Everyone Dies in Jesus' Death

Because Christ is lifted up in the capacity of the Son of Man (John 8.28), He includes all mankind in Him. Since Christ died for all, therefore all died (2 Cor. 5.14). Even as the action of the one man Adam involved all mankind in Adam, so the work of the one man Christ embraces all mankind in Christ too. We must see how Christ includes all mankind before we can understand what redemption is.

Considering the objective side, we may say that our union with Christ is actualized at the time of His death on the cross. "One died for all, therefore all died" (2 Cor. 5.14). When Christ died He took all the people of the world to the cross with Him, and therefore all died in Him.

The Bible declares that the Lord Jesus died for all. If a person does not believe in the Lord Jesus, will he perish?

Answer:

"The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that one died for all, therefore all died" (2 Cor. 5.14). The "one" here is Christ. The "all" whom He died for are all men. Now it may appear from this, therefore, that even though a person does not believe in the Lord Jesus, he should not die. Yet in John we read that "he that believeth not hath been judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only begotten Son of God" (3.18). What can be said about the righteousness of God and His way of operation? Let us look into this matter:

"The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20.28). "Who gave himself a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2.6). What is the difference between "many" and "all"? The "many" in the first passage includes all who believe, and the Lord Jesus has died for all the many who believe in Him. The "all" in the second passage refers to all men, for whom the Lord Jesus has prepared a ransom. The "for" in Matthew carries in it the idea of substituting, while the "for" in 1 Timothy conveys the idea of providing. With respect to the believers, the Lord Jesus has died to substitute His death for their death as well as to provide for them a ransom. With respect to sinners, however, His death has provided for them a ransom, though it does not serve to substitute for their death. Hence the scope of substitution before God is limited.

The words "one died for all" in 2 Corinthians 5.14 means to say that one had died on behalf of all. It means that the death of the Lord Jesus has provided sufficiently for the use of all men. So far as provision is concerned the death of the Lord Jesus is for all men so that all may have the opportunity to be saved. Only for the believers would the word "substitute" be used.

"He is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" (1 John 2.2). Christ is the propitiation for the unbelievers as well as for the believers. But again the meaning here is not substitution, but provision. The salvation of God has already been prepared. When you receive it you then will be reckoned by God as being one among the "many". Christ died on behalf of all men, since His death has made provision for all men; but it cannot be taken to mean a substitution in death for all men. If anyone does not believe, he will perish. This is man’s responsibility before God.

Whatever God has done in this world is done in the Lord Jesus Christ. To punish sinners, he has punished the Lord Jesus, for the Latter stood in the place of sinners. To put to death the old man, God caused the Lord Jesus to die on the cross, taking all the sinners along with Him to death. From substitutionary death to co-death—such is the plain statement of the Bible: "One [Jesus Christ] died for all, therefore all died" (2 Cor. 5.14).