Why Did Jesus Die For You?

Why did Jesus die for you? Why did Jesus have to die for our sins? Could we not pay for our sins ourselves with our own good merit? When you ask many people this question even if they are church-goers we may discover that many people have not fully grasped or been taught the purpose of why it was necessary for Christ to come to earth, die on the cross & resurrect from the dead.

To help understand why it was necessary for Jesus Christ to die on the cross, I would like to use the same analogy below which I used in an article I wrote titled Can You Earn Your Salvation.

As mankind we are like a criminal who committed crimes and we are asked to pay a very large fine for or crime. The criminal does not have the money to pay the fine and neither will the criminal be capable to work his entire lifetime to pay for the enormous penalty for the crimes he committed.

Then comes a loving & gracious man who has the exact amount required to pay the fine and this loving & gracious man is willing & able to pay the entire debt for the criminal so that the criminal is set free.

When the penalty of is fully paid by the loving & gracious man and the criminal is set free because of the payment:

1. The glory for the payment automatically goes to the loving & gracious man who paid the enormous debt. The loving & gracious man should receive the praise for rescuing the guilty criminal.
2. The criminal is set free not because of his own personal effort but because of the gracious work / payment done by the loving and gracious man. In this particular case, it would be foolish if the criminal boasted in his own failed effort to attempt to pay his own penalty.
3. The criminal was fined because he was guilty of his crimes but yet the loving & gracious man still paid the enormous debt on behalf of the criminal.
4. The criminal did not have to pay a single cent to bail himself out because the entire debt was paid by the loving & gracious man.
5. The criminal has the freewill or option to refuse the loving & gracious man from freely paying for his penalty / fine. This refusal has grave consequences in that forfeiting payment will result in a lengthy jail-time for the criminal.

This analogy is a small picture of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Jesus paid our ransom / debt according to Mark 10:45 which says “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many”.

Jesus came to pay our penalty because like the criminal, we cannot pay for the debt or penalty by ourselves.

 

1. We Are All Sinners & Our Sins Separate us from God

Romans 3:23 NKJV – For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Like the criminal who breaks the law, we are all sinners who have broken God’s commandments & laws. Sin is committed when we break God’s commandments. For example, I am positive that there is nobody who can say that they have never broken at least one or more of God’s 10 Commandments. Breaking just one of God’s commandments makes us sinners. Therefore, because we have broken God’s laws, we automatically have a debt to pay as a penalty for our sins.

Since Adam & Eve ate from the forbidden tree, Mankind has been sinful by nature. We are all born with Sin & we are all sinners. Living a life in sin hinders us from reconciling with God & having fellowship with God.

REASON 1: Christ came to die for our sins even though we are sinners. God loves us and because of His love, God was motivated to send Christ reconcile us to God & have eternal fellowship with Him.

Romans 5:8 NKJV – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

 

2. The Wages of Sin is Death

Romans 6:23 NKJV – For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

If you were facing certain death even if you had not been aware of it – would you not want to be saved from death? Would you not want to be rescued from a situation that you knew would destroy you eternally?

The consequence of living in sin or according to the sinful nature is death (hell & eternal separation with God). However God offers us a FREE gift. This FREE gift is eternal life (and eternal fellowship with Him) through Jesus Christ.

REASON 2: Christ Jesus died on the cross to save us from eternal death or eternal separation from God.

John 3:16-17 NKJV – 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.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

3. We Cannot Pay the Price for Our Sins With Our Own Works / Own Righteousness

Isaiah 64:6 NKJV – But we are all like an unclean thing, And all our righteousness are like filthy rags; We all fade as a leaf, And our iniquities, like the wind, Have taken us away.

Galatians 2:21 NKJV – I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”

The penalty for our sins cannot be paid by us because our personal merit & our own righteousness are not enough before a perfect & holy God. The price of sin is too high for sinful man to pay the debt owed for sin.

The law cannot save us but its purpose is to only reflect our imperfections and bring us to the foot of the cross of Christ.

REASON 3: Christ Jesus died on the cross so that you may no longer be under the law but so that you may be under grace

Galatians 2:16 NKJV – knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Galatians 3:24-25 NKJV – Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

 

4. GOD Loves You And Has A Redemption Plan For You

John 3:16-17 NKJV – 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.  17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

1 John 4:10 NKJV – In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Despite the fact that we are sinners, God loves us unconditionally. God desires to reconcile with mankind & He is willing for every individual to have fellowship with Him. Our sin does not hinder God’s unconditional love for us & this is why God has a redemption plan for us – JESUS CHRIST.

REASON 4: Christ Jesus died on the cross because God does not want anybody to perish but that everyone should willingly desire to repent and follow Christ

2 Peter 3:9 NKJV – The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

 

5. Jesus Christ Paid the Debt We Cannot Pay

Isaiah 53:5 NKJV – But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.

Mark 10:45 NKJV – For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Since the penalty for sin is too high for sinful man to pay – God Himself decided to pay for our sins through Christ.

Jesus who is without sin paid for our debt which we cannot pay through the blood He shed for us on the cross.

REASON 5: Christ Jesus died on the cross to pay the debt we could not pay. He paid the penalty for our sin by His blood.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV – For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

 

6. Jesus is the Only Way We Can Reconcile with God

John 14:6 NKJV – Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 NKJV – For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time,

There is only ONE way to God – Jesus Christ. Our personal merit & works are not enough; Our church will never take us to Heaven; Our pastor will never take us to Heaven; Our religion will never take us to Heaven. Only Jesus Christ will reconcile us with God & only Jesus Christ will give us eternal life and eternal fellowship with God.

REASON 6: Christ Jesus died on the cross because there could be no other Saviour who could save us. Not even angels can save us from sin. It had to be Jesus the Son of God.

 

 

You Can Repent & Receive Jesus Christ Today

John 1:12 NKJV – But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name

Acts 3:19 NKJV – Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord

Why not make your eternal decision now and pray the following prayer?

Pray this prayer to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour right now:

NB: You receive Christ by FAITH. This prayer is only an expression of your trust & faith in christ to be your lord & saviour

 

“Lord Jesus, I thank You for Your love. I thank You that You died on the cross for me and resurrected so that I may have life through You.
I confess Lord that I have sinned against You and today I ask You to forgive me of all of my sins, past present and future.
I repent of all of my sins and I ask You to cleanse me Jesus.
Thank You for forgiving my sins.
From this moment, come into my life Lord Jesus & take full control of my life. I want to follow You Jesus and I want to follow your ways. Make me the person You want me to be.
I receive You right now. I make You my Lord and Saviour
Amen”

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