Please bear with me. I hope this makes sense. Today, my pastor focused on two main scripture verses in his sermon, namely 2 Corinthians 5:21:
and Romans 6:23:
He described the death of Romans 6:23 as being a physical and spiritual death. He also made the point that Christ suffered that punishment as a substutionary atonement for our sin. When we think about how God punished sin on the cross, we (or at least I) have always thought about the physical death of Christ. But was there also a spiritual death as well? Does this question open a theological pandoras box? It has for me. It would be very hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that God, the son, could die spiritually. It is also even more troubling that this spiritual death would be eternal seperation from God. Is it possible that I am simply not grasping what my pastor is trying to say here? Might some of you theological geniuses here help me with this issue of the spiritual death of Christ as the atonement for my sin?
Thanks.
21God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
and Romans 6:23:
23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
He described the death of Romans 6:23 as being a physical and spiritual death. He also made the point that Christ suffered that punishment as a substutionary atonement for our sin. When we think about how God punished sin on the cross, we (or at least I) have always thought about the physical death of Christ. But was there also a spiritual death as well? Does this question open a theological pandoras box? It has for me. It would be very hard for me to wrap my brain around the idea that God, the son, could die spiritually. It is also even more troubling that this spiritual death would be eternal seperation from God. Is it possible that I am simply not grasping what my pastor is trying to say here? Might some of you theological geniuses here help me with this issue of the spiritual death of Christ as the atonement for my sin?
Thanks.