Why must Christ's death be all three - substitutionary, satisfying, and atoning?

For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.

- Genesis 2:17b

For the wages of sin is death.

- Romans 6:23a

If man's punishment for sin includes a three-fold death, must Christ die a three-fold death? Why or why not?

Christ's death bears the following qualities - His death is:

1. Substitutionary - Jesus' death was for His children; He took their rightful place.

2. Satisfying - Christ's death fully satisfied all God's attributes.

3. Atoning - Jesus' death fully reconciled God and His people; it restores the communion which was destroyed by sin.

Lisa's catechism teacher told the story of the Israelites being bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness. He read Numbers 21:8-9, "And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man. when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."

He then asked the class the following questions. How many can you answer?

Who is pictured by the serpent raised on a pole?

What is brass a type of in Scripture? What does the serpent picture? How is the judgment of sin and the death of sin's power illustrated here?

What is portrayed by the people being bitten by serpents and dying from these bites?

What is the only remedy for one bitten by the serpent to be saved? What lesson does this teach us?

The punishment for sin is death - a three-fold death - corporal, spiritual, and eternal. To review from Chapter Eight:

• Corporal death means death of the body; the separation of soul and body

• Spiritual death refers to spiritual separation from God's saving grace, favor, and communion; the separation of the soul from God

• Eternal death refers to hell; the torments of total separation from God's common and saving grace and bearing the full wrath of God against sin; the separation of the soul and body from God.