Why Jesus Had to Die 9 13 20

“Why Jesus Had to Die”

9/13/20

Matthew 20:26-28 (NKJV) “Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. 27 And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

I want to answer the question today—Why did Jesus have to die?

If God is a God of love why would he ever let his own Son die such a horrible death?

We happen to live in a day when many are taking the position that the message of the Cross of Christ is a wrong message for Christianity.

There is a new brand of ‘Christian’ out there that calls themselves Progressive Christians.

But their idea of PROGRESSIVE is actually DIGRESSIVE, for they twist and compromise many of the essentials of the true faith.

One of those essentials is the way they view the Cross.

They have a problem with the Cross, saying things like “It is primarily Jesus' life, not his death, which is important to us today as an example and goal to inspire us.”

Humanity, they contend, is in no need of a rescuer.

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Now, people who say such things are tragically ignorant of why Jesus had to die.

To understand why Jesus had to die, we must first understand:

Who God is

The Bible tells us that God is both a God of LOVE, and a God of HOLINESS.

John writes: “But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Now, We love to talk about God’s LOVE, but not so much His HOLINESS.

But to understand God and why Jesus had to die, we have to understand His HOLY nature!

The Bible says, "There is no one holy like the Lord." ( HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/book-of-1-samuel-701121"1 Samuel 2:2, HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/new-international-version-niv-700664"NIV)

In HYPERLINK "https://ebible.com/query?utf=8%E2%9C%93&query=Exodus%2015%3A11&translation=ESV&redirect_iframe=https://www.AllAboutGOD.com/bible.htm"Exodus 15:11, Moses asks, “Who among the gods is like you, O Lord? Who is like you—majestic in holiness, awesome in glory, working wonders.” (NIV)

The prophet Isaiah saw a vision of God in which HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/what-does-the-bible-say-about-angels-701965"seraphim, winged heavenly beings, called to each other, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty." ( HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/book-of-isaiah-701145"Isaiah 6:3, HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/new-international-version-niv-700664"NIV)

Now, Holiness means ‘separate and apart’—the God of the Bible is SEPARATE from and HIGHER than all of His creation.

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Everything God touches is considered holy...

Moses was told to remove his sandals in God’s presence, for he was standing on Holy ground.

We read of the Holy Sabbath, and the holy of holies in the Temple.

Now, because God is holy, He is also MORALLY PERFECT—there is not one scintilla of moral imperfection in God.

“...the Lord is upright; He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him” (Ps 92:15 NIV).

“As for God, His way is blameless;” (Ps. 18:30 NIV)

Being holy and morally perfect, God created a moral universe based on moral laws of right and wrong, good and evil.

When God’s laws are broken, it is called SIN, and this is where the Cross of Christ will come in.

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When Adam and Eve fell in the garden,

II. Their sin offended the holiness of God

Adam and Eve sinned by breaking God’s law.

When they sinned, the holiness of God was wounded, injured, and insulted, and their sin demanded JUSTICE.

In God’s moral world, justice is required for wrong committed.

Adam’s sin required JUSTICE because the God of holiness is also a God of justice.

Is 61:8 NIV “For I, the Lord, love justice,”

Is 30:18 NIV “For the Lord is a God of justice;”

Deut. 32:4 NIV “His (God’s) work is perfect, For all His ways are just;”

God’s holy nature demands JUSTICE for wrongs committed.

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ILLUS: I was recently watching a true story on the Investigate Discovery Channel about a terrible murder.

The victim’s family was interviewed and the mother looked straight into the camera and said, “We demand justice!”

It struck me that this demand for justice found in human beings comes straight from being made in God’s image.

We inherently know that when a wrong has been committed, someone has to pay!

And if WE feel that way over a wrong committed, God himself does a million times over.

Sin, which is the breaking of God’s law, demands JUSTICE—and God’s demand for justice MUST be met!

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But who would be worthy to deliver the justice God required for sin?

We human beings couldn’t do it, for it required paying off a sin debt that we’re also in debt for!

The Bible’s verdict on all mankind is: “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Ro. 3:23 NLT).

How can people deep in sin-debt provide God with the justice He requires?

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This is where the Cross comes in!

God, being LOVE, knew that if a way to forgiveness for mankind was not provided, we would all perish.

Someone had to pay the debt for us—someone had to satisfy God’s need for justice!

The only answer is that it would take someone who didn’t have a sin debt.

And the only one to fit the bill was Jesus!

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, so He didn’t inherit Adam’s sin nature.

And the Bible tells us that Jesus never sinned during His life on earth so He had NO SIN DEBT!

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Now, remember our text: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matt. 20:28).

Note the word RANSOM.

Ransom means “the purchasing money necessary for freeing slaves.”

The purchasing money necessary to free us was Jesus’s righteous blood!

On the Cross where the blood of Christ was shed, two powerful things happened. First:

II. Jesus took the punishment for our sins

Get this—when Jesus hung between heaven and earth on the blood-stained Cross:

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21 NIV).

Jesus took our sins, including the guilt, blame, and judgment for our sins, onto Himself!

You see, on the Cross, God is judging sin!

That’s why HYPERLINK "https://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Rom%204.25"Romans 4:25 says, “Christ was delivered to death for our offenses.”

HYPERLINK "https://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/1%20Pet%203.18"1 Peter 3:18 says, “Christ also has suffered for sins, the just for the unjust.”

HYPERLINK "https://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Gal%203.13"Galatians 3:13 says, “He was made a curse for us.”

So, on the Cross, Jesus was judged by God’s wrath instead of us!

God’s fury was poured out on Him as He bore in His body all the sins of all men.

“He tasted death,” HYPERLINK "https://biblia.com/bible/nasb95/Heb%202.9"Hebrews 2:9 says, “for every man.”

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So VERTICALLY God-ward, the Cross satisfied the wrath of God against sin, and provided the justice His holiness required.

But more!

On the Cross, HORIZONTALLY man-ward:

III. Jesus paid the price for our salvation

As the song says:

He paid a debt He did not owe,

I owed a debt I could not pay,

I needed someone to wash my sins away

And now I sing a brand new song, Amazing Grace!

Christ Jesus paid the debt that I could never pay.

Whereas it was the HOLINESS of God that was offended by sin, it was the LOVE of God that provided the ransom necessary for our forgiveness!

Romans 5:9-10 “Much more then, since we have now been declared righteous by His blood, we will be saved through Him from wrath.” (NIV)

This is why Jesus had to die!

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Let’s stand and thank God!

for three reasons.

First, God knew human beings could never meet his standards of perfect holiness by their own behavior or HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/christian-justification-by-faith-or-works-700638"good works.

Second, he required a spotless sacrifice to HYPERLINK "https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-redemption-700693"pay the debt for humanity's sins.

And third, God would use Messiah to transfer holiness to sinful men and women.

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Jesus was not just a good man with a good example to share—He was something much more.

Jesus was the substitutionary sacrifice we all need because we sinned against God and cannot offer a sufficient payment to cover our debt.

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” (Isaiah 53: 4-6)