When I recently was reading through “The Apostles’ Creed” (which is simply an ancient statement of basic Christian beliefs), I was struck by the apparent contradiction of at least two lines in the creed. First, two lines say of Jesus Christ that He was “conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.” Then, in the next few lines it says of Jesus Christ that He, “suffered under Pontius Pilate” and “was crucified, dead, and buried.” What struck me were these thoughts: “How is it that a man who was born miraculously would also ‘suffer’ and then ‘die’? How could someone who was powerful enough to be born of a Virgin not also be powerful enough to prevent Himself from suffering and dying?” It seems absolutely preposterous and surreal that this type of thing could happen. Earthly kings do not choose to willingly suffer and die, therefore, why would the King of all Kings, the greatest and mightiest King of all, choose to suffer and die, when He did not have to? The only way, logically, that this could happen is if He chose willingly to suffer and die; if He had a greater purpose to die than to live (or, that there was some type of greater purpose in His death). There is no way that a God would undergo suffering from the very creatures He created unless there were a much grander reason to do so. Even a good earthly king might choose to suffer for his people. So, the suffering of the Greatest King had to be, somehow, for the good of His people. The greatest King had good reasons in mind for His intense suffering and subsequent death.
What good reasons did the greatest King of all have to choose to suffer and die? In the latter part of the Apostles’ Creed, many of the reasons why this King chose to suffer and die is listed. The creed says, “I believe in the Holy Spirit; the holy catholic [means “universal”] church; the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting, Amen.” The King of all Kings chose to die for His people so that particular benefits would flow to His people. This King died to give His people guidance and power (through the Holy Spirit), an everlasting community (the church universal and the communion of saints), pardon for crimes committed against the Highest King (“the forgiveness of sins”), and then a timespan of abiding with the King in this holy community forever (“the resurrection of the body” and “the life everlasting”). This Almighty King of Kings died to bestow these benefits on His servants who, also, (those servants) deserved not one of these benefits.
Finally, an argument can be made that the King Who deserves the greatest glory is the One who chose to suffer & die, but had no right or obligation to, and also had the power to choose to not suffer & die. The reason we can sing “Glory to God in the Highest” is because the Greatest King of all has loved His people so much that He willingly chose to leave His heavenly castle to die in the place of His undeserving servants who deserved the opposite of His favor. The response of this King’s servants should be: “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all” (Isaac Watts).