Three Aspects of Christ’s Death

John 1:29 Behold, the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world! 
John 3:17 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 
John 12:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, Unless the grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

The Lord’s death has three aspects… When He was nailed to the cross, He was the Lamb of God bearing our sins and shedding His blood for our redemption. This is the first aspect, and every genuine Christian is familiar with it.

However, not many Christians are familiar with the second [and third] aspect of the Lord’s death, which is that on the cross the Lord Jesus was crucified in the form of a serpent in order to destroy the old serpent and the serpentine nature within our being. This is the Satan-destroying aspect. The third aspect of the Lord’s death is the life-releasing aspect. The divine life was in that little man Jesus just as life is confined in a grain of wheat. Since the life is concealed in the grain, the shell must be broken that the inward life might be released.

…The divine life has been imparted into us, and we are now the many grains that have been produced out of that one grain. These many grains are good for making one loaf, which is the Body of Christ (1 Cor. 10:17), the church. Formerly, we were sinners with the serpentine nature, having nothing to do with the divine life. But by the Lord’s all-inclusive death our sins have been removed, our serpentine nature has been dealt with, and the divine life has been imparted into our being. Now we have become living grains who, composed together, become one loaf, the church. Praise Him!