Why did Jesus have to die?
This is a question that has been asked by many Christians including myself. Why did Jesus need to die? Jesus needed to die to save the whole world from sin and hell.
God said that the person or soul that sins must die. In Romans 6:23, the bible says that the wages or penalty sin is death. This death is not only physical death, but spiritual death of total separation from God in hell. We know from the bible that there is no one who is righteous, not even one. All mankind has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. All we need to do is to look at our lives and we will see how sinful we are. This means that all mankind is supposed to die and go to hell. If we are honest with ourselves, we will all agree that we deserve to die and go to hell because of our sins. Everyone is doomed to die and burn in hell for all eternity.
Because of God’s love for mankind, God made a provision for us in Jesus Christ, the seed of the woman. The bible says that Jesus Christ the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world (Rev 13:8). For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Now how was God going to do this and solve this problem of His love creation perishing?
The bible says that a life can be given in exchange for another life, or a life can die for a condemned life to live. Meaning that God would accept the death of a life in exchange for the life of the person who had sinned and was supposed to die. God used the life of bulls and goats to substitute for the precious life of a person. God also said that the life of the flesh or soul is in the blood and the blood has been given to make atonement or purification for sin. The life source of a soul is its blood. For God to really accept the life of a living creature in exchange for the life of the person who was to die, it needed to be from the life source of the creature, which is its blood. So, God accepted the blood of bulls and goats in exchange for the life of sinful mankind. By this, God was able to save mankind who was so important to Him. The blood sacrifice was enough to atone or appease God for the sins of the people. This was done once a year on the Day of Atonement, where the blood of bulls and goats were sacrificed for the sins of the people and the scapegoat carried the sins of the people. Jesus bare our sins in His own body on the tree
God could not relate with mankind because of his sins, so the blood of the sacrificed animals was given to atone or appease God. But this sacrifice was just a foreshadow of the real sacrifice of Jesus which was to come. It was inferior because it did not take away the sins of the people, it only covered their sins and made it possible for God to relate with them. This sacrificial system was getting the world ready for Jesus to come and to offer Himself and His blood for us. God sent Jesus as our High Priest with the Melchizedek Priesthood which was far superior to the Aaronic priesthood. Jesus was sent to be the substitutionary sacrifice once and for all for the sins of the whole world. The just was sacrificed and slain for the unjust so that the unjust could be saved. Jesus Christ our God willingly gave Himself to be slain for us with His precious blood which is so strong that it is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God through Him. We were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pet 1:18).
Jesus died on the cross with His blood shed to save us from our sins, from hell, to redeem us from the curse of the law, to heal us, to give us life and to return us back to God. Jesus fulfilled God’s righteous requirements of the law for us since we were not able to. Now anyone who believes in and confesses Jesus Christ as Lord, His death on the cross, His shed blood, and His resurrection from the dead is saved. When God sees the Christian who has faith in Jesus Christ, He sees a righteous person. By faith, Jesus’s righteousness is credited to us as a free gift (Romans 10:9-10).
Why didn’t God send an angel or a very good person to die for the sins of the whole world? First of all, there is no man who could fulfill this role since all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The sacrificial lamb needed to be sinless, strong, perfect and without blame or spot. An angel’s blood was inferior and would not have qualified for the sacrifice. It needed to be God’s own blood. It took the blood of God to purchase us (Acts 20:28).
God wanted to prove and demonstrate His love for us by dying personally on the cross for our sins. Jesus told us that He willingly gave up His life for us and He had the power to bring Himself back to life. He is our High Priest whose blood was shed and then offered it up to God for us once and for all. So He did this to demonstrate God’s love for us. For God demonstrated His love toward us in that whilst we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). What manner of love God our Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. (1 John 3:1)
Supporting verses
1. The soul that sins must die.
The bible says in Ezekiel 18:20 that the soul that sins must die. Ezekiel 18:21-25 says that because of the unfaithfulness they are guilty of and because of the sins they have committed, they will die. The bible also says in Rom 6:23 that the wages of sin is death.
2. There is none righteous, no, not one. All have sinned.
James 2:10 says that if we break one law, we are guilty of breaking the whole law. In Rom 3:10-12, PS 14:1-3, PS 53:1-3, the bible say that there is none righteous, no, not one. Rom 3:19-23 says that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God- By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
3. A life can be substituted for another life.
In Deut 19:21, the bible says life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
4. The life of the body is in the blood and has been given to make atonement.
In Lev 17:11, the bible says that the life of the soul is in the blood and the blood has been given to me by atonement for the soul. Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. Also, Lev 17:11-14 says do not eat anything with blood because the life of all flesh is the blood.
5. The blood of bulls & goats plus the scapegoat was sacrificed once a year on the day of Atonement.
Lev 16:1-34, 2 Cor 5:21, Heb 9:11-14, Heb 13:12, Heb 10:4-23, Rom 8:3-5, Rom 4:1-9, Rom 4:23-24, Rom 10:4
2/17/2021