This is from sermon notes/outline I put together in preparation a while back for a sermon structured around the Heidelberg Catechism Question 44, and WLC question 50.
H.C. Lord’s Day 16, Part 2 – Christ Suffered Hell – Sermon
Outline
Intro: Did Christ descend into a place called hell or
Sheol? What is hell and Sheol?
Need: God’s Word, the crafting of the Apostle’s Creed, and our
Reformed Confessions teach that Christ’s whole life, but especially in His
dying and remaining in death til the 3rd day, was all a descent into
hell to redeem His people from death and God’s wrath, and bring them up out of
death into heavenly life with Him.
Theme: Christ suffered hell in His life, death at the cross, and
remaining buried in death until the 3rd day.
1.
Hell’s meaning
in Scripture shows Christ suffered and entered into death for us.
2.
Christ’s work of
redemption was accomplished in His life, death, resurrection, and ascension,
not secret missions to the underworld.
I. Hell’s meaning in Scripture shows Christ suffered
and entered into death for us.
A. The
Hebrew word is sheol, and of course the Greek equivalent is hades,
which the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the O.T. that Christ and the
Apostles used and even quoted from in the New Testament, translates sheol as
Hades.
1. Where
you see “sheol” in the NKJV you will usually see “hell” in the KJV.
2. The 1599 Geneva Bible translates Psalm 18:5
as “the sorrows of the grave have compassed me about: the
snares of death overtook me”.
3. Similarly
in Psalm 16:10, the Geneva takes it as the grave, the NKJV
Sheol, and the KJV hell.
4. The
ESV & NASB both use Sheol. Matthew Poole translates the KJV’s “hell”
as “grave”, or the state of the dead. The word in Hebrew is
Sheol, translated in the KJV as hell. But Sheol/Hades does not necessarily mean
what we think of when we think of “hell” today, the final place of
judgment/torment.
5. “Gehenna” is really the Greek word in the New Testament for
hell, and is the place of future punishment for those in the state/realm of
death, sheol or hades.
6. Gehenna originally was a location in the valley of
Hinnom south of Jerusalem, where filth/waste and dead animals were cast out of
the city and burned, symbolizing the filthiness of the wicked and their future
judgment in the lake of fire at Christ’s return.
7. As Jerusalem was a city
on a hill, a mountain lifted up, it symbolized with the Temple God and His
exalted, holy presence with His holy people. Only the holy may enter, the
unclean are cast out and cast down into the “dumpster fire of hell”
to be burned in God’s righteous and holy wrath forever.
8. Jesus in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, uses “Gehenna” about 11 times.
a. He said it is better to
cut off your hand/gouge eye than the whole body to be cast into Gehenna/hell.
b. He says the Pharisees are
vipers, implies they will not escape the damnation of hell/Gehenna, and make their disciples twofold more the children
of hell.
c. In Matthew and Luke
Christ tells us not to fear man, but God, who has power to destroy both soul
and body in hell/Gehenna, since man can only kill
the body, but not the soul.
9. In Revelation 20:13-14 you read when God opens the book to judge all
-- death and hades, or “hell” as the KJV and Geneva put it -- deliver up their
dead, and every man is judged according to their works.
10. Then death and hell are
cast into the lake of fire, which is called the second death, and whosoever is
not found written in the book of life is also cast into the lake of fire.
11. In Revelation 1:18, it is made clear Christ is the one who has
the keys of “hades”/hell & death, “I am He who lives, and
was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
Hades and of Death.” Christ suffered and endured death and hell/ body and
soul torment, to save His people.
B. As
such, Christ has the keys to the place/suffering/state that he entered, and
conquered.
1. Christ suffered death,
the hell of God’s wrath for sin in His soul, and entered that place or state of
death bodily in His burial til the 3rd day. So the Heidelberg
Confession and WLC harmonize when taken together.
2. His whole life was a
burden, a sin-bearing, though that is most pronounced at the cross.
3. In His life He fulfilled
righteousness, resisting sin, death, the devil, but was marked as a cursed man
for cursed sinners His whole life, though He was and is the spotless Son of God
in human flesh.
