In ancient times, many were afraid when Jesus claimed to be God. And even after he constantly demonstrated his divinity, some people were still skeptics. As an outcome, powerful Jewish officials began devising ways to execute Jesus.
Jesus was eventually detained and brought before the Roman governor, Pilate. Because Pilate didn’t want to enrage the Jewish officials or the crowd that they had stirred, he caved to their desires and had Jesus executed—a criminal’s punishment—despite the fact that he was not guilty of any offense.
Contents
What Did The Bible Say About Why Jesus Died?
Jesus Brings Man Closer To God
In order to reconcile you to God, Christ once and for all gave his life in payment for your sins (1 Peter 3:18). The idea that Jesus reconciled us to God indicates that before that, we were distant from him. Paul and Peter, two of the apostles of God, affirm that “you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Ephesians 2:13).
To truly bring men closer to God, their sins had to be atoned for. So Jesus died for that sin (1 Peter 3:18). When it concerns human nature and its repercussions, the Bible is forthright. In Matthew 7:11, Jesus tells us that his followers can be bad because of human nature, and Paul explains that “the wages of sin is death” in Romans 6:23. All people are guilty before God, and our misdeeds keep us away from him, whose nature is pure holiness and flawless justice.
The substitutionary aspect of Christ’s painful death[1] is important to comprehend how God handles sin and grants us salvation. According to 1 Peter 3:18, “Christ died for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,” with the goal of drawing us closer. The meaning of “the unrighteous” corresponds to each and every one of us, whereas Jesus is “the righteous.” As a way for man to receive mercy, the person who “knew no sin, became sin” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
Jesus Have To Die In Our Stead
The New Testament employs various striking imagery to convey the message that God’s Son sacrificed in our stead. As an illustration, Mark 10:45 states that Jesus paid and “gave his life as a ransom in the place of many” as the cost for our redemption.
By taking on our sins personally, Jesus made us right with God (1 Peter 2:24). “God presented Christ as an atonement sacrifice through the shedding of his blood” (Romans 3:25), releasing God’s anger against our sinfulness.
Sometimes earnest preachers give the incorrect perception that Jesus’ willingness to die for us persuaded a resentful and vindictive Father to extend mercy. The truth is that our holy God sent his one and only Son to earth because he loved people, and the Son gave his life willingly: “God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
The Role Of The Holy Trinity In Man’s Salvation
The three members of the Holy Trinity are all completely involved in man’s salvation: “Christ offered himself to God through the eternal Spirit” (Hebrew 9:14). According to Graham Cole, the Father designed the atonement, the Son carried it out, and the Holy Spirit applied it.
Why Did God Let Jesus Die?
Under God’s decree, “the wages sin pays is death” (Romans 6:23). Instead of keeping the law a secret from Adam, the Lord warned him that disobedience would result in death (Genesis 3:3). After Adam sinned, the Creator, “who cannot lie,” maintained his words (Titus 1:2). And Adam’s lineage not only inherited sin but also death as the penalty for sin.
God sent Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice to save people, which was profoundly righteous and wonderfully gracious. Despite the fact that sinful human beings were deserving of death, God showed them “the riches of his undeserved kindness” (Ephesians 1:7).
Why Did Jesus Die For Us?
Man’s Unworthiness Of Jesus’ Sacrifice
We wouldn’t have hope or forgiveness if it weren’t for Jesus’ atoning death. Even our good deeds, according to Isaiah 64:6, are like dirty rags. Without the precious blood of Jesus, even on the finest of days and with the purest of intentions, we would all be deserving of death as the penalty for sin.
As stated in Isaiah 55:6, “He was wounded for our iniquities; he was bruised for our transgressions; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds, we are healed.” We did nothing to be worthy of pardon and everything to warrant punishment. But because of God’s love for us, he sent his only begotten son and accepted the penalty we deserved.
God is not only holy, upright, and just; he is also all-merciful, infinitely powerful, and all-forgiving. Sin cannot coexist with holiness. Because of our sins, we are entirely cut off from God, and his perfection requires that sin and disobedience be expiated through suffering. Eternal death is the sole penalty or recompense for sin. We would have been cut off from God forever if Jesus hadn’t been sent to the cross to die in our place.
Jesus Christ Saves Mankind From Eternal Death
Through Jesus dying on the cross, we are cleansed by his blood; our sins have been redeemed, and we don’t need to endure eternal death. Through Jesus Christ, we are granted eternal life. Christ had to die because of this. As described in Romans 5:10, “For since we were restored to friendship with God by his Son’s death while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life.”
How Should Jesus’ Death Be Remembered?
Jesus devised a simple routine with the disciples the night before the yearly Jewish Passover and told them to “keep doing this in remembrance of me” (1 Corinthians 11:24). A few hours later, Jesus was executed.
The lamb offered during the Passover sacrifice was linked by Bible authors to Jesus (1 Corinthians 5:7). Like how the Passover celebration informed the Israelites that they had all been delivered from enslavement, the Commemoration of Jesus Christ’s Death reminds believers that they have all been liberated from the curse of death and sin.
The Passover is done yearly on Nisan 14 based on the lunar calendar (the earliest adherents of Christianity similarly observed the commemoration once a year). On the day corresponding to Nisan 14, thousands or even millions of people worldwide remember and honor Jesus’ selfless death.
Conclusion
Jesus wasn’t just taking the consequences for our wrongdoing. He was tearing down the barrier separating us from God. He wasn’t just asking for forgiveness. He offered reconciliation, total acceptance, and a true connection with him to express his unconditional love for us.
As Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the payment for sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we could simply ask Christ into our lives, his sacrifice means we’ve accepted his gift of salvation, we’ve been forgiven, and we share a lifelong connection with him.