If Jesus died on the cross, and if Jesus is God, does that mean that God died on the cross?


 

God is Spirit. In the original Hebrew language, Spirit is roh. From this word, the word rihe is taken, which means "the air". We can say, therefore, that God's Spirit is like the air in the atmosphere. Air is everywhere. Though you cannot see it, you know it is present: you can feel it, you breathe it, even though it has no color or shape. Similarly, the Spirit of God is present everywhere.

 

An empty bottle does not contain any liquid, but you know that it is full of air. The air inside the bottle has taken the shape of the bottle, even though air has no shape. The characteristics of the air inside the bottle are similar to the characteristics of the air outside the bottle. The fact that there is air inside the bottle does not mean that there is no air outside the bottle! Now, if you were to take the bottle and smash it against a wall, it would break into hundreds of pieces. It would be shattered. Could we say that the air inside the bottle would also be shattered? No. Only the form that contained the air would have been shattered.

 

A similar thing took place when God, who is Spirit, dwelt among us in the person of Jesus Christ. God took the likeness of man. That did not mean that He existed no more. Rather, like the air when it filled the bottle, God still existed everywhere. Furthermore, Jesus' crucifixion did not mean that God was killed, but rather that the man Jesus died. God existed always, even during the three days in which Jesus was dead in the tomb.

 


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