Gospel Tract

WHY JESUS HAD TO DIE

In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness -- Heb 9:22

People have asked a valid question, ‘Why did Jesus have to die on the cross?’ How can His death 2000 years ago make a difference in my life? God operates exclusively through His word, so everything He says defines Him, making it impossible for Him to lie (Heb 6-18). He previously said to Adam in Gen 2-17, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” This statement cannot be overturned. Once Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he proved God's word that death is the result of sin and then passed his sin nature to mankind throughout the ages, thus all die. The Bible teaches that the sinful nature of man has been sown into the fabric of our bodies; we were born in sin through no fault of our own, for "All have sinned", and “The wages of sin is death” (Rom 3:23; 6:23). If people sinned and it caused them to die, then Jesus had to come without sin and die for the people to break the law of sin in His own body and reverse the curse, thus canceling the power of death in those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Jesus said, “He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies. Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (Jn 11-25,26). God sent His son, born of a virgin, making Him completely human; but since the Holy Spirit conceived him, He was also completely God (Heb 7-26). By reason of His divinity Jesus overcame the sinful nature of man in His flesh, having never yielded to it, “being tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin” (Heb 4:15). While murdered by sinners, God nailed the sin of the world to Jesus’ dying body, and by virtue of His sinless life He broke the power of death in His flesh. 1Pet 2:24 says, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness," and again, "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2Cor 5:21). Now, the blood of Jesus atoning for the sin of the world has become the basis of God’s forgiveness, in that when the Father went to judge His Son, He found that none of His sin was His own, so He forgave His Son for our sin and raised Him from the dead. His righteousness became our life. In His very death He destroyed the power of sin, which is death, by maintaining the righteousness of God in the members of His earthly body. There is nothing we can do to show that we are truly sorry for our sin, except to believe in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and live according to His will. Our faith in the cross is all God needs from us to fully cleanse us from all unrighteousness, and living by faith is how we show our appreciation for saving us. Now that Jesus paid our penalty, He has made it illegal for sin to have jurisdiction over anyone who would believe in Him for eternal life.

1) God loves you   Jn 3-16
2) Because you love Jesus   Jn 16-27
3) By keeping His commandments   Jn 14-15

        Which are: 1Jn 3-23,24
                 a) Love God and be born again   Jn 3-3
                 b) Love one another   Jn 15-12
4) This purifies your heart and opens your eyes   Mat 5-8
5) To the vision that God has for your life   Eph 1,15-23

1. God loves you: Jn 3-16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

2. Because you love Jesus: Jn 16-27 “The Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.”

3. By keeping His commandments: Jn 14-15 “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

His commandments are to be born again: Jn 3-3 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God”

And love one another: Jn 15-12 “This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you”

1Jn 3-23,24 "This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us."

4. This purifies your heart: Mat 5-8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.”

5. And opens your eyes to the vision that God has for your life: Eph 1,15-23 “For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and your love for all the saints, do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all..”

6. Which is to do the works that God has prepared for us: Eph 2-10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”