Satisfaction of the Requirements of Blood covenant

Jesus received the full delivery of all the specified curses on the Way of the Cross.

The final completion of the payment for Adam’s crime came about in Hell where Jesus was torn asunder by the hordes of Hell – His wholeness was completely taken from Him in addition to His excommunication from the Father. This was the price for sin that no soul could pay except Jesus.

Let me quote from my book Salvation in Hell. Jesus’ Experience in Hell: (p 66-68)

What the Scriptures Say

Many Christians are under the impression that any talk of Hell is purely speculative. They think that it is only from visions or theology that our knowledge of Hell is derived. The truth is that the scriptures have a great deal to tell us on this subject and also about Jesus’ experience there.

The four gospels each record the betrayal and manner of Jesus’ death. These same events are described in detail in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and many other prophetic passages.

Psalm 18 describes the Lord’s rescue of Jesus from Hell.

His appearance before the Father in heaven to make the offering for sin is described in Zechariah 3:1-9, 9:11-12, and Hebrews 9:11-28.

Jesus experienced betrayal by a friend and then abandonment by his most loyal followers. Next he received false imprisonment, false accusation and false condemnation. On His way to the cross He collected wounds, bruises and infirmity. He received beatings, humiliations, rejections, degradations and despiteful words so He can truly be said to have been tried in every way as we are.

By being hung on a tree He received a sentence, which according to the Word, was just. “Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree”. (Galatians 3:13, Deuteronomy 21:22-23)

That ‘lifting up’ drew the curse – the sins of all men to Himself. It was then that the Father was compelled by His own holiness to turn His back on Jesus, for God cannot look upon evil.

It was then that Jesus cried out “why hast thou forsaken me?” Only when the Holy Spirit had departed from Him was Jesus finished receiving all of our sins and so He said “ It is finished”.

The Collection of Sin

The Sin of humanity began to enter Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when He willingly chose to accept the cup of suffering. (Matthew 26:39, Isaiah 51:17, Psalm 75:8)

From that point on until His death on the cross Jesus was not ‘suffering the punishment for sin’

He was collecting/receiving it.

The drinking of this cup was a process requiring many hours to complete. He had to collect the legal charges, the mockery, the betrayal, all of which are a part of the curse outlined in Deuteronomy 28. Sin did not just come upon Him on the cross only, as some believe.

Jesus Needed to ‘have’ Sin to Suffer it.

If He had still been without sin during those hours He could not have been wounded. The same healing that He released to others would have instantly healed Him.

He was operating under the original covenant with Adam. It was still in force, for a man who knew no sin and was not subject to the lineage of Adam.

The soldiers could not have held Him because without sin He would not have been under their authority. (John 14:30) He would simply have walked through them like He did in the Temple and in Nazareth. (John 8:59, Luke 4:30)

The True Punishment for Sin

It was in Hell, not on the cross, where Jesus received the punishment for our sins.

A spiritual crime requires spiritual recompense, not physical.

It was separation from the holiness of the Father and the Spirit and the complete removal of Jesus’ shalom/ wholeness/ integration , which caused the majority of the punishment to be deemed fulfilled three days later.

The nature of the punishment necessary to satisfy a covenant betrayal is specified in the covenant making ceremony itself.

Genesis 15: 8-21 is the story of God’s cutting a blood covenant with Abram. The fact that Abraham offered his only son as a sacrifice allowed God to offer His only Son as a sacrifice by the principle of covenant exchange. This was necessary for the plan of salvation to unfold.

Life, which is in the blood, (Leviticus 17:11,14) was required to satisfy the injunctions of the blood covenant and so was the tearing to pieces of the betrayer.

The Blood was First Presented in Hell

It was in Hell where the blood of Jesus was first encountered. Satan had to be satisfied that the blood was shed which annulled his covenant with Adam. The blood of Jesus, that had His life in it was spilled on the earth. It was not until that blood was entirely re-united with Jesus in Hell, that the recognition of His death and satisfaction of the blood-penalty was acknowledged as PAID. The force of sin was eradicated. Jesus was restored to fellowship with the father and Spirit.

The Blood Presented in Heaven

Only then could the blood of Jesus be presented in the Temple in Heaven to ratify the new and better covenant that restored God’s original covenant with Adam and, added to it, the blessing of adoption into the family of God through Jesus.

Once the Father’s justice was satisfied, Jesus was restored to fellowship with the Father and the Spirit. Immediately He was escorted into the presence of the Father to present His innocent blood to Him, to purify the Heavenly vessels and then offer that blood for the purification of all mankind.

Jesus was born-again in Hell, restored to fellowship with the Father.

In Heaven the Father pronounced the innocence of Jesus yet the manumission had already been presented in Hell.

Presenting the Blood – Preaching on Earth

Now when Jesus is ‘lifted up’ and preached, He draws the hearts of all men to Him just as He once drew all the sin and curses from those same hearts.

Jesus was born again-from above while He was in Hell and so were the righteous covenant keepers to whom He to whom he preached, in Abraham’s Bosom.

The law was not able to restore the life of God to their spirits only their acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice on their behalf had the power to do that. God’s nature, which is life, can only enter a dead human spirit through one door.

Jesus is that door, in Hell too.

see Part 1