That an active Christian is seriously asking this question is reason enough to get to the bottom of it. It also touches the core of being a Christian. Understanding of the fundamentals of the gospel is not as common as is commonly believed. This is not because they are too obscure and complex for common sense, but because of the thick fog that surrounds the question. Men have invented theological terms that have little to do with Scripture. But if we content ourselves with the simple statements of the Bible, we will see how quickly the light dissipates the fog of theological speculation.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring you to God; he was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.« (1 Peter 3,18:17 L1) The answer is enough. We read on anyway: “What I say is true and credible: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners... And you know that he appeared to take away our sins; and in him is no sin... The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” (1,15 Timothy 1:3,5 NLB; 1,7 John XNUMX:XNUMX; XNUMX:XNUMX)

Let us read further: “For while we were still weak, Christ died for us ungodly. Now hardly anyone dies for the sake of a just man; he may risk his life for the sake of good. But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. How much more shall we now be saved from wrath by him, now that we have been justified by his blood. For if while we were still enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, how much more shall we be saved through his life now that we have been reconciled.« (Romans 5,6:10-17 LXNUMX)

Once more: “Even you, who were once alienated and hostile in wicked works, he has now reconciled in the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and blameless and blameless in his sight... Rather, if anyone to Belonging to Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone; something brand new has started! All of this is God's work. He has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Yes, in Christ God has reconciled the world to himself, so that he will not hold men accountable for their trespasses; and to us he has entrusted the task of proclaiming this gospel of reconciliation.« (Colossians 1,21.22:2; 5,17 Corinthians 19:XNUMX-XNUMX NG)

All people have sinned (Romans 3,23:5,12; 8,7:5,10). But sin is enmity against God. »For human self-will is hostile to the will of God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor can it.« (Romans XNUMX:XNUMX NEW) One of these quoted texts spoke of the fact that people need reconciliation because in the Enemies of heart are by their evil deeds. Since all humans have sinned, all humans are by nature enemies of God. This is confirmed in Romans XNUMX:XNUMX (see above).

But sin means death. »For the carnal mind is death.« (Romans 8,6:17 L5,12) »Sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin.« (Romans 1:15,56 NG) Death came through sin , because she is up to death. "But the sting of death is sin." (1,15 Corinthians XNUMX:XNUMX) Once sin has fully unfolded, it gives birth to death (James XNUMX:XNUMX).

Sin means death because it is enmity against God. God is "the living God." With him is "the fountain of life" (Psalm 36,9:3,15). Now Jesus is called the "author of life" (Acts 17,25.28:XNUMX NLB). Life is the great attribute of God. "It is he who gives us all life and air to breathe, and provides us with all our necessities of life... In him we live, weave, and have our being... for we also are of his seed." (Acts XNUMX, XNUMX NG/Schlachter) God's life is the source of all creation; apart from him there is no life.

But not only life, but also justice is the great attribute of God. "There is no wrong in him...God's way is perfect." (Psalm 92,15:18,31; 17:8,6 L17) Because God's life is the source of all life and everything depends on him, his righteousness is also the standard for all rational beings. God's life is pure righteousness. Life and justice, therefore, cannot be separated. »To be spiritually minded is life.« (Romans XNUMX:XNUMX LXNUMX)

Since God's life is the measure of righteousness, anything that differs from God's life must be injustice; but "every unrighteousness is sin" (1 John 5,17:XNUMX). If a being's life deviates from God's life, it must be because God's life is not allowed to flow freely through that being. Where God's life is absent, however, death comes. Death works in everyone who is not in harmony with God - who sees him as an enemy. It is inevitable for him. So it is not an arbitrary judgment that the wages of sin is death. This is simply the nature of things. Sin is the opposite of God, it is rebellion against him and absolutely alien to his nature. It separates from God, and separation from God means death because without it there is no life. All who hate it love death (Proverbs 8,36:XNUMX).

