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Why Did Jesus Have to Die for Our Sins on the Cross?
Heather Riggleman| Crosswalk.com Contributing Writer202115 Mar
Each day I notice the fingerprints of God around me. I see it in the sunrise or feel it in the warmth of my blankets on a cold winter night. Sometimes I see it in the rain and even the way a cup of coffee tastes. Why? Because these momentary pleasures are gifts. Each whisper of the essence of what eternity will be like with God. Had Jesus not died on the cross, these little moments would be empty distractions instead of eternal promises. The cross echoes the stories of what Jesus did for us. But some ask, “Why?”null
Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Why did He have to take on our sins so we could have a pathway to God? Why couldn’t God just erase everyone’s sins?
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Why Did Jesus Have to Die?
Before we can get to the end of the story, we need to travel back to the very beginning. At the beginning when God created Adam and Eve. In this scene is a beautiful garden where we see Adam eating the delicious fruit of a living tree. The next, we find ourselves standing at the foot of the hill so ugly, it was called, “the place of the skull.” Here, we find a wrecked man, battered, disfigured, and dying. He hung on a tree—a cross—gasping for air. The first man of this story is Adam, the second man of this story is our savior, Jesus. Jesus came to be a living sacrifice for our sins because humans have been corrupted by sin the moment Adam took that very first bite. Our sinful nature makes us want to do what we want, not what God wants. We are too darkened by our sin to find our way back to God on our own. And God’s justice requires that there be a price for our sin. Yet despite our flaws, God loves us and wants us to be reunited with him. Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to make our reconciliation with God possible.
Matthew 20:28 reminds us that he “did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”In theological terms, this is called “substitutionary atonement.” Christ died on the cross as our substitute. Without Him, we would suffer the death penalty for our own sins. Here are a few verses that explain this concept:null
‘He [God] made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“And while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Peter 2:23-24).
“And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith… your faith is futile; you are still in your sins”(1 Corinthians 15:14, 17).
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
Could There Have Been Another Way for Salvation?
The apostle Peter declared that “Christ died for sins, once for all” (1 Peter 3:18). The apostle Paul reminded us that “Christ died for our sins, according to Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). Why did Jesus have to die for our sins? We all have sinned, and the consequence is death. We are all headed for judgment, condemnation, and eternal death until God himself intervened. He sent His Son Jesus into this world. Before Jesus willingly chose to take our place on the cross, He proclaimed, “I am the Way, and the truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me”(John 14:6). The Apostles echoed this claim, stating, “And there is salvation in no one else; there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).null
This doesn’t sound very fair, does it? We want to object. We want to say this sounds like pride and arrogance but it’s not. God chose this way of salvation because He is God. To have another way of salvation, a person must change the goal of salvation itself. And we cannot do that because we are merely human beings created by a mighty God. He chose this salvation through adoption and regeneration in order to have a loving, mentoring relationship with our Creator God. As Adam walked with God, so should we. And now we can because of Jesus!
What Does Jesus’ Death Symbolize?
When Jesus came to this earth, he wasn’t just a man—he was God clothed in human skin. He knew the only way to help us was to send His one and only Son to this earth. Jesus came to use in the form of a child and lived a life just like every other human being—only He remained sinless. After Adam had sinned, a system of sacrifices was created in order to pay the debt of our sins. God’s laws determined what types of sacrifices were required in order to atone for different sins. Most living sacrifices were to be perfect animals without blemish. Yet, in the New Testament, Jesus, God’s Son, came to earth to reunite us with God through the ultimate sacrifice: his own life. He became a living sacrifice. John 3:17 says, “God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” By sacrificing himself for us on the cross, he took the punishment for all of our sins at once. This made him the ultimate sacrifice —once and for all satisfying the demands God’s justice required.null
In other words, God reaffirmed His promises of sacrifice through men such as Abraham and Moses, and then God provided the perfect sacrifice to atone for this sin of His people. God’s perfect Son fulfilled God’s perfect requirement of God’s perfect law. It is perfectly brilliant in its simplicity. “God made Him (Christ), who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
God is not like us. He is perfect and holy, completely loving and completely just. He tells us in Isaiah 55:8-9, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”Jesus’ death was the only possible way to atone for the sins of the world and Jesus is the only way to a relationship with God the Father.
Why Was it Necessary for Jesus to Die?
Without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, we would be without hope and without forgiveness. Isaiah 64:6 teaches us even our righteous acts are like filthy rags. Even on our best days and with our best intentions, without the blood of Jesus, we would deserve death as the punishment for sin. “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 55:6). We did nothing to earn our forgiveness and everything to deserve punishment. But in God’s great love for us, He sent His son and took our punishment upon Himself. null
Although God is all-merciful, all-powerful, and all-forgiving, God is also holy, righteous, and just. Holiness is incompatible with sin. Our sin completely separates us from God and His holiness demands that sin and rebellion be paid for by punishment. The only penalty or payment for sin is eternal death. If Jesus hadn’t died on the cross to take our place, we would be forever separated from God. 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 through Jesus Christ. This is why Jesus had to die. Romans 5:10 says, “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.”
God loved us enough to save us from ourselves! If you haven’t asked God for salvation and forgiveness, it’s never too late. Romans 10:9-10 says that “if you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”
Sinner’s Prayer from Scripture – (Psalm 51, King David)
“Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge. Surely I have been a sinner from birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me…Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then will I teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will turn back to You.”
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/Serhii Ivashchuk
Heather Riggleman is an award-winning journalist and podcast co-host of the Moms Better Together Podcast. She calls Nebraska home with her three kids and a husband of 22 years. She believes Jazzercise, Jesus, and tacos can fix anything and not necessarily in that order! She is author of I Call Him By Name Bible Study, the Bold Truths Prayer Journal, Mama Needs a Time Out, and a contributor to several books. She is a regular contributor to Crosswalk. You can find her at www.heatherriggleman.com or on Facebook.
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