“Christ bore the curse of God. Hanging on a tree was a symbol of the curse, and no vain symbol truly to Christ.
The necessity of His submitting to death, arose from the curse of God due to the sin of the first Adam, for which it was requisite that satisfaction should be made by the second Adam.
Christ too, when He died, “made His soul an offering for sin;” (Isa. 53:10) nay, was “made sin;” (2 Cor. 5:21) and “bare our sins in His own body on the tree,” (1 Peter 2:24) till He suffered “death for the redemption of transgression,” (Heb. 9:15) and “reconciled us in the body of His flesh through death.” (Col. 1:22)
Now, it is inconceivable how Christ can be said to bear our sins, or to bear the guilt of them even unto death, or to take them away by nothing less than death, reconciliation having been then only completely effected,—unless he sustained the curse of God both unto death, and in death.
Nor is it unworthy of notice, that St Peter speaks of “the pains of Christ’s death;” (Acts 2:24) and that Isaiah foretells that he should be “cut off out of the land of the living,” and, through means of death, at last “taken from prison and from judgment.” (Isa. 53:8)
In fine, how can we at all rest assured that we ourselves shall be delivered from a cursed death, unless Christ has undergone such a death in our room?
Thus far we have seen the HISTORY of our Lord’s crucifixion. But it indicates an earthly and grovelling mind, to remain satisfied with the mere outward letter.
Tremendous mysteries lie hid within, which ought to be studied with a kind of sacred amazement and astonishment of mind, contemplated with every pious affection, and deeply impressed upon the heart.
It becomes us to ascend in our meditations to the incredible wisdom of the secret counsels of God, who wonderfully overruled for accomplishing the salvation of mankind, the extreme depravity and impious cruelty of the infatuated Jews, and the mad rage of the Devil who accelerated his own ruin by his opposition to Christ.
It was on our account that all these things befell the Anointed of the Lord.
We ought, therefore, to consider them in a far different manner than if they had happened to a stranger, or to one with whom we have no connection.
Christ is at once our Friend, Kinsman, Brother, and Husband, our Lord and God; who, having become our Surety, underwent the curse of God, not only for our benefit, but in our stead.
He erected on the cross a ladder to paradise. And He became by His own death, the Author of life and immortality to us.
Let us, then, review in our meditations all that has been said, for the following purposes.
First, To show that all things relating to the crucifixion of Christ were FORETOLD AND PREFIGURED of old.
Secondly, To show how GRIEVOUS they were to Christ, and hard to endure.
Lastly, To illustrate their powerful influence to STRENGTHEN OUR MINDS with the vigour of the spiritual life, and confirm them in the hope of a blessed immortality.”
–Herman Witsius, Sacred Dissertations on the Apostles’ Creed, Vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage, 1681/2012), 2: 88-90.
