Jesus' Death Displayed God's Love By Aleena Denison At Isnare.com Ezine Articles

The question, "If God is love, why did Jesus die?" is not an uncommon one among unbelievers. Many answers have been given, but recently I read a book which explained this question in such a clear way that I have to share it. The author takes the reader all the way back to the creation of the world…

• Creation of a perfect world--God created the earth perfect, and he also created man and woman (Adam and Eve) perfect. However, both man and woman disobeyed God, even though they knew that God had warned them that if they went against Him they would face death. This death was a three part death: of the body, of a relationship with God (separated from Him), of eternal life with God. All people through history have had this three part death.

• God showed grace in allowing mankind to continue to live, even though He could have destroyed them immediately and started over with new created people. His love for mankind was shown in this way, and He wanted to see His creation restored to a right relationship with Him. However, just because He loved His creation didn't mean that He could ignore the problem of sin. The only way that sin could be paid and the relationship restored was through a blood sacrifice.

• Thousands of years ago, people who admitted their sin problem and separation from God were told by God to bring an animal to sacrifice on an altar. This animal would take man's place in paying for sin by death. God saw that blood as atonement (covering) for man's sin, "For the life of the flesh is in its blood; and I have given it to you on the altar to take away your sin: for it is the blood which makes free from sin because of the life in it." (Leviticus 17:11) This was a visual to show people just how awful sin is, and was also a picture of what God would provide. The animals only provided temporary covering because they didn't have Adam's blood.

• Promise of the Deliverer--God loved the human race and wanted to take care of the debt they owed once and for all. From the time of Adam, God promised a Deliverer--Someone who would die for the sins of all mankind. This Deliverer would be perfect, not having the sin nature that was passed down to all people from Adam. Through many years, God continued to promise that this One would come.

• Jesus was the only one who could be that Deliverer, because as God's Son, He was without the sin nature of Adam. He was perfect, just as God required from the beginning that the sacrifice for sin had to be. He came to earth, taking on human form and giving His life willingly. It wasn't something God forced Him to do, but rather, He did it out of love.

• Jesus' death paid for the sins of everyone, something that the animals' blood couldn't do. Since Jesus was human, yet equal with God and without sin, His shed blood completely broke sin's curse (death=separation from God forever). All mankind has to do is believe that Jesus was able to pay that cost through His death. Anyone who believes will have a restored relationship with God.

God's love shouldn't be questioned when thinking about Jesus' death, but rather, God's love should be understood to its fullest when seeing the sacrifice that was made for His undeserving creation through the death of Jesus Christ.

Published At: Isnare Free Articles Directory http://www.isnare.com
Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=386706&ca=Religion

Important Notice DISCLAIMER: All information, content, and data in this article are sole opinions and/or findings of the individual user or organization that registered and submitted this article at Isnare.com without any fee. The article is strictly for educational or entertainment purposes only and should not be used in any way, implemented or applied without consultation from a professional. We at Isnare.com do not, in anyway, contribute or include our own findings, facts and opinions in any articles presented in this site. Publishing this article does not constitute Isnare.com's support or sponsorship for this article. Isnare.com is an article publishing service. Please read our Terms of Service for more information.