4. When Christ cried out on
the cross “It is finished” it really was. There
was no further suffering of God’s wrath, of “hell” in that sense, in terms of payment for sin.
5. Yet, that power of death,
at least in terms of His body in the grave, remained until He was risen on the
3rd day, though His soul immediately returned to the Father in
paradise/heaven.
6. Likewise, we are united
to Christ and united to Him in faith, alive inwardly again by His Spirit.
7. When we die, our souls
will immediately go to be with the Lord, though our bodies will remain under
the curse and power of death for some time.
8. But that power of death,
that dead body, is not a payment or punishment for our sin, but awaits the
future application of the risen life and power of Christ, to raise us bodily
out of the state of death.
9. KEY: Christ’s body in the tomb was not continuing
to suffer the anguishes of God’s hellish wrath, but remained in the state of
death/grave/burial, in hades, or as the Apostles creed translates hades, “in
hell”, awaiting the power of God to raise up His mortal body, to the state of
glory and immortality.
10. But we can be certain we
will rise bodily, because Christ has risen bodily, triumphing over sin, and
therefore the wages of sin, which is death, both its suffering in God’s wrath,
and its status, is gone.
C. Death
and Hades are said in Revelation 20 in the end to itself be cast into the lake
of fire.
1. Death likely refers to
the dying of men’s bodies and separation from their souls.
2. Hell, the places of the
dead, their bodies buried in earth or at the bottom of the sea, etc.
3. These bodies are united
with their souls, whether these souls be resting in the place of blessing (Lk.
16, beggar in Abraham’s bosom) or place of torment (Luke 16, rich man in
torment in Hades).
D. There is what is called
in theology the “Intermediate State”.
1. Both the righteous and
unrighteous enter into this state after they die.
2. They await the final
judgment, their souls either in comfort in Christ, or torment apart from Him.
3. But this is not yet the
second death, lake of hell-fire, Gehenna that burns the wicked forever, body and soul
in torment, under the wrath of the Lamb, Jesus Christ.
4. Christ to the thief on
the cross in Luke 23:43 said “Today you
will be with Me in Paradise” indicating heaven, where Christ’s soul
went immediately. Yet He had something of an “intermediate state” waiting for
the resurrection of His body as well. The thief is still in the intermediate
state, his body is not risen.
5. Rev. 2:7, the one who overcomes is privileged to eat
from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the “Paradise of God”,
and the Tree of Life is seen in Revelation 22.
6. Also 2 Cor. 12:2, 4
Paul speaks of a man caught up into the 3rd heaven, and calls it “Paradise” as well.
E. These
are technical distinctions and you will find some differences among scholars,
but they are important to understand the Apostles’ Creed, and indeed
Scripture’s teaching on these matters.
1. Christ suffered hell
truly, in that He did suffer God’s wrath body and soul for our sin.
2. Those who have perished
in their sin, technically, have not yet suffered the lake of fire, Gehenna/hell,
body and soul judgment, as of yet. Though to be sure, their souls are in
torments presently in Hades, even as the souls of the righteous are in God’s
blessed presence, though not yet bodily.
3. A
good point one of our sister church pastors made on this is that Hades is
a “state of existence” rather than a locale, because it is souls,
not bodies that are there, and souls are immaterial, bodies material.
F. Peter
in Acts 2 quotes the Psalm 16 passage and relates it to Christ, who is now
risen, and the Geneva Bible translates Acts 2:31, “His soul should not
be left in grave, neither his flesh should see corruption.”
1. The NKJV says Christ’s
soul was not left in Hades, KJV hell, and most other translations say Hades.
2. Remember, strictly
speaking, hell or the second death is identified by the Greek “Gehenna”,
not the “Hades” of Acts 2, associated with pagan gods and the
nether world and realm of the dead earlier on.
3. So when Jesus’ died, His
soul went to paradise, or to Hades, the blessed, heavenly presence of God.
a. But, in Psalm 16:10, Sheol
is referring to a literal grave, for Peter in Acts 2:27-31 quotes this and
contrasts David’s body and sepulchre to Christ who has been raised from His
tomb.
b. Further, the word often
translated “soul” in Ps. 16:10 can refer to the whole person,
or even body.
c. The KJV of Numb. 19:13 translates “nephesh” both ways: “Whosoever
toucheth the dead body/nephesh of any man that is dead, and purifieth not
himself, defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; and that soul/nephesh shall be cut off from Israel. NKJV/most
translations have the 2nd “person”.
