Christ Conquers Second Death
- Michael E.B. Maher
- 1 day ago
- 7 min read
Revelation 20:13-15 “The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. (14) Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (15) And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Again, it is in the New Testament that revelation is given to us for the first time that there are in fact two spiritual deaths; for in the above quoted passage of scripture the Holy Spirit reveals to us that there is a second death. As revealed in this passage, the second death is the lake of fire. And so we see that the spiritual death that Jesus died for all is in fact the second death. All unbelievers are already spiritually dead. In other words they have all experienced the first spiritual death. At the end of the age only those who are already spiritually dead will be cast into that lake of fire for all eternity, for it is only those who are spiritually dead that do not have their names written in the Book of Life. And so we see that all unbelievers will thus incur the second spiritual death.
Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”
And so we see that it is the second death that Jesus has incurred for us, and it is this death that men no longer have to incur. This is why the above quoted passage of scripture teaches us that the second death has no power over the Lord’s saints. All men still incur physical death and all men still incur the first spiritual death. But all men do not have to incur the second spiritual death, because Christ has already incurred this death for us. But I want you to notice from the passage of scripture quoted earlier, that it is only those who are baptised into Christ that are baptised into His death. In other words only those who believe the gospel are baptised into Christ’s death. And so because all unbelievers have not incurred their second spiritual death in Christ they will incur the second death of the lake of fire for all eternity.
1 Corinthians 2:7-8 “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, (8) which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”
And so when Jesus died both spiritually and physically He was put under Satan’s authority, who then took Jesus into Hades where He suffered the punishment of our sins for three days and three nights (Matthew 12:40). Throughout all of this time Satan and his angels thought that Jesus was being punished for His own sin. At the end of three days and three nights however, all the sin of mankind had been accounted for. And now an astounded Satan and his angels saw God’s plan of redemption manifested, for God the Father did something that they thought was impossible. God made His Son who was spiritually dead, spiritually alive once again (Psalm 18:28). God was never able to that for anyone else before, because if He did He would have acted illegally and Satan knew that. The difference now however, was that Satan and his angels had in fact acted illegally by holding a sinless Jesus captive in the heart of the earth. Too late, Satan and his angels realised that Jesus had in fact being paying the price for the sin of the world, and not for His own sin. And too late they realised that Jesus had died spiritually, not because of His own sin, but rather because He had tasted spiritual death for the whole world. This is why the scripture quoted above reveals to us that Satan and his angels would never have crucified Jesus, if they had any idea as to what God was doing. They had no idea, for even though Satan was devious God had showed him just how shrewd He could be (Psalm 18:26).
Ephesians 2:4-6 “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, (5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), (6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”
And so when God made Jesus spiritually alive once again, He not only made His Son alive, but He was also able to make all alive who were already in Christ, for we had already been immersed into Christ when He died, and we were still all in Christ when He was made spiritually alive once again. God could now legally do this, because Satan had held His Son illegally through death. This is why the above quoted passage of scripture teaches us that we have been made alive together with Christ, for this passage is referring to us being made spiritually alive. Notice in this passage that we were first made alive together with Christ, and only after that were we raised together with Christ. Not only that, but God has also seated us together in the heavenly places in Christ. All of this is past tense. In other words God did all of this when Christ died and rose again. Now you can see why it is that God could not immerse the whole world into Christ’s death, because He would then have had to raise the whole world in Christ, and He would have had to seat the whole world in Christ in the heavenly places. Therefore God could only immerse into Christ’s death those who would believe the gospel.
Hebrews 1:6 “But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him.”
Before Jesus went to the cross, the scripture referred to Jesus as the only begotten Son of God (John 1:14). But after Jesus was raised from the dead the scripture no longer refers to Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, but rather as the firstborn of God. In other words the first time Jesus came into the earth He was the only begotten Son. But as revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture, the second time Jesus came into the earth (when He was raised from the dead) He was now the firstborn, for the scripture says “He again brings the firstborn into the world”. And so the reason that scripture now refers to Jesus is the firstborn, is because He is the first to be born-again.
Colossians 1:18 “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence.”
The apostle Paul confirms the truth to us that Jesus is the firstborn, when he refers to Jesus as the firstborn from the dead in the above quoted passage of scripture. And so because Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, He has pre-imminence in all things, for He is Lord of all. I want you to notice from this passage however, that the Holy Spirit tells us that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. In other words Jesus is the first one to be born from the dead. We know that Jesus is the first to be raised from the dead, for the scripture refers to Him as being risen from the dead as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Corinthians 15:20), but that is not what this scripture is referring to. Being raised from the dead and being born from the dead are two different things. To be raised from the dead is physical, but to be born from the dead is spiritual. And so when the Holy Spirit teaches us that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, He is telling us that Jesus died spiritually just as we did, and that Jesus was the first one to be born-again in His spirit, for our Lord Jesus died spiritually when He took upon Himself the sin of the world. In other words Jesus became what we were (spiritually dead), so that we could become what He is (spiritually alive).
Galatians 1:15-16 “But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, (16) to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood.”
Although God completed the work of salvation through the death and resurrection of Christ, He only manifests His completed work when He chooses. Don’t forget that all in Christ have already been raised and seated in the heavenly places in Him. Nevertheless God decides when His completed work is made manifest through each one of us. This truth is revealed to us in the above quoted passage of scripture. In this passage the apostle Paul makes a seemingly strange statement, for he says that God revealed His Son “in” Paul, when it pleased God. We would have thought that a more correct statement would have been to say that God revealed His Son “to” Paul. But when you realise that God has already completed the work of Christ in Paul on the cross then it makes complete sense for God to reveal His Son “in” Paul. And also notice that it is God who decides just when He is going to reveal Jesus “in” those who believe. This is why there is salvation in none else but Jesus Christ (Acts 4:12), for He is the only one who never committed any sin. He is the only one who has taken upon Himself the sin of the world. He is the only one who has died spiritually for all. He is the only one who has incurred the punishment for the sins of all. And He is the only one who has been made alive for all, and only in Him have all been made spiritually alive once again.
Michael E.B. Maher
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