But in accomplishing this second goal, Jesus was going to suffer and die. But before he died, he was going to have every single one of your sins and every single one of my sins placed upon his soul. With those sins in place, he then allowed himself to be horribly tortured and murdered.
Giving up his existence as The Son of God, stepping out of heaven, taking the human form of Jesus Christ, and going through a horrible and painful death, was his main goal for coming here. For had God in the form of Jesus not paid your sin debt and my sin debt, then nothing else that Jesus did would have mattered very much because none of us would have ever had the chance of achieving eternal life and be able to spend eternity with him and his Father.
2 Corinthians 5:21 "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God".
Truly, it was Christ's obedience that canceled out Adam's disobedience.
Having our sins placed upon Jesus didn't make him sinful. He was still God and therefore was completely sinless. At the time of his crucifixion Jesus simply "carried" our sins; a sort of temporary stand in for our sins. There was a transfer of sins; from all of us, to him. This is why the wording of
2 Corinthians 5:21 is so very important. That verse says, "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Christ was sinless, but willingly accepted every single sin, from every single person, that was or would ever be committed.
This transfer of sins was unseen by everyone but God because as he watched his Son hanging there dying, he could also see all those many sins piling up on his Son. It makes no difference that you would not be born for another 2,000 years. The sins of every human being that ever lived, or was going to live, had their sins all transferred over to Jesus. Not one single sin, regardless of how small, was left unaccounted for.
Why did it take his blood?
Had Christ expired via suffocation or heart attack, his death would have been in vain as far as salvation is concerned. It had to be death by the shedding of blood, for it is the blood that makes an atonement for the soul (Leviticus 17:11). That's why the Church was purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28), why we are able to have redemption and the forgiveness of sins through his blood (Ephesians 1:7), and why the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Small wonder that 1 Peter 1:19 calls Christ's blood precious...as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
The born again believer will sin again, in fact he will more than likely sin many times in the future, but he will not persist in an ungodly and sinful lifestyle. So what about those times when he does sin? All he has to do is confess that sin to God, repent by making an honest and sincere effort not to commit that sin again, and the blood of Christ washes away that sin.
But Israel generally chose not to bring peace and comfort to others, but became as selfish a nation as any other. However, God was preparing to send someone who would be able to fulfill his law (Isaiah 49:5-6), and who would bring true healing (Matthew 8:17). This was Jesus Christ, whose death on the cross paid the debt owed by every person for sin (Colossians 2:14), thus restoring people's relationships with God and allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in each new believer.
Rather than doing nothing about suffering, throughout history God has been preparing the way for true comfort and healing to occur. Through the empowering of the Holy Spirit, each Christian can have a powerful impact on suffering in the world. This is what God wants, but he still allows each individual to decide whether or not to pursue him and bring comfort to others. Some may feel that he should have given up by now and taken over control again, but he claims he is being patient so that more can decide to have eternal comfort with him (2 Peter 3:9). By 'holy conduct and godliness' Christians can even hasten the arrival of the day in which God will restore justice and end all suffering (2 Peter 3:10-11). This is a powerful acknowledgement of the significant role God offers to every Christian. God offers help and guidance to anyone willing to bring comfort to others, but the responsibility lies with each person to choose to do so, or to choose to increase suffering in the world, either actively or passively, through neglect or apathy.
By: MICHAEL OCHIENG
Category: Timeline & Words - Final Hours of Execution