“Thank You, Lord Jesus, that you have gone to Sheol and tasted death to its fullest on our behalf. It is from the depths of death that You came back to life. Death was what came on us because of our sin but You have taken our death on Yourself but Your soul was not left in Sheol. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.”
Acts 2:29-31 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. (30) Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, (31) he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
We have seen that the flesh of Jesus did not see corruption. We, today, can live the life of victory over sin, because the Holy Spirit, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in us. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us live out the righteous requirement of God in our mortal bodies.
It was from the depths of Sheol that Jesus was raised to life. This is His resurrection.
Our sin took Jesus to the lowest place. This is what our sin deserved. We have not grasped the extent of the consequences of our sins. Death is the place of Sheol. It is the place of the most unimaginable wickedness, evil, heat and a very foul odour. Even evil spirits dread Sheol. Jesus went to Sheol on our behalf because that is what our sin deserved.
God the Father did not leave His Son in Sheol but it is from the depths of Sheol that Jesus has been raised from death by the Holy Spirit.
When we say, “Jesus suffered on our behalf”, we must realise that this is not just the physical suffering of the death on the cross, which is dreadful, but the real suffering for Jesus was to go to the depths of death in Sheol. It is from Sheol that He has redeemed us.
Today, we must be grateful and thankful to Jesus for the redemption that we enjoy. Jesus went to the depths of Sheol but His soul was not left in hades. God raised Jesus from the depths of Sheol.
Psalms 16:9-11 Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; My flesh also will rest in hope. (10) For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. (11) You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
We tend to take for granted that in His presence is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore. We must appreciate and always be thankful that if we enjoy the blessing of life in Christ, it is because Jesus went through the suffering of Sheol but His soul was not left there. When we come to Jesus, we can be reassured that we have a High Priest, who has fully identified with the depth of our fallenness.
Hebrews 4:14-16 Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (15) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. (16) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
When we live the redeemed life in Christ, we must know that we have been redeemed from the depths of Sheol.
Psalms 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave, For He shall receive me. Selah
Satan cannot threaten or frighten us for we have been redeemed from the power of the grave. We can therefore leap, shout and dance for joy, for the Lord has given us this great redemption. We have been redeemed from the power of the grave.
Psalms 86:12-13 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore. (13) For great is Your mercy toward me, And You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
We worship and glorify the Lord for He has delivered our soul from the depths of Sheol. Jesus had to drink the cup of God’s wrath to the fullest. It required Jesus to go to Sheol, in our place and taste the full pain of death, caused by our sin, only then could He be our redeemer.
Psalms 56:13 For You have delivered my soul from death. Have You not kept my feet from falling, That I may walk before God In the light of the living?
We are walking today, before God, in the light of the living. This wonderful experience has been purchased for us from the depths of Sheol to which Jesus had to go.