4. Turning now to Psalm 18,
remember this was a Psalm of David, when he was in danger from his enemies and
King Saul. He basically said, I was in hell, I was going through hellish
torments.
5. The word is Sheol,
equivalent to the NT/Greek Hades, but it shows you don’t have to physically go
somewhere to experience this suffering, “sorrows of the grave” as the Geneva Bible
puts it.
6. We shouldn’t say “I went
through hell” when we had a bad day, but at the same time, we do see Scriptural
example of severe agony and suffering, as here with David, put in terms of
death/sheol.
II. Christ’s work of redemption was accomplished in His
life, death, resurrection, and ascension, not secret missions to the
underworld.
A. In
Calvin’s catechism, he says that Christ was suffering hell as He cried out “My
God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?” But wrestling with the power of hell,
Christ subdued it and crushed it.
1. That is powerful, and
indeed, all of Christ’s life was a heavy burden of bearing the curse, carrying
the cross, which led to the literal cross that He carried to hang and die to
atone for our sins.
2. Regarding the Apostles’ Creed, Caspar Olevianus of
the 16th century said the phrases “suffered under Pontius
Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried” refer to Christ’s sufferings which
could be seen, but the phrase “He descended into hell” refers to His
unseen/internal/spiritual sufferings.
3. Remember Christ’s agony
in Gethsemane, as He prayed fervently for the cup to pass, and His sweat was
like great drops of blood. Much earlier (Lk. 12:50; Mt. 20:22) He
had said He was distressed, for He had to undergo baptism, referring to going
to the cross. He carried the cross within, His whole life.
B. The origins of the Apostles’ Creed: First called such by
Ambrose of Milan (340-397).
1. This and other info is
taken from Daniel Hyde’s helpful little book In Defense of the Descent.
2. Ignatius circa AD 107
wrote in a letter much of the substance and structure we find in the Apostle’s
Creed. The Apostles’ Creed underwent some changes and development over time,
until codified in the churches in the Holy Roman Empire around the year 800 under
Charlemagne.
3. Hippolytus around AD 200
notes questions were asked in those coming for baptism, affirming their faith
by answering basically the Apostles’ creed in a Q&A/catechetical format.
Yes, they did a triple baptism, after each set of questions, not explicit whether
it was by immersing or pouring on the head.
4. Tertullian also confirms
this is the formula used for profession of faith at one’s baptism.
5. The clause “he descended into hell” was added over the centuries, Rufinus around
AD 390 references it, but says it was not used in the Eastern or Roman form of
the Creed at the time of his writing, but adds that its meaning was precisely
the same as that contained in the affirmation BURIED.
6. This is what Cyprian, who
died in AD 258, held. The manuscripts on the Apostle’s Creed show that some
used the word buried, while others descended. So Christ’s burial and His descent into hell
were regarded as the same. The Athanasian Creed omits buried and just said
Christ descended into hell.
C. Hyde
notes about 6 views on the descent of Christ today.
1. Some claim Christ went to
hell to suffer more than His suffering on the cross, obviously rank heresy.
Some prosperity Gospel preachers like Kenneth Copeland apparently hold to this.
2. Some that he went to
preach a second chance for those who died without faith in Him, also heresy.
Scripture tells us it is appointed for man to die once, and after that, the
judgment comes, Heb. 9:27.
3. Others say Christ went
there to pronounce victory to those who already believed in Him before they
died, others that He went to hell and pronounced victory over Satan.
a. These are doubtful, not
heretical. Vermigli held to the 1st, and Lutherans hold to the 2nd.
b. This stems from the popular Medieval “harrowing of hell” doctrine, pictured in frescos and so on of that
time, depicting Christ fighting the powers of hell to set His
faithful/righteous people free.
c. Appeal is made to
passages like I Pet. 3:18-19 and Eph. 4:7-10, speaking of Christ had descended
to the lower parts of the earth. But this is in contrast to Christ coming down
from heaven, so the lower parts are the earth, not an underground/underworld
realm, but the higher parts of heaven are contrasted with the lower parts of
the earth, where Christ became incarnate/flesh.
d. Ezek. 26:20/other
passages connect death and burial in the ground to the lower part of the earth.
e. Augustine, Calvin, and
others take the I Pet. 3 passage to refer to those whom Noah preached to before
the flood, and others have added that Christ’s ascension is His victory
proclamation.
