no Keith, you are deceived

a

Habakkuk 1:13 says this about God: "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." God turned His back on Jesus because He can't look on sin. What does that tell us about the cross? That Jesus actually became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). If this was the death of a loving martyr, of an innocent person who had a good cause, God would have looked on Him with favor. But when He turned His back on Jesus, He was confirming that Christ was bearing our sin.

b) The testimony of Scripture

Isaiah 53:5 says, "He was wounded for our transgressions." Romans 4:25 says He was "delivered for our offenses." First Corinthians 15:3 says, "Christ died for our sins." First Peter 2:24 says Christ "bore our sins in his own body on the tree." First Peter 3:18 says, "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust." First John 4:10 says God "sent his Son to be the propitiation [atonement] for our sins." Galatians 3:13 says Christ was "made a curse for us." And 2 Corinthians 5:21 says God "made him, who knew no sin, to be sin for us."

Christ didn't just bear sin; He became sin. He bore all the sins of all people of all ages. Thus Hebrews 2:9 says He "tasted death for every man." That's why He came to earth. In Matthew 20:28 says, "The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many." God forsook Christ because He cannot look on sin.

2. The essence of the separation

What kind of separation did Jesus experience? He wasn't separated from His divine nature--He didn't cease to be God or He would have ceased to exist. He was not separated from the Trinity in essence or substance, but He was separated in terms of intimate fellowship and communion. When a child sins against his father, he does not cease to be his father's child. However He does cease to know the intimacy of loving communion with him on account of the sin. In the same way God had to turn His back on Christ.

a) At the incarnation

When Christ first came into the world, He experienced a certain separation from God. Philippians 2:6-7 says Jesus "did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond servant" (NASB). When Christ became incarnate, He let go of some of His equality with God. Jesus asked His Father to restore the glory He had with Him before the world began (John 17:5).