -- for we walk by faith, not by sight -- we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. Therefore we also have as our ambition, whether at home or absent, to be pleasing to Him" (II Corinthians 5:1-9). Death does not destroy the spirit of a person.
God is spirit (John 4:24). From the Godhead, the Son took on human form.
- "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
- "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8).
- "For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9).
When Jesus died, his spirit was separated from his body, just as it happens with every other person. "But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone" (Hebrews 2:9). But he did not remain dead. "For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay" (Psalms 16:10; Acts 2:27; 13:36).
Jesus was fully human while he was here on earth, but he also was fully God. He lived a life without sin, unlike any other human being. It was because of his perfection that he became the payment for the sins of the rest of mankind. See The Living Redeemer for more information. It took God coming in human flesh to do what humans were unable to do.
