Isaiah ch.53:5NKJV"But He was wounded[k] for our transgressions,
He was [l]bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And by His stripes[m] we are healed."
John ch.1:29NJV"The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
The animal sacrifices under law which set the principle for the mechanism of Christ own ransom were clearly of a substitutionary sort. That is why we read.
Leviticus ch.17:11NIV"For the life(lit.soul) of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life(lit.soul). c"
The blood of these animals can serve as a token of their conscious existence because their conscious existence (or even subconscious existence is dependent on blood) so God was willing to accept the offering of this innocent creature's lifeblood as a substitute to the truly repentant worshipper's life. The meaning of the whole transaction was an acknowledgement that JEHOVAH Does not owe the gift of life ,let alone life as a Son of God to anyone. But if our personhood is not dependent on blood as would be the case if we are unconditionally immortal or a spirit being then the substitutionary nature of the transaction is falsified.
Christ's blood is called a superior offering to that of animal sacrifices under her law because like the first Adam before the fall he was utterly sinless and hence entitled to perpetual and perfect human life. His blood could only be token this if his life/personhood was dependent on same. If as leviticus ch.17:10,11 says of the typical victims that their souls were in their blood,so to speak, was true of him also.
Matthew Ch.20:28NIV"just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give(not lend)his life(lit.soul) as a ransom for many.”"
Isaiah ch.53:12NIV"Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life(lit.soul)unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
The fact that an offering of perfect sinless flesh and blood was deemed as a worthy ransom sufficient to restore us to same sinless state possessed by our founders. Indicates that perfect human flesh and blood can sustain a sinless and perfect human life indefinitely. And that a perpetual future existence is not dependent on the possession of any immortal soul distinct from the body.
Jesus surrender of his superfluous physical form for parts of three days would not be a substitution for the eternal suffering of such an immortal spirit soul or the immortal body that would accompany it in its eternal suffering.
So we can have the offering of Jesus' sinless flesh and blood i.e his human perfection as a true substitutionary ransom or we can have unconditional immortality and eternal conscious torment but not both.
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