One of the most baffling, haunting, frustrating questions in all of Christianity has to be—why did Jesus have to die?
Don’t misunderstand me—I get it biblically, theologically, reverently, doctrinally and according to holiness. What most people don’t get; however, is…
Why didn’t God just change the rules?
Follow me?
He’s the rule maker, rule master, rule breaker—why can’t He simply be the rule changer—just once?
There are other questions that fall into this same genre:
- Why does God send people to Hell?
- Why is there even a Hell?
- Why did God sometimes have the Israelites wipe out entire people groups (including men, women, and children)?
Doesn’t quite line up with our human understanding of fairness, does it?
And that’s where we get into trouble. It’s not that God doesn’t understand what’s fair—It’s that we don’t understand what’s fair. And add to that, most of us have no real concept of holiness either.
Wanna know what’s fair?
Romans 3:10-11 says, “as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God.”
Allowing us to keep on heading in the direction we chose—away from God–that would be fair–but since that direction is due south, all the way to Hell, most of us wouldn’t mind a little ‘unfair’ intervention of mercy from God! But here’s the dealeo, mankind doesn’t actually like God’s rules. We think we can do better—therefore we set off on our own—immediately, right at birth—living our separate lives. And separation from God—in the end—is what He’ll give us—forever—in a very real place (not even created for us, but build to accommodate the wishes of all those who want nothing to do with Him) called Hell.
I could go into all the above—shocking things about God, but let me instead sum them all up under the heading that causes the confusion in the first place…
GOD’S HOLINESS
If we understood this, we would never wonder about those things again. Conversely, the further away from reverence, fear of the Lord and an understanding of God’s holiness we get as a culture and a society—the more unfair and random God will seem to us.
I could keep this simple, or drag it out—which do you prefer?
Okay, both!
Simple:
- His ways are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8)
- The penalty for sin is death
- God made a promise that required (perfect) a sacrificial Lamb
- In order to fulfill prophecy
- In order to fulfill Jesus’ own self proclaimed mission
- He is a perfect and Holy God.
“Mark 8:31
Then Jesus began to tell them that he, the Son of Man, would suffer many terrible things and be rejected by the leaders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He would be killed, and three days later he would rise again. (NLT) (See also Mark 9:31)”Mark 10:43-45
Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be the slave of all. For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (NLT)
Mark 14:22-25
As they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread and asked God’s blessing on it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take it, for this is my body.” And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And he said to them, “This is my blood, poured out for many, sealing the covenant between God and his people. I solemnly declare that I will not drink wine again until that day when I drink it new in the Kingdom of God.” (NLT)
Because He Himself said He came for the mission of sacrificing His life for us! He actually volunteered for it!
John 10:17-18
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” (NKJV)
The More Complex Version: (Taken from, “About Christianity.” You can learn more by going here. )
Question: “Why did Jesus have to die?” Continue to read more…
Answer: When we ask a question such as this, we must be careful that we are not calling God into question. To wonder why God couldn’t find “another way” to do something is to imply that the way He has chosen is not the best course of action and that some other method would be better. Usually what we perceive as a “better” method is one that seems right to us. Before we can come to grips with anything God does, we have to first acknowledge that His ways are not our ways, His thoughts are not our thoughts—they are higher than ours (Isaiah 55:8). In addition, Deuteronomy 32:4 reminds us that “He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.” Therefore, the plan of salvation He has designed is perfect, just, and upright, and no one could have come up with anything better.
Sin and Holiness are Incompatible
Sin entered the world through one man’s disobedience – Adam, and now all of us are born into this “sin nature.”
Romans 5:12
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. (NLT)Romans 3:23
For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard. (NLT)
Sin Separates Us from God
Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness. The unclean will not journey on it; it will be for those who walk in that Way; wicked fools will not go about on it. (NIV)Isaiah 59:2
But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. (NIV)
Sin’s Punishment is Eternal Death
God’s holiness and justice demand that sin and rebellion be punished. The only penalty or payment for sin is eternal death.
Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (NASB)Romans 5:21
So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful kindness rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (NLT)
Atoning Sacrifice
Our death is not sufficient to atone for sin because atonement requires a perfect, spotless sacrifice, offered in just the right way. Jesus, the one perfect God-man, came to offer the pure, complete and everlasting sacrifice to remove, atone, and make eternal payment for our sin.
1 Peter 1:18-19
For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. He paid for you with the precious lifeblood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (NLT)Hebrews 2:14-17
Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham‘s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. (NIV)
Only Through Jesus Christ
Only through Jesus Christ can our sins be forgiven, thus restoring our relationship with God and removing the separation caused by sin.
2 Corinthians 5:21
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (NIV)1 Corinthians 1:30
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. (NIV)
The Messiah – Savior
The suffering and the glory of the coming Messiah was foretold in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53. God’s people in the Old Testament looked forward to the Messiah that would save them from their sin. Though he did not come in the form they expected, still their faith looking forward to his salvation saved them. Our faith, looking backward to his act of salvation, saves us. When we accept Jesus’ payment for our sin, his perfect sacrifice washes away our sin and restores our right standing with God. God’s mercy and grace provided a way for our salvation.
Romans 5:10
For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. (NLT)
In Summary, when we are “in Christ Jesus” we are covered by his blood through his sacrificial death, our sins are paid for, and we no longer have to die an eternal death. We receive eternal life though Jesus Christ. And this is why Jesus had to die.