Did God Die?

You heard in Sunday school that Jesus died for your sins, but did you ever hear that God died for them? It’s something I certainly didn’t hear and I’d venture to guess neither did you. Can the one who is eternal and sent his only Son so that people may believe in him for eternal life die? It doesn’t sit well with our human logic so many of us would think that God can’t die; however, here are some reasons why we simply need to agree that He did.

• Passages in Scripture testify that God died; Acts 20:28 (“the church of God, which he bought with his own blood”) and 1 Corinthians 2:8 (they crucified “the Lord of glory”).

• The human and divine natures of Christ cannot be separated. They are “personally united” (Formula of Concord, Epitome, Article VIII, par. 1). There is only one Christ who is both the Son of God and the Son of man (Lk 1:31-35). “Jesus is true God. Therefore, in Christ, God died” (Wisconsin Lutheran Seminary Professor Joel Otto).

• The incarnation allows it. Through the incarnation God became man. Therefore, Jesus is both God and man. Since Jesus died, we can say God did, too. (Joel Otto)

“God died for your sins.” 

Perhaps you and I didn’t hear it in Sunday school since it doesn’t make sense to our logic. How can an eternal God die? Yet, just as the Bible teaches the concept of the trinity, so also the Bible teaches that God died for our sins. It is a concept we need to believe even if it doesn’t make sense to us because it is what the Bible teaches. And what a comfort to know that the creator of the universe would die for you!

In Christ,

David Spaude