Mark, I thoroughly agree with you that what Jesus underwent for us is the epitome of love and sacrifice and redemption. It lacked nothing. Jesus "did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do". The separation Jesus and the Father suffered for our sacrifice and salvation ended before Jesus laid down His life. He did more than die the second death - He completely consumed it and triumphantly proclaimed - "It is finished." He conquered the cup; not the other way around. Saying so does not detract from what Jesus "accomplished" for us; on the contrary, it exalts and magnifies His accomplishment. He entered and existed the domain of death to demonstrate His ownership of the keys of hell and of death. Again, Jesus drank the cup as our Substitute. He endured everything law and justice demand of the damned. Jesus suffered for our sins. However, according to the inspired record, it is Satan, the scapegoat, who will suffer with the sins of the saved in the lake of fire at the end of time. The inspired record makes this distinction. I do not pretend to know all there is to know about it. Eternity will not be long enough to exhaust the truth. Thank you, Jesus.

Amen praise God, now tell me how does this fit with what you said before that Jesus "Didn't die the second death"?

I praise God that you are learning...... *****STAFF EDIT*****

*****STAFF EDIT RE THREAD CLEANUP***** You're right, I do not believe Jesus died the second death. What I posted above supports it. Jesus drained the dregs of the cup and lived to tell about it. He "won the battle." Satan and the unsaved will not fare as well, that is, they will perish. Satan will pay the "full" and "final" price in perdition.

1 Corinthians
15:20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, [and] become the firstfruits of them that slept.
15:21 For since by man [came] death, by man [came] also the resurrection of the dead.
15:22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
15:23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.
15:24 Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.
15:25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.
15:26 The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death.

Revelation
14:4 These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed from among men, [being] the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb.

All who were partakers with Christ in His humiliation and sufferings will be partakers with Him in His glory. By the resurrection of Christ from the dead every believing saint who falls asleep in Jesus will come forth from his prison house in triumph. The resurrected saint will proclaim, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" (1 Corinthians 15:55). . . . {2SM 271.4}

Jesus Christ has triumphed over death and rent the fetters of the tomb, and all who sleep in the tomb will share the victory; they will come forth from their graves as did the Conqueror. . . . {2SM 272.1}

The inspired passages posted above make it clear Jesus and the saints that He will resurrect when He returns experienced same death, namely, the first death. It is Satan and the unsaved who will suffer the second death in the lake of fire at the end of time.

*****STAFF EDIT***** The second death is the punishment for sins.

Separation from His Father, the punishment for transgression and sin, was to fall upon Him in order to magnify God’s law and testify to its immutability. And this was to settle forever the controversy between the Prince of God and Satan in regard to the changeless character of that law. (In Gethsemane) The Majesty of heaven was as one bewildered with agony. No human being could endure such suffering; but Christ had contemplated the struggle. He had said to His disciples, “I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am I straitened till it be accomplished!” Now is the “hour, and the power of darkness.”Manuscript 42, 1897. {CTr 266.8}

SEPARATION FROM THE FATHER IS THE PUNISHMENT FOR SIN. Not the physical death. 'And inasmuch as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this cometh judgment.' Hebrews 9:27

The death of the spotless Son of God testifies that “the wages of sin is death,” that every violation of God’s law must receive its just retribution. Christ the sinless became sin for man. He bore the guilt of transgression, and the hiding of His Father’s face, until His heart was broken and His life crushed out. All this sacrifice was made that sinners might be redeemed. In no other way could man be freed from the penalty of sin. And every soul that refuses to become a partaker of the atonement provided at such a cost must bear in his own person the guilt and punishment of transgression.... {DD 16.4}

*****STAFF EDIT*****

"Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their (Father/Son) separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute, that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God. {DA 753.2}

"Separation From God Brings Anguish of Soul—It was the anguish of separation from His Father’s favor that made Christ’s sufferings so acute. As the agony of soul came upon Him, “His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground” (Luke 22:44). His terrible anguish, caused by the thought that in this hour of need God had forsaken Him, portrays the anguish that the sinner will feel when, too late, he realizes that God’s Spirit is withdrawn from him.—MS 134, 1905. {2MCP 464.4}

"Satan had hoped that God’s abhorrence of evil would bring an eternal separation between heaven and earth. But now it was manifest that the connection between God and man had been restored.—The Desire of Ages, 116. {TA 170.2}

What happens to sinners when they are resurrected in the second resurrection, 'Cut off' from the Father? They sweat blood.

"The Lord has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33:11. But if they will not come unto him that they may have life; if they choose to follow the multitude to do evil, rather than to walk in the way of God’s commandments, then they must bear their iniquity. Their blood will be upon their own heads. God gives them the power to choose, and warns them against the evil which lies before them. Against all his entreaties, they do despite to the spirit of grace, and trample on the precious blood of Christ which was shed for their redemption. {4SP 501.2}

"In yielding up His precious life, Christ was not upheld by triumphant joy. His heart was rent with anguish and oppressed with gloom..." (What? He felt gloom after He yielded His life?)...But it was not the fear or the pain of death that caused His suffering. It was the crushing weight of the sin of the world, a sense of separation from His Father’s love. This was what broke the Saviour’s heart, and brought His death so soon. {SJ 145.1} Christ felt the woe that sinners will feel when they awake to realize the burden of their guilt, to know that they have forever separated themselves from the joy and peace of Heaven. {SJ 145.2}

"Without Christ there can be only condemnation and a fearful looking for a fiery indignation, and final separation from the presence of God." {1SM 371.2}

Here's a great one, but you will only harden your heart...

"In the Garden of Gethsemane Christ suffered in man’s stead, and the human nature of the Son of God staggered under the terrible horror of the guilt of sin, until from His pale and quivering lips was forced the agonizing cry, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”.... Human nature would then and there have died under the horror of the sense of sin, had not an angel from heaven strengthened Him to bear the agony.... Christ was suffering the death that was pronounced upon the transgressors of God’s law. {AG 168.2}

So it was in Gethsemane that Jesus died in our stead suffering the THE DEATH pronounced upon transgressors? I love that one, thank you Father for showing me, I'll have to put that one on the blog.

If by this quote alone you do not change your mind, I fear for you literally.

"In the Garden of Gethsemane Christ suffered in man’s stead, and the human nature of the Son of God staggered under the terrible horror of the guilt of sin, until from His pale and quivering lips was forced the agonizing cry, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”.... Human nature would then and there have died under the horror of the sense of sin, had not an angel from heaven strengthened Him to bear the agony.... Christ was suffering the death that was pronounced upon the transgressors of God’s law. {AG 168.2}

So it was in Gethsemane that Jesus died in our stead suffering the THE DEATH pronounced upon transgressors? Praise God, thank you for revealing this to such a man as me. I am not worthy but I praise you for your love amen.

If by this quote alone you do not change your mind, I fear for you literally.

The fires of hell are a blessing on the wicked separated from the Fathers love just as the physical death of Jesus on the cross was a blessing for His suffering to be finished.