He suffered as God, as well as man. For the Divine and human were inseparably united in one person. Divinity by itself cannot suffer and die. But thus mysteriously connected with the humanity it could and really did participate in the suffering and dying. And who will calculate what Immanuel can suffer? What must it have been when it crushed Him to earth, made Him cry out so plaintively, and at last took His life! Our old theologians loved to say, that what the sufferings of Christ lacked in _extensiveness_ or duration, they made up in _intensiveness_. Thus there was a perfect atonement. _All_ the punishment had been endured. A perfect righteousness had been wrought out, and the Father set His seal to it in the resurrection and ascension of His dear Son. Here, then, was real substitution, and this is the _ground_ for our justification. It has been asked, on this point, if Christ by His perfect life wrought out a complete righteousness, which He needed not for Himself, but intended for the sinner, why was not this sufficient? Why was His death necessary? On the other hand, if His death is a perfect atonement for all sin, why does the sinner, in addition to a full and free forgiveness, procured by the death of Christ, need also the application of the righteousness of the life of Christ? In a word, why are both the life and death necessary to justify the sinner? We answer: By His death or suffering obedience He wrought out a _negative_ righteousness, the forgiveness of sins. By His life, or active obedience, He wrought out a _positive_ righteousness. The former releases from punishment. The latter confers character, standing and honor in the kingdom of God. To illustrate. Two persons have broken the laws of their land, are guilty, condemned, and suffer the penalty in prison. To one comes a message of pardon from the king. The prison doors are opened and he goes forth a free man. The law cannot again seize him and condemn him for the crimes of which he is pardoned. But as he goes forth among his fellow-men he realizes that though released from punishment, and _negatively_ righteous, he has no standing, no character, no positive righteousness, unless he earn and merit it for himself. To the other criminal also comes a message of pardon from his king. In addition to pardon, or release from punishment, he is assured that his king has adopted him as his son, will take him into his family and endow him with his name and all the privileges of his house. Now this pardoned one has a double righteousness; Negatively, pardon and release from punishment; positively, a name, standing, character, honor, and the richest endowments of the kingdom.