In summary, the relationship between the natural man and God is as follows:
(1) All have sinned.
(2) Sin is enmity and rebellion against God.
(3) Sin is alienation from God; people become alienated and hostile through evil works (Colossians 1,21:XNUMX).
(4) Sinners are alienated from the life of God (Ephesians 4,18:1). But God in Christ is the only source of life for the universe. Therefore, all who have strayed from his righteous life are automatically doomed to die. »He who has the son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.« (5,12 John XNUMX:XNUMX)

Who needed reconciliation? God, man or both?

Up to this point one thing has become very clear: Jesus only came to earth and died for people to reconcile them with God so that they might have life. "I came that they may have life... God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself... Even you, who were once alienated and enmity in evil works, he has now reconciled in the body of his flesh through the death, to present you holy and blameless and blameless in his sight... [Jesus suffered] for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us unto God... For if we have been reconciled to God through the death of his Son, than we were still enemies, how much more shall we be saved through his life, being reconciled!” (John 10,10:2; 5,19 Corinthians 84:1,21 L22; Colossians 1:3,18-5,10; XNUMX Peter XNUMX:XNUMX; Romans XNUMX:XNUMX )

"But," some say now, "with you, reconciliation happens only with people; I was always taught that Jesus' death reconciled God to man; that Jesus died to satisfy God's righteousness and to appease him.” Well, we have described atonement exactly as the Scriptures put it. It says a lot about the need for man to be reconciled to God, but never alludes to the need for God to be reconciled to man. That would be a serious reproach against God's character. This idea entered the Christian Church through the papacy, which in turn adopted it from paganism. There it was all about placating God's wrath through sacrifice.

What does reconciliation actually mean? Only where there is enmity is reconciliation necessary. Where there is no enmity, reconciliation is superfluous. Man is by nature alienated from God; he is a rebel, full of enmity. Therefore, if he is to be freed from this enmity, he must be reconciled. But God has no enmity in His nature. "God is love." Consequently, he does not need reconciliation either. Yes, it would be utterly impossible, because there is nothing to reconcile with him.

Once again: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3,16:8,32) Whoever claims that Jesus' death is atoning for God with man, has forgotten this wonderful verse. He separates the father from the son, making the father an enemy and the son a friend of man. But God's heart overflowed with love for fallen man that he "did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all" (Romans 17:2 L5,19). In doing so, he gave himself. For »God was in Christ and reconciled the world to himself.« (84 Corinthians 20,28:XNUMX LXNUMX) The Apostle Paul speaks of the »church of God … which he acquired through his own blood!« (Acts XNUMX:XNUMX) This does away once and for all with the idea that God harbored even a shred of enmity toward man that would have required His reconciliation with Him. Jesus' death was the expression of God's wonderful love for sinners.

What else does reconciliation mean? It means that the reconciled changes. When one harbors enmity in one's heart against a person, a radical change is required before reconciliation can take place. And that is exactly what happens in humans. “If anyone belongs to Christ, he is a new creation. The old is gone; something brand new has started! All of this is God's work. He has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.« (2 Corinthians 5,17:18-13,5 NG) To say that God must be reconciled with man is not just to accuse him of enmity , but also to say that God has also done wrong, which is why he must change too, not only man. If it was not innocent ignorance that led people to say that God must be reconciled with man, then it was plain blasphemy. This is among the "great words and blasphemies" spoken against God by the papacy (Revelation XNUMX:XNUMX). We don't want to give that space.

god is If he weren't, he wouldn't be a god. He is absolute and unchanging perfection. He cannot change. Hear him for yourself: 'For I, the LORD, change not; Therefore you, the sons of Jacob, did not perish.« (Malachi 3,6:XNUMX)

Instead of having to change and be reconciled with sinful man in order for him to be saved, the only hope for their salvation is that he never changes but is everlasting love. He is the source of life and the measure of life. If beings do not resemble him, they have caused this aberration themselves. He's not to blame. He is the fixed standard by which everyone conforms if they want to live. God cannot change to satisfy the cravings of sinful man. Such a change would not only debase him and shake his government, but would also be out of character: "He who comes to God must believe that he is" (Hebrews 11,6:XNUMX).

