Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

I stood at the kitchen sink, arguing with God. “Why did Jesus have to die? I’m basically a good person.” Be nice. Love God. Be good. That was the mantra of my life. I stared out the kitchen window and smugly checked off those three little boxes.

Every Bible story and Sunday school song drilled that formula into my head. Maybe you’ve believed you were doing just fine and had those same mantras. Just be good + be nice + love God = fire insurance.

My argument with God took a turn when I stated, “Why did Jesus have to die? It’s not like I killed someone!” And with that arrogant proclamation, God started the dismantling of my heart. I quickly learned that I had in fact killed someone, and it was Jesus.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die? Understanding the Real Reason Behind the Cross

The Lord spent the next few years showing me how my heart was burning down to the ground with sin. Even though I went to church, sang on the worship team, and took meals to the elderly I had missed the point of Jesus. I had my spiritual ducklings all following me in a nice, cute little row. Yet my thoughts and actions proved I had nothing more than fire insurance.

I was sadly lacking authentic faith in Jesus Christ, and trusting in my own good merits to get me to heaven. What I needed was a humble, authentic faith and relationship with Jesus Christ that would withstand fire, and not simply cover the smoke damage.

I was shocked when I realized my good deeds and kindness toward others couldn’t overcome the wages of sin and death. Only Jesus could do that.

This is why Jesus had to die.

When we look at all of the laws in Scripture, they can be summed up into two commands. He asks us to love God and love others, and do them perfectly. I stink at both of those. How about you?

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” – Mark 12:30-31 (ESV)

1) Our Failure to Love God Killed Jesus

The first and most important thing God asks of us is to love Him, and we are totally unable to do it perfectly. We couldn’t love God fully, wholly, or completely the way He commands us to. How could our lack of love kill Jesus? We have rejected His sacrifice for our sin and taken His love for granted.

LOVE GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, MIND AND STRENGTH. I had broken this law a million times, and felt helpless to love Him the way He deserved. This simple command convicted me of my sin on a level I couldn’t fathom. Not only could I not love Him well, but I was living as an enemy of God despite my Christian facade. Does this resonate with you?

“You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” James 4:4

I knew I was running on a spiritual treadmill of good works and not walking out my faith journey with Him. My prayer life was mediocre and days would go by without opening my Bible. Often my sin-sickened heart would cling to idols and get distracted by worldly glitter. I loved God, but my spiritual house was on fire.

The commandment to love God with all our heart seems like an impossibility. Our heart is willing, but our flesh is very weak. Without the help of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we wouldn’t have the strength to battle our flesh or have a faith pleasing to the Lord.

2) Our Failure to Love Others Killed Jesus

The second most important thing God asks of us is to love others. One look at the headlines and comment sections and I’m guessing we both know how that’s working out. But when I look in the mirror, I’m no different. Pride, selfish motives, jealousy, and unforgiveness all plague me.

No matter how hard I try, I’m still a sinner in need of God’s grace. Is that you?

LOVE MY NEIGHBOR AS MYSELF. Hm. I struggle with this one, too.

I am guessing if you are anything like me, this is where we both start spiritually wheezing. We have a hard time extending grace and we can be lousy at loving others well. Without the help of the Holy Spirit living inside of us, we will never have the right perspective of those who have hurt us, and for those we have hurt.

Why did Jesus have to die? Our sin caused Jesus to die. Every sin in the human heart stems from these two basic commands we are utterly unable to keep. Our hearts are broken and only Jesus can fix that.

Jesus Fulfilled the Law So We Don’t Have To.

No one on this planet is capable of loving God and others perfectly. We are faulty and sinful. God knew we couldn’t love well, so he sent Jesus to cover our sin and bring us back into right relationship with Him. God is so good and full of grace! The law convicts us, but the cross has set us free! Jesus perfectly obeyed every command in Scripture, in our place and on our behalf. 

Jesus did what we couldn’t. He loved God and others perfectly.

Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, God no longer holds our sins imperfections against us, but looks at us through the blood of Christ. His perfection for our imperfection.

God’s Mercy in the Face of My Sin

We both have a choice to make. It would be easy to wallow in self pity and victimhood while we blame our sin on our circumstances. Our lack of perspective can cause us to blame God or others for our lack of love. But we are called to own our part in the crucifixion story, and embrace His redemption.

What a privilege to turn to Jesus, repent, and trust His blood will cover our sin! We serve a God who lavishly shows us mercy and fills us with the Holy Spirit.

With His Spirit inside of us and the Scriptures in front of us, we can run toward our Heavenly Father with confidence.

Why Grace Through Jesus Changes Everything

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”- Romans 8:1

We can rest in this truth. There is no condemnation for those that are in Jesus because of grace. Grace that is greater than all our sin! Why did Jesus have to die?Because God wanted to lavish is mercy on us through Jesus Christ. That is how God loves.

We are redeemed when we are found in Jesus and grace is extended to each one whom Christ has died for. Christ fulfilled what the law demanded of us. And by doing so, it gives us peace with God and the power to love God and love others well. 

” But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him…But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as He will bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53: 4-6, 10-11

Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, I repent of not loving you with my whole heart and taking your love for granted. I haven’t treated others with the love You have shown me and it has grieved You. Forgive me. I know Your grace is sufficient for all of my sin because of Jesus. I am overwhelmed by Your Holy Spirit as it continues to draw me to you and empowers me to live a life worth of my calling. The only right response to such lavish grace is to say, “Thank-you”. In Jesus’ name, amen.