Why Did Jesus Have To Die?
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Many times, we say that “Jesus died for our sins.”, which is a true statement, but WHY did He have to actually experience physical death?
Couldn’t God have just waved His hand and our sin would have been erased?
Couldn’t Jesus have just pricked His finger and applied a drop of His blood to our sins in order to cleanse us?
Why did He have to actually die?
That is the question we will answer today.
We will give two answers to this question - MUCH more could be said, but we will focus on just these two things today:
Jesus Died To Shed His Blood For Us
Jesus Died To Be Resurrected For Us
25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.
“delivered up” here is referring to Jesus’ death
“raised up” is referring to Jesus’ resurrection
So, Jesus had to die for our sins, and He had to be resurrected so that we could be justified before God.
Justified is a courtroom term that means “made righteous”.
So God sits on the bench as the Judge of the universe, and we stand guilty of sin before Him.
But when Jesus’ blood is applied and His resurrection is believed in, we no longer stand guilty before God the Judge; we stand righteous because of Jesus’ blood (death) and His resurrection (life).
1. Jesus Died To Shed His Blood For Us
1. Jesus Died To Shed His Blood For Us
We have a sin problem.
It started back in Genesis 3, when Adam ate the forbidden fruit and disobeyed God.
6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Since that time, all humanity has been plunged into the darkness of sin.
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—
And NO ONE is exempt:
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We have all broken God’s laws.
Even ONE lie makes us guilty before God, and doomed for the lake of fire (hell).
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.
The penalty (or wages) of sin is death:
Romans 6:23a (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death...
Many people try to compare themselves to other people, and say, “Well, I’m not as bad as they are…I haven’t done the horrible things that they have done, so I’m ok…I’m a pretty good person.”
Revelation 21:8 (NKJV)
8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
We can’t really compare ourselves to other people - we need to compare ourselves to God’s Word, the Bible.
We see in this verse that EVERYONE is guilty (“all liars”).
This means that everyone who has ever lived is destined for the lake of fire (hell).
But, when Jesus shed His blood and died on the cross, He experienced the wages of our sin.
Romans 6:23a (NKJV)
23 For the wages of sin is death...
When we sin, we earn death…death is our wages.
But Jesus took that punishment on Himself so that we would have a WAY to avoid hell and experience eternal life.
John 3:14–15 (NKJV)
14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.
Once, the Israelites had sinned against God, God had sent poisonous snakes into the camp and many people were bitten.
As a remedy, an anti-venom, God instructed Moses to craft a serpent out of bronze metal, place it on a pole, and bring it into the camp.
All the people had to do was to look at the serpent and they would be instantly healed. The bronze serpent was lifted up so all could see it.
They only had to look at it, believing that God would save them, and they were cured!
That phrase, “lifted up”, refers to Jesus hanging on the cross - He was literally lifted up on the cross for all to see His death.
Jesus died - took the penalty - for our sins.
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
In doing so, He shed His blood.
Only by Jesus’ blood is His death for us.
Blood is required to wash away our sin.
In the Old Testament, when the nation of Israel was captive in Egypt, God brought a series of plagues against Pharoah and Egypt so they would let the Israelites go. The final plague was death - death of every firstborn in the land.
4 Then Moses said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt;
5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female servant who is behind the handmill, and all the firstborn of the animals.
But God also provided a way to avoid death.
And that way was by blood: They were to take a spotless lamb (no blemishes or sickness) and kill the lamb, and take the lamb’s blood and paint the blood on the sides and the top of the doors of their houses.
7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it.
This blood would protect them from death:
13 Now the blood shall be a sign for you on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you; and the plague shall not be on you to destroy you when I strike the land of Egypt.
So blood is required to protect us from death:
The word “remission” means: the act of freeing from an obligation, guilt, or punishment, pardon, cancellation
Jesus’ death and His blood are required so that we would have a way to avoid the eternal punishment of our sins.
Jesus Himself used that same word when He was in the Upper Room teaching His disciples how to remember His death during communion.
The wine (juice) represents (pictures) Jesus’ blood.
28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Jesus’ blood makes us righteous and gives us access to God:
9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Jesus’ blood redeems us from our sin and its penalty:
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
1. Jesus Died To Shed His Blood For Us
1. Jesus Died To Shed His Blood For Us
2. Jesus Died To Be Resurrected For Us
2. Jesus Died To Be Resurrected For Us
Today, we are asking the question, “Why did Jesus have to die?”
We have already seen that His death and His bloodshed were necessary for our salvation.
Now let’s look at His resurrection as another answer to the question, “Why did Jesus have to die?”
1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)
18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
When Jesus was taken down from the cross, His body was physically and medically dead:
44 Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time. 45 So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.
Jesus’ literal, physical death is very important - no death means no resurrection!
Jesus was resurrected from the dead!
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. 6 He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
Everyone who believes in Jesus will also experience resurrection:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Jesus’ resurrection was the first so that we could follow Him. He was our “resurrection trail-blazer”:
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.
Conclusion:
So how does this all work?
How does Jesus’ death, blood, and resurrection save us?
It’s by grace, through faith:
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
Eternal life cannot be earned.
It is a gift.
When you come to Simple Steps, everyone recieved a Welcome Packet - a gift that you did not earn and did not buy - it was a FREE GIFT!
You cannot BUY a GIFT - you can only RECEIVE one!
31 So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures,
Will YOU believe in Jesus for eternal life today?
Will YOU believe in Jesus for eternal life today?