One more thought on the idea that Jesus' death was necessary to satisfy outraged justice: Jesus' death was necessary to satisfy God's love. »But God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.« (Romans 5,8:3,16) »For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.« (John 3,21:26) Justice would have been served if the entire sinful generation had suffered death. But God's love could not allow that. Therefore we are made righteous by His grace without merit through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. By believing in his blood, God's righteousness - that is, his life - is shown to us. Therefore, He is righteous and at the same time justifies the believer in Jesus (Romans XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX)...

Why do we dwell on the fact that man must be reconciled to God, not God to man? Because that alone is the basis of our hope. If God had ever been hostile toward us, the nagging thought could always arise, "Perhaps he is not satisfied enough to accept me yet. Surely he can't love someone as guilty as me.” The more one became aware of one's own guilt, the stronger the doubt. But knowing that God has never been hostile to us, but loves us with an everlasting love, even so much that he gave himself for us that we might be reconciled to him, we can joyfully exclaim, "God is for us who can be against us?" (Romans 8,28:XNUMX)

What is forgiveness? And why is it done only through bloodshed?

Ever since the fall of man, people have been seeking liberation from sin or at least from its consequences. Unfortunately, most have done so in the wrong way. Satan caused the first sin by lying about God's character. Since then, he has been dedicated to getting people to continue believing this lie. He is so successful that the great majority of people see God as a strict, unsympathetic being who observes people with a critical eye and would rather destroy than save them. In short, Satan has largely succeeded in putting himself in the place of God in the minds of men.

Therefore, much of pagan worship has always been devil worship. “The heathen sacrifice what they sacrifice to demons and not to God! But I do not want you to be in the company of demons.« (1 Corinthians 10,20:XNUMX) So the entire pagan cult is based on the idea that sacrifices appease the gods. Sometimes these sacrifices were made in the form of property, but often in the form of a human being. Hence came the great multitudes of monks and hermits among the pagans and later among the professed Christians, who took their ideas about God from the pagans. For they thought that they could gain God's favor by flogging and torturing themselves.

The prophets of Baal cut themselves with knives "until the blood ran down upon them" (1 Kings 18,28:XNUMX) in the hope of making themselves heard by their God. With the same idea, thousands of so-called Christians wore hair robes. They ran barefoot over broken glass, made pilgrimages on their knees, slept on the hard floor or earth and whipped themselves with thorns, starved themselves almost to death and set themselves the most unbelievable tasks. But nobody found peace in this way, because nobody can get out of themselves what they don't have. For righteousness and peace cannot be found in man.

Sometimes the idea of ​​placating God's wrath has taken on lighter forms, that is, easier for believers. Instead of sacrificing themselves, they sacrificed others. Human sacrifices were always more, sometimes less part of the pagan worship. The thought of the human sacrifices of the ancient inhabitants of Mexico and Peru or of the Druids makes us shudder. But supposed (not real) Christianity has its own list of horrors. Even so-called Christian England offered hundreds of human burnt offerings to turn the wrath of God away from the land. Wherever there is religious persecution, however subtle, it springs from the mistaken notion that God requires sacrifice. Jesus pointed this out to his disciples: "The hour is even coming when whoever kills you will think he is doing God a service." (John 16,12:XNUMX) This type of worship is devil worship and not worship of the true God.

However, Hebrews 9,22:XNUMX says: »Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.« This is why many believe that God requires a sacrifice before he can pardon people. It is difficult for us to break away from the papal idea that God is so angry with man because of sin that he can only be appeased by shedding blood. It doesn't matter to him who the blood comes from. The main thing is that someone gets killed! But since Jesus' life was worth more than all human lives put together, he accepted his vicarious sacrifice for them. While that's a pretty brutal way of calling a spade a spade, it's the only way to get straight to the point. The pagan idea of ​​God is brutal. It dishonors God and discourages man. This pagan notion has misrepresented too many Bible verses. Unfortunately, even great men who truly loved the Lord gave occasion to their enemies to blaspheme God.

"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." (Hebrews 9,22:3,25) What does forgiveness mean? The word afesis (αφεσις) used here in Greek comes from the verb to send away, to let go. What should be sent away? Our sins, for we read: "By believing in his blood he proved his righteousness, putting away the sins that were done before by his forbearance" (Romans XNUMX:XNUMX paraphrasing according to King James). So we learn that without the shedding of blood there are no sins can be sent away.

