Why Did Jesus Christ Have to Die on the cross?

God is a Just and Holy God who will judge sinners

• God will not overlook our sin. In the beginning, God told Adam and Eve that the day they sinned – in eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil – that they would surely die,

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Genesis 2:16-17

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, Romans 5:12-14a

• God would not be a just and righteous judge if He simply let sin go without any punishment.

God demanded death for sin committed 

• God said that the soul that sins will die.

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:4

• God says that the punishment for sin is death – an eternal existence in the Lake of Fire

For the wages of sin is death; Romans 6:23a

• All sinners who have rejected to believe on Jesus Christ as their only way of salvation — will stand before the Holy Judge Jesus Christ – and they will be cast into the Lake of Fire for eternity. 

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.  Revelation 21:8

And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.  Revelation 20:11-15

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. 24 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. 25 But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. 26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. 27 Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: 28 For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. 29 Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. 30 And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent. Luke 16:19-30

Christ chose to take the place of mankind

• No peace, no mercy, no love can be given until justice is given. God’s law requires death when sin is committed.
• We deserve to die – We should die and go to Hell forever for our sin. That is what we have earned. That is what is fair and right.
• Jesus Christ knows this. This is why He chose to die in our place. He knew someone had to die for the sin committed. He, therefore, decided to die and be the one punished in our place.
• Someone has to pay for our sin – either we pay for it ourselves or, we humbly bow the knee to Christ and allow His sacrifice to be our payment. 

Jesus Christ is the only one qualified to die in our place

• I can’t die for you, and you can’t die for me. To be honest, I wouldn’t die for you, and you probably wouldn’t die for me even if we could. I am in the same position as you and vice versa. We are all sinners. We are drowning in our sin. A drowning person is in no position to save another drowning person. We need help!
• Jesus Christ is the only person who 100% obeyed the Law of God. He never cursed, had a lustful thought, desired something that someone else had, lied, or hated someone else. He was completely sinless. He was completely perfect, righteous, holy, and good. 
• Jesus Christ was tempted like you and I to sin – yet never partook in the sin, never entertained the thought of partaking, never once. 
• Therefore, Jesus Christ did not in any way deserve to die. He was completely innocent. He was the only one qualified to die in our place. 
• Yet, He being innocent choose to die in the place of the guilty. 

All of Mankind’s Sin was placed on Christ

1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 

*Propitiation is a word that means covering, mercy seat. Jesus Christ makes it possible for you and me to receive mercy and forgiveness for our sin. The holy and perfect blood of Jesus Christ covers our sin when we choose to believe and trust Christ.

*We broke God’s law- this requires the justice of God to be served upon you and I. Christ, took our place of punishment. He took all of the anger and wrath that God had for you and I, upon Himself. 

Matthew 1:21 And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins. 

1 Corinthians 15:3-8  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how 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: 5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: 6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. 7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. 8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time. 

Colossians 2:13-14 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 

God’s wrath towards our sin was poured out on Christ 

• We often think that our sin is not that bad. This is because we are comparing our sin to the sin of other people. This is the wrong comparison. We are to compare ourselves to God’s law. Whether we break God’s law once or a million times – we are all guilty of God’s wrath and judgment. We are all exceedingly wicked before a Holy God. We are sinners in the hands of an angry God!

• While the thought of an angry God is not popular – It is this angry God that poured all of His righteous anger towards our sin ON JESUS CHRIST. As God the Father looked on Jesus Christ, He saw my sin and your sin that was placed on Christ. He then poured the full cup of His wrath upon Christ that day. 

• Christ suffered our Hell that we deserve while He was on the cross. Jesus Christ took all of the punishment that you and I deserve. 

Jesus Christ cried “It is Finished”

The final words of Christ on the cross were, “It is Finished”.  Everything that was necessary to pay for our sin was finished and done. Jesus Christ did all that was necessary to allow us access to Heaven and an eternity with God.

John 19:30-37 When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. 31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. 32 Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. 33 But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: 34 But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water. 35 And he that saw it bare record, and his record is true: and he knoweth that he saith true, that ye might believe. 36 For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken. 37 And again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced. 

God’s Justice was satisfied with Christ’s Sacrifice

• Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead three days after His death. One of the reasons why Jesus Christ rose from the dead was because it was a sign to us that God the Father was satisfied with the sacrifice that Christ made.