(Part 3/3 – A summary of the Sunday morning teaching on 08-Nov-15, in AFT Church, English service. From the series The Foundation For Victorious Living)
BUT WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
Now, we may wonder, ‘Why did Jesus die?’
Here’s the answer.
1) KNOWLEDGE OF TRUTH
Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.
1 Timothy 2:4
Jesus death and resurrection enabled all of mankind to come to the knowledge of God.
2) GOD’S GLORY
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
Ephesians 1:5-6
But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light;
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10
God let Jesus live, die and rise again so that the whole world would look at this wonderful and loving Father and praise Him.
3) SEATED WITH JESUS
Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus
Ephesians 2:5-6
Not only did Jesus’ death and resurrection bless us with salvation but it also gave us a place of authority and glory in Christ Jesus. When Jesus became our substitute on the Cross, He displayed the kindness of God towards us. Through us, God wants to display His love for this lost world. It’s like displaying our trophies. The trophies are testimonies of our achievements and credentials. The marked difference in our lives is the trophy of our credentials through the love of Jesus.
WHY THE CROSS?
Often the question crosses many a mind. Why the Cross? Why not some other form of death, say like a sickness?
In order to answer that question we need to look to the past. The Old Testament demanded that a blemishless and pure animal must be sacrificed for the sins of man. Jesus Christ was the purest among men! Therefore, He had to be sacrificed.
Also by Jesus’ death on the Cross, God was publicly declaring that He abhorred sin. In fact in Deuteronomy 21:22, 23 God instructed the Israelites as to what must be done with a sinner. He said, ‘if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance’. Therefore, when Jesus was crucified on the Cross He carried our curse. Hence, Joseph of Arimathea took Jesus’ body on the same day and buried Him. Paul refers to this in Galatians 3:13 when he says, ‘Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree’.
CONCLUSION
So, you see, God was not just trying to display the horror of sin at the Cross but was also displaying His grace, mercy and love. It is this love that gives meaning to our lives. Not just for now. But for all ages!
