Why did Jesus actually have to die? Couldn’t God just have forgiven everyone and be done with it?
On the surface it seems like a really straightforward question, just pull out the standard doctrine, “well Jesus had to die for our sins so we could be made right with God…” But when a friend really questioned this issue, it actually struck me as having a lot more to it that that. Why couldn’t God have just forgiven everyone? It’s a very fair question.
I believe that as humans we have a soul, our innermost being, beyond our physical body. This is the essence of what it means to be ‘human’ rather than just another animal, and what sets us apart as a special part of God’s creation. Our soul is a gift from God, and that is the part of us that is in the image of God. Through free will we chose to ‘sin’, or rebel against God. This sin separates us from God, because we have ‘contaminated’ ourselves with it.
But to get to the crux of the question – why can’t God just forgive us? To look at this we have to get into quite heavy spiritual stuff, delving into the areas of God and Satan which can often be hard to comprehend or seem strange and theological. The reality is that (in the Christian understanding) there is God, and there is Satan, the Devil. When we sin, we owe a big ‘fine’ – death. Romans 6:23: “the wages of sin is death”.
I see the issue of forgiveness or ‘salvation’ (though the term often makes me cringe because of the way it’s used) as having two core parts. The first is God’s personal forgiveness for our sins. Because of sin we aren’t able to enter into God’s presence. It’s kind of like the magnetic fields on a magnet – when you put the magnets a certain way, they will repel each other. God is pure and perfect, and our sin ‘repels’ us from Him. We need to be forgiven in order to meet fully with God.
But the second one I think explains why God can’t just forgive us and be done with it. Death isn’t simply a punishment God gives, but it’s a claim that Satan makes on our lives. You could say Satan’s like a gaoler, and he can ‘hold’ us in death because of our ‘crimes’, or sins. This is something that can’t be overcome through God just forgiving us and forgetting about our sins. Because Satan has a hold over us through sin, someone needs to take our place, or pay our fine. Thus Jesus death is not just so he can forgive us, but it is paying a ransom to Satan for our lives, taking our place. In Matthew 10:41 Jesus says he came “to give his life as a ransom for many”. This is what it boils down to – that Jesus didn’t have to die only so that God could forgive our sins, but so that through his death, Satan would have no claim on our lives, as that claim had already been paid for.
So in essence, there’s a lot more to this question than God forgiving us. We have to be made right with God, but we also need to have our ‘fine’ paid to Satan. And that’s what Jesus did in his death, by taking our sins upon him when he hung on the cross.
The whole concept of Satan, evil, and all that stuff is a huge one that I have only just touched on here, and hope to look at a bit more in the future. Bear in mind this is only a part of the big picture.
6 comments:
What would you think about adding to this explanation the idea that Jesus also had to be crucified as an example to us? To show us that in the reality of God's kingdom there is no death, that it doesn't exist and we don't have to fear it because it is not real because of the second part of the example - that it is really not our place to judge in worldy terms("judgement is mine, sayeth the Lord") because no one is beyond the forgiveness of God, no matter how much someone might wrong you, they are forgiveable ("forgive them Father, they know not what they do"). I find it a very powerful inspiration, to remember that, despite all we may suffer, there is a reality behind it that we can choose to tune into - the reality of God, which is worth so much more than the egoistic things of the world. Some say that the message of the crucifixion is "teach only love, for that is what you are" - the complete love of Jesus (and the fact that he rose from the dead!) reminds us that there is so much more to life than 'the things of this world'. That's part of my take on it anyway :)
I like it! It might not be why it was absolutely essential for Jesus to die, but for sure it's a very big part of the meaning and impact of His death! It is a huge example to us of so many things about life, death, humility, pride and so on. I agree heartily :)
I liked this one. And I'm glad that you added at the end that it's only part of the bigger picture. I've been reading 'Questioning Evangelism' by Randy Newman which suggests ways in which to ask people about whatever beliefs they have, particularly in relation to some tough issues. It gives some examples of common/important questions that people have about Christianity, and ways in which they can be 'answered'.
I'd like to see you include more biblical-based stuff.. I think footnotes of bible references would be helpful for me - not so I can say 'ahh, he's got a list of verses that therefore quantitatively validate his argument', but so I can investigate for myself on biblegateway.com.. and perhaps in footnotes like I'm suggesting, because I think if you put a whole lot of bible verse references in the body of the writing it might be distracting or even detract from your argument, especially for people who don't believe in the validity of the bible.
Anyway, that's a thought. Also, I'd be interested in reading possible explanaitons from you about "Why did Jesus have to come back to life?" rather than just "Why did he have to die?".. The Newman book I mentioned has some interesting aspects that relate to this... and also about the implicit ties to the basics of 'salvation' - if you don't believe Jesus was resurrected, how can you believe that we might be?
Anyway, thanks!
Hey Gregor,
Here's a question that is very personal for me, and its repurcussions may even be too big for the scope of your blog.
But nevertheless, here it is:
Does a good, moral, ethical person, who happens to be atheist, go to Hell?
The answer I've been given in the past is a tentative and begrudging 'yes'. This just seems a bit counter-intuitive to me. Did the soldiers who killed thousands in horrible ways in the Crusades, all in God's name, did they go to Heaven? What about the Catholic who sins all week, then confesses and therefore goes to Heaven? Why, then, should an atheist who treats everyone and everything with, one could say, 'Christian' kindness and respect, go to Hell?
-Cale
Ooh! Really hard!! I will try to look into that soon, but it'll require some deep thought , so give me time :-)
That's a big issue though, and worth questioning.
merci.
I'm still not sure about the system though... presumably there's somewhere in the Bible that explains why Satan's got the 'other half' of the power in the first place? You'd just kind of think that the God who made the universe wouldn't need a petty-sounding this-for-that arrangement to save the people He made? Perhaps it's just the way people have tried to dumb it down and make it make sense to them, but it all seems very... humanified. and God getting caught up almost in the socialised system, whereas surely He could live by His own rules?
Good try though :P
I really do appreciate it.
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