4. Others say it means
Christ was buried, while others say it meant Christ suffered hell His entire
life, especially on the cross. These last two views our Westminster and
Heidelberg catechisms take.
a. The Westminster Shorter
Catechism Question 27 notes part of Christ’s humiliation is being buried and
continuing under the power of death for a time, echoing Thomas Vincent and
later Matthew Henry’s own catechisms, who says his being buried was his descent
into hell/the grave/lower parts of the earth.
5. So to summarize from Francis Beattie’s words,
a. “The
meaning of the word hell [in the Apostle’s Creed] must be observed. It does not
mean the place or state of the finally lost, but it rather denotes the
invisible world of departed spirits. Hence, the meaning of the phrase is,
that during the period between his death and resurrection Christ’s human
spirit, or soul, was in the region of departed disembodied souls in the unseen
world, and at the same time his body was lying in the tomb. In his case, of
course, the departed human spirit would go to the estate of
the blessed, for he had said to the thief on the cross, who
died penitent, that they would be together that day in paradise.”
b. So as to the body of
Christ, He descended into the state of death/burial, and as to the soul of
Christ, He suffered the agonies of hell, of God’s wrath for our sin.
c. But it is fair to say on
the cross Christ suffered “hell” for us, the Gehenna, body and soul united
judgment, in His flesh and His soul for our sin, and the further descent into
hades, called “hell” in the Apostle’s Creed, is the descent of His body in
burial and that deepened state of death.
d. The good news is that all
the agonies of hell, all the torments of the Rich Man in hades who saw the
righteous beggar Lazarus comforted in Abraham’s Bosom, is now our comfort in
Christ’s bosom!
e. Christ descended into
hell, into death, buried for you, bearing His cross, a baptism of judgment on
His shoulders, so that you wouldn’t face holy God’s eternal wrath that only His
Son could quench.
f.
Christ descended to the deepest depths of
agony, of hell for us, whatever word we wish to use, so that He could ascend to
the highest heights of glory at the Father’s right hand, and bring with Him His
people who were in chains and bondage to sin, death, and the devil, all the
dark world below.
6. The Apostles Creed, at least in rudimentary
form, has been confessed by all appearances virtually since the generation
following the Apostles. It is not inspired, but is a sure link to our historic
faith.
a. When we confess the faith
together by reciting the Apostles’ Creed, the faith that all branches of the
true Church have confessed since the completion of Scripture, we are reminded
that we are one people, one body, one bride, one faith, having one Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ.
b. If you despair due to
your sin, remember Christ descended to earth, the very Son of God who made all
things, God who sent His Son and caused His sinless conception by the virgin
Mary.
c. Then Christ further
descended to the grave, to hell/the state of death for you, after living for
you in all righteousness, and suffering on the cross for your sinfulness.
d. Then, remember that
Christ triumphed over death in His resurrection, ascended to glory, seated at
the right hand of God the Father Almighty, representing you before the Father
in heaven, by His Spirit and by your faith, until Christ comes again to judge
the world.
e. Until then, we believe in
the Holy Spirit, that we truly possess Him, that He possesses us, to love the
Lord and His people from a pure heart, to keep His commandments, to have
fellowship and communion with the whole body of Christ in the complete forgiveness
of our sins.
f.
Finally, we believe that because Christ
descended to the lowest depths and has risen to ascend to the highest heights,
we too will one day, at His return, enter into the state of glory, the
resurrection of the body. All our sicknesses, aches, pains, sorrows, &
death that lies us low in the grave, to the dust, will vanish!
g. We will be raised to
glory, to life everlasting with our Lord and His people, in perfect
righteousness, and all things shall be made new!
h. Amen. Let us pray.
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