Why Did Jesus Die?
Good News –April 2018 – Grace & Truth Magazine
Why Did Jesus Die?
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” —John 3:16 NKJV
Why We Die
You and I die because we are sinners. We have come under God’s righteous sentence of death and judgment (Rom. 3:23, 6:23; Heb. 9:27).
Death Had No Claim On Jesus Christ
The Lord Jesus Christ came down from heaven (Jn. 6:41). He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of Mary, a virgin (Mt. 1:18,20,23). He did not have a sinful nature as we have, and He never sinned (1 Jn. 3:5; 1 Pet. 2:22). Therefore, death had no claim on Him.
He willingly let wicked men crucify Him at Calvary (Jn. 6:38, 10:17-18). If He had wanted to come down from the cross, nothing could have prevented Him – not the nails or the power of the Roman Empire. It was love for your precious, undying soul that brought the Lord Jesus Christ down from heaven, took Him to that shameful cross, and held Him there until He had finished the work of redemption (19:30).
No Other Way
There was no other way and no other person by which Almighty God could save you from the just penalty of your sins (Acts 4:12; 1 Jn. 4:9-10).
The Lord Jesus Christ is God and Man in one blessed person. As eternal Son of God He knew God’s holy and righteous requirements, which were violated by our sins. As a perfect Man (spirit, soul and body), He was qualified to pay for all man’s sins of spirit, soul and body.
God’s Approval
God approved of Christ’s mighty work on the cross, and He showed it by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at His own right hand in heaven (Acts 5:30). Christ Jesus is there now – a living, loving Man, with the scars still in His hands and feet, which He received when He died for our sins (Jn. 20:27).
As you read this, He looks down from heaven at you and He knows the thoughts and motives of your heart. He knows what you think about your sins and about Him. He wants to be your Savior.
Why Did Jesus Die?
He died for your sins! You must realize that your many sins caused Him to die. And just one sin is enough to shut you out of God’s perfect heaven forever. But you can receive God’s forgiveness simply by confessing your sins to Him and believing on Him as your substitute (Rom. 10:9).
Though you are a stranger to me, you are not a stranger to God; He knows all about you. Has the Lord Jesus Christ personally saved you from the penalty and power of your sins? Are you sure of it, based on the Bible? If you refuse Him now as Savior you will eventually stand before Him as your Judge, but then it will be forever too late (Jn. 5:22; Rev. 20:11-15)!
What Will You Do?
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (Jn. 3:18).
“And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin” (1 Jn. 3:5).“How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation” (Heb. 2:3).
Will you believe in the death of Jesus Christ for your sins? He paid the price for you, and you can be delivered from condemnation and judgment by God Himself! We can tell you how.
This article is available as a gospel tract from Grace & Truth.