What blood takes away sins? Only Jesus' Blood »For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we should be saved! … And you know that he appeared to take away our sins; and in him is no sin... You know that you were delivered from the meaningless life, not with perishable things like silver or gold, as you inherited it from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of a pure and spotless sacrificial lamb, the Blood of Christ... But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin” (Acts 4,12:1; 3,5 John 1, 1,18.19; 1 Peter 1,7:XNUMX NE; XNUMX John XNUMX:XNUMX)

But how is it that bloodshed, and the blood of Jesus at that, can take away sins? Simply because blood is life. “For in the blood is life, and I myself commanded that it should be offered on the altar to make atonement for your souls. Therefore you will be reconciled to me, the LORD, through blood.« (Leviticus 3:17,11 NIV/slaughterer) So when we read that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, we know what that means: Namely that sins only can be taken away by Jesus' life. There is no sin in him. When he gives his life to a soul, that soul is immediately cleansed of sin.

Jesus is God. "The Word was God," "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1,1.14:2). "God was in Christ and reconciled the world to himself." (5,19 Corinthians 84:20,28 L20,28) God gave himself to man in Christ. For we have read of the "church of God...which he hath bought by his own blood!" (Acts XNUMX:XNUMX) The Son of Man, in whom was God's life, came to minister "and to give his life a ransom for many." (Matthew XNUMX:XNUMX)

So the state of affairs is this: all have sinned. Sin is enmity against God because it alienates man from God's life. Therefore sin means death. So man was in dire need of life. To give that, Jesus came. In him was life that sin could not touch, life that triumphed over death. His life is the light of the people. A single light source can ignite tens of thousands of other lights without shrinking. No matter how much sunlight one person receives, all other people receive no less; even if there were a hundred times as many people on earth, they would all have just as much sunlight at their disposal. So it is with the Sun of Righteousness. He can give his life to everyone and still have as much life.

Jesus came to bring God's life to man. Because that's exactly what they lacked. The lives of all the angels in heaven could not have met the demand. Not because God is merciless, but because they couldn't pass it on to humans. They had no life of their own, only the life that Jesus gave them. But God was in Christ and so God's eternal life in Him could be given to anyone who wanted it. In giving His Son, God was giving Himself. So a sacrifice was not necessary to appease God's outraged feelings. On the contrary, God's unspeakable love caused him to sacrifice himself to break man's enmity and reconcile man to himself.

"But why couldn't he give us his life without dying?" Then one might also ask, "why couldn't he give us his life without giving it to us?" We needed life, and only Jesus had life. But to give life is to die. His death reconciled us to God when we make it our own by faith. We are reconciled to God through Jesus' death, because by dying he gave his life and gave it to us. As we share in God's life through faith in Jesus' death, we have peace with him because the same life flows in both of us. Then we are "saved through his life" (Romans 5,10:XNUMX). Jesus died and yet he lives and his life in us preserves our unity with God. When we receive his life free us this from sin. If we continue to keep His life within us, keeps us this before sin.

»In him was life, and the life was the light of men.« (John 1,4:8,12) Jesus said: »I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.« (John 1:1,7) Now we can understand it: »But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin.« (2 John 9,15:XNUMX) His light is his life; to walk in its light is to live one's life; if we live like this, then his life flows through us as a living stream, cleansing us from all sin. "But thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift." (XNUMX Corinthians XNUMX:XNUMX)

'What shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare even his own son, but gave him up for us all, how should he not also give us everything with him?” (Romans 8,31.32:XNUMX) So the weak and fearful sinner may take heart and trust in the Lord . We do not have a God who demands a sacrifice from man, but one who in his love offered himself as a sacrifice. We owe God a life in perfect harmony with His law; but because our life is just the opposite, God in Jesus replaces our life with His own life, so that we "offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ" (1 Peter 2,5:130,7.8). Therefore, "Israel, hope to the LORD! For with the LORD is grace, and with him is redemption to the full. Yes, he will redeem Israel from all their sins.« (Psalm XNUMX:XNUMX-XNUMX)

Originally published under the title: »Why Did Christ Die?« in: The Present Truth, 21. September 1893