Many today don’t understand why God sent His son Jesus Christ to die for us. The answer lies within him vindicating His righteousness by doing so.
Jesus is God incarnate; He reflects his glory and embodies his nature (Hebrews 1:3), serving as an ultimate standard for truth, goodness and beauty.
Table of Contents
1. To show God’s love
Love is God’s benevolent disposition or disposition to bestow benefits both physical and spiritual upon those created in His image, thus synonymous with grace. For Him, nothing compares with giving Himself freely as the ultimate form of blessing to those He deems His own.
God created this world to demonstrate His great love. A different creation would not have done justice to expressing this love as fully as this would.
That is exactly what He did: He sent His Son into our lives as an embodiment of His love so we might experience its full power. John 3:16 reads: “For God so loved the world that He gave his One and Only Son so that all who believe may not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Once we truly experience this kind of love, everything changes. It propels us toward service for others; moves us to correct rebellious saints; welcome back prodigal sons as they head home; and allows us to rejoice with Him when His children have been saved and accepted into His family.
2. To make a way for us
God’s ultimate purpose for humanity is to bring them all into a loving, eternal fellowship with Himself as His spirit-born sons and daughters.
But for this to occur, sin and death must first be eradicated – which is why the Bible states that Jesus came “to destroy hostility.” Additionally, He was “crushed for our iniquities, struck for our transgressions” (Isaiah 53:8).
Christ’s death resolved a difficulty: apart from divine revelation, it would seem unjust for God to overlook past sins without punishing them – this would imply that His glory had no value at all.
But when God punished humanity’s sins through Jesus on the cross, it forever altered their relationship. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, humans entered a fellowship with God that had been foretold since before our world existed! (Revelation 21:3-4). Indeed, this plan had already been put in motion at creation – and is currently unfolding according to an eternity-based timetable.
3. To show God’s justice
The Bible describes God as just. This means He does what is morally right and fair based on His holiness. God’s justice does not involve vengeance or punishment – rather, His justice is salvific based on His covenant commitment with us.
Simply put, He remains faithful to His free offer of salvation despite our sinful rejection of it. Therefore, Christians need to communicate accurately about God’s justice so as to remain true to their beliefs about who He is.
Some find it difficult to trust God’s justice will ever fully manifest, especially given the heartbreaking headlines about human suffering and evil around the globe. Yet it’s essential to remember that Scripture provides insight into his understanding of justice: as an almighty Lord He cannot overlook evil or ignore his creation; He always acts righteously and brings peace and good.
4. To set the oppressed free
The Crucifixion was one of the greatest events in human history. It brought together all that is precious and essential: divine love and anger against sin converge here; absolute divine sovereignty meets human accountability and moral action at this juncture; it all comes together at that point in history.
The cross was used to liberate those oppressed, breaking down hostility between Jews and Gentiles based on prejudice and demeaning attitudes, similar to those that still exist between races today. Jesus lived and died to give marriage its fullest significance (Ephesians 2:14-16).
Finally, God used Christ’s death on the cross as an act of righteousness to demonstrate his perfect, just character and abide by it to define membership in his family. Adam and Eve disobeyed this law in Eden Garden which meant they ceased trusting God; his death restored this relationship.
5. To show God’s mercy
People sometimes believe that God sent the Son as a sign from above that humanity’s inherent goodness and dignity should not be overlooked, while others see Him as coming to shed light on social inequities and the struggle of those living in poverty. Yet others see His life, death, and resurrection as evidence of covenantal promise with His people – while still others view His sacrifice for mercy’s sake as evidence that the divine has never abandoned his people.
Mercy is at the core of God’s nature. It offers hope in an often dark world and forgiveness as an essential virtue – core themes found throughout scripture as an attribute of Him who alone can truly save.
God shows his mercy because He cares for us, even when we commit acts that break his commandments. His compassion does not depend on how hard or good someone works at obeying Him; rather it freely bestowed to all who believe.
God shows his omnipotence and righteous anger when people violate His laws or dishonor Him (Revelation 21:3-4; Deuteronomy 33:29), but He remains merciful towards his creations – and works to inculcate within people the divine character He himself possesses through sacrifice of Jesus (Genesis 3:15; Romans 8:29) so they may enter his family with grace and mercy.
6. To show God’s power
The Bible clearly teaches us that God is all-powerful. He created and sustains the universe (Genesis 1:26); He continues His eternal plan to free humanity from sin and death (Ephesians 1:10).
God operates according to an impeccable timetable (Romans 8:28). He initiated His plan of redemption with one man, Abram, making extravagant promises of His grace; these included blessings such as making his name great, gifting land and multiplying his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3).
Abram’s response to God’s lavish promise demonstrated his trust that He could fulfill it, evidenced by repeated acts of trusting in Him. For instance, Abram believed God could raise the dead – as evidenced by raising one of their sons (Luke 24:4-9); Abram trusted in God’s ability to create life within Mary womb – thus He did (Luke 2:8-12); Abram trusted in God’s power to forgive sins because He wanted us all to reflect his holy and righteous character, while any deviation was defined as sinful by breaking His laws (Romans 5:12-14); therefore He sacrificed His only Son for humanity (Romans 5:14-16). Abram believed in this divine promise that promised much!
7. To show God’s love
God’s love is an integral component of many Bible passages. This love can be seen through His provision for our physical needs as well as saving us from death and hell, yet it must be remembered that love transcends what He does–it’s who He is: as John states “God is love” (1 John 4:8).
The Bible describes God as all-powerful, all-knowing and all-loving (Ephesians 1:3-5). But we only come to truly appreciate His love when we witness it through Jesus. God’s mercy can be seen when He created this world not as its main attraction but instead to display His redemption plan – including how sin defiled creation so He could show everyone in creation His redeeming love (Romans 9:23).
Reminding ourselves that God is holy can also help. Because He knows all, He will not overlook sin in His creation and He must discipline those He loves (Hebrews 12:6) in order to bring peace between Himself and those rebelling against Him (John 3:16).
