Why did Jesus have to die?

[Charlie_Zeaiter]

I don’t think non-christians understand why Jesus died on the cross. I hope this helps.

Psalm 22 is a touching story which shows us that we can feel abandoned even when we are trying to live our life for God. It is also a prophecy of Jesus’ death. (Following are some familiar verses…)

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?
My strength is gone, gone like water spilled on the ground.
All my bones are out of joint; my heart is like melted wax.
My throat is as dry as dust,
and my toungue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You have left me for dead in the dust.
A gang of evil men is around me;
like a pack of dogs they close in on me;
they tear at my hands and feet.
All my bones can be seen.
My enemies look at me and stare.
They gamble for my clothes
and divide them among themselves.
(Psalms 22:1,14-18)

David wrote Psalm 22 about a thousand years prior to Jesus’ death. Crucifixion wasn’t invented at that time, so the verse “they tear at my hands and feet” is quite extraordinary. (Crucifixion was invented by the Persians between 300-400 B.C.)

It may seem strange that God would prophecy His own death, but The Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament tells us that it wasn’t so strange after all. “But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God. But because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received. All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the Lord made the punishment fall on him, the punishment all of us deserved.” (Is. 53:4-6) The Lord says, “It was my will that he should suffer; his death was a sacrifice to bring forgiveness. And so he will see his descendants; he will live a long life, and through him my purpose will succeed.” (Is. 53:10)

Why did God do this? He did it because he is both righteous and loving. Because he is righteous, God cannot overlook sin—he must punish it with death. Because he is loving, he provided a sinless substitute to bear our sin and to take God’s wrath for us.

This is why John the Baptist introduced Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). This is why Jesus said that as God’s Son, he did “not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mk. 10:45). Jesus came to die on a cross because there was no other way that a holy God can be reconciled to sinful people like you and me.

And to make sure that we would know this was his plan, he predicted it centuries before he did it.

 

[Nita]

I
Why did God do this? He did it because he is both righteous and loving. Because he is righteous, God cannot overlook sin—he must punish it with death. Because he is loving, he provided a sinless substitute to bear our sin and to take God’s wrath for us.

/QUOTE]

I think the primary reason God chose this particular way to redeem us, is to demonstrate His love for us.

John 15:13 Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

It is one thing if someone says they love you; but how can one even comprehend the greatness of love when someone is willing to undergo a horrible death for us. And even beyond that: for any ordinary human, once the decision was made, events would have taken their normal course and there would have been no turning back. But for Jesus - God - every split second was a decision to do it for us, because He had the power to disappear/end it at any p

 

[Nita]

Hit the “Submit Reply” instead of “Preview Post” !!!
Will blame it on the late hour here in the midwest.

last word should be “point”.

And guess I’ll just have to forget any editing.

Nita