Denny answers:
Jesus dying on the cross is the one way God made to save sinners who believe in Him.
The perfect Son of God did not deserve to die. But Jesus suffered a horrible death: soldiers beat Him and put a crown of thorns on His head, people mocked and spit on Him, nails pierced his hands and feet into a wooden cross.
Why did Jesus have to die? Couldn’t God have saved sinners some other way? No, Jesus dying on the cross is the only way because . . .
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Every person is a sinner: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).
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The punishment for sin is death—separation from God in a place called hell: “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23b).
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We cannot save ourselves by good works: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
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God put His own Son to death to take the punishment for sin: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Because God is a just Judge, He must and will punish sinners. But because of God’s love and mercy, He punished Jesus in the place of believing sinners. Only Jesus could die in the place of believers because He is the God-Man—both holy God and sinless Man (2 Corinthians 5:21; Colossians 1:15-23). A sinner cannot pay the punishment for the sin of others. A sinner has to pay his own punishment of death. And no one but God the Son could make up for sinning against the holy God.
Besides, why would God let His beloved Son suffer and die on the cross if there were other ways to save sinners? Before dying on the cross, Jesus even asked God, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will” (Matthew 26:39b). But no other way was possible. Jesus bearing the wrath of God against sinners was the only possible way for believers to escape judgment and have an eternal relationship with God (1 Peter 3:18). That’s why Jesus died on the cross. Thank You, Lord Jesus!
Bible Truth
- “People of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus from Nazareth was a very special man. God clearly showed this to you by the miracles, wonders, and signs he did through Jesus. You all know this, because it happened right here among you. Jesus was given to you, and with the help of those who don’t know the law, you put him to death by nailing him to a cross. But this was God’s plan which he had made long ago; he knew all this would happen. God raised Jesus from the dead and set him free from the pain of death, because death could not hold him” (Acts 2:22-24, NCV).
- “For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him [Jesus], and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross” (Colossians 1:19-20).
- “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
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