Why God had to send Jesus to die for us?

Some people might sometimes ask why is that God performs His works in a certain way or why is that He had to send Jesus to die for us? Atheists and also believers might ask: “If God is all-powerful and almighty, wouldn’t He find another way of solving things instead of having to send His Son to die for people?” It is normal for us to have questions and I had plenty in my life as a believer. I believe in Jesus, and you have to know that I encounter difficulties sometimes due to circumstances, difficulties, and my logic too. Still, I know that what I believed in one day is real.

Many people don’t find sense in the sacrifice Jesus made and wonder why it had to happen in this exact way. Some discredit Jesus’ sacrifice as a human idea because it doesn’t make sense to them. I don’t think so, and I believe it is God’s idea exactly for the point that it doesn’t make sense to our way of reasoning. A human would think of another solution; he would think of something that makes more sense to the common thought and idea. See, most religions want to show how powerful their gods are. They want to represent power and intimidation by presenting their deity. The Christian religion also talks of the magnificence and the power of God, but who would think of presenting a sacrifice that never made sense to the people living at that time, like Romans, Greeks, and even the Jews themselves? All they thought was that the sacrifice of Jesus represents weakness and nothing more.

²⁰ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? ²¹ For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. (1 Corinthians 1:20-25)

By this passage, we see that since that time people didn’t understand the purpose and the power of God’s sacrifice. So, who would choose this kind of idea, if he wanted to promote his religious agenda? I think no one. People today are not attracted to the Bible (I am talking about real believers) because of the ideas it contains, but because of the power they find within its words. Then after that they are keen to accept its ideas. That’s why we need to consider that there is something more to it than just human ideas and philosophies. This sacrifice, considered foolishness by people, is powerful because, through it, we can be saved. It is completely innocent blood that has been poured, and this makes it so powerful. For every wrong someone had done, justice needs to be served. And according to God’s standards, we all have sinned because His standards are high. He examines even our thoughts and feelings. Who can be saved then? Who can be perfect enough? No one. That’s why a sacrifice is needed.

Why is it that God had to involve the devil then, why everything had to be done in this exact way, and why He who is all-powerful and almighty didn’t just wipe away sin or decide to find a solution in another way? I can tell you that God cannot do things anyhow. There is a specific way in which everything needs to be done, as God has His perfect order in doing things. Why is that a simple plant or flower that needs water for its existence, doesn’t just receive the water directly in itself? I mean that if we reason that things can be done in any possible way we can think of, and as God can just create the water out of nothing, then why is this water not supplied directly to the plant, without waiting for the rain to fall and to water the ground? Because by watering the ground, the plant also uses the minerals it contains. There is a purpose in the way things are performed and created and in the way they function. That’s why God knows best how to perform His will and establish perfect justice. It is not how someone thinks it is better, but how it needs to be done. We don’t see afar when it comes to eternal purposes and what is really important. Our sight is limited, and we define what is good and bad according to that. Many if not most of the time our judgments and decisions are based on what would be easier and more comfortable for us. God is different. He best knows what is good.

Many believers state that God can do anything, anyhow, and the way He wants it. Well, this statement is true in some sense, but I don’t fully agree with that. He, in a way, is submitted to His laws and His nature. He cannot break his own laws and ways. He is perfect justice, and this is in His nature. He cannot stand any injustice and sin. That’s why He cannot just forget about sin. He would rather find a way to sort it out, I mean to wipe it away. That’s why the Bible talks of His wrath. We mustn’t imagine God as an old man sitting on his throne and deciding what better suits him or finds appropriate; He is rather an entity and a being and represents everything we see, we move in, and we live in (Acts 17:27, 28). He is like mother nature but much greater than that. He could have left things as they were and just wipe us out because we sinned. Still, He decided to show us compassion. This is for those who believe and humbly ask forgiveness from Him. As He is complete justice, everyone has to pay for his wrong. He cannot prevent justice from happening. The fact that He sent His Son shows it. Someone had to pay. This couldn’t be avoided, and that’s why the Son paid on the cross. He cannot stand sin and injustice. This is in his nature. Exactly like when you are going through a place with a heavy rotten smell, and no matter how hard you fight it, you would still turn your head away and close your nose. The same is true of God with sin. He cannot stand it by nature. He could have just taken away any sinner and person who breaks His laws. His laws are perfect, and He looks at the least detail if they are observed. This is again because of His nature.

Instead of letting us pay immediately, He decided to show us mercy. But how? Someone had to pay because God is perfect and cannot leave anything undone. This is the reason for which He sent His Son. The fact that He sent Jesus shows that He couldn’t just leave things as they are and find another way as a solution because He cannot go against His laws, meaning that if any wrong is done, justice needs to be served. He cannot avoid it, and that’s why He sent His Son. Because He had to pay for us.

By this sacrifice, His justice (that has to do with His nature and cannot be avoided) is satisfied. He could have avoided that and let us pay instead of making this sacrifice, but He chose to help us. This also explains why justice is not served on Earth as it is supposed. It seems that evil people do whatever suits them because now there is this universal mercy poured over all, so they can have a chance to repent. This is because if God unleashes His ultimate justice, many, if not all, will have to pay immediately for what they have done, and He doesn’t want to do that now. He wants rather to give them an opportunity. This in the Bible is called a time of grace (Luke 13:1-9, 2 Peter 3:8, 9). Still, one day there will be a judgment day when everyone will have to pay. The exception will be made for those who have believed in His name. Even believers are told not to take revenge and to turn the other cheek. This is because justice and revenge are not attributed now by God, and He also, in a way, turned the other cheek.

His way and nature have to do with many things happening right now. Things need to go in this way because also the devil has to be judged in a specific manner. God has a way of doing things, which we cannot fully comprehend, but He is doing His best to save us. The enemy wants us to see things differently. He wants us to blame God, but if we could see the whole picture, we would see that there is no real reason for that. This, however, is not easy to see. We need His faith in us to be able to do that. We mustn’t look at God as a person; I mean to compare Him with us. People act and do things according to their likes. God is not a person. The only time He has become one is when He came here to die for us and to start a relationship with us. He placed in people the thought of eternity so that they could look for Him and decided to let Himself be known (Ecclesiastes 3:11). He wants us to establish a relationship with Him and pleads us to be reconciled with Him.

I know there are many discrepancies when looking at various churches, religious leaders, etc., but we need to set our eyes on Him, not on what people do. If I had to look only at circumstances, people, and what happens around me, I wouldn’t be still a believer today. I would be bitter and probably angry with God. I thank Him today that He let me see Himself. I am very logical and don’t blindly believe whatever someone tells me to believe. I had to experience everything people were telling me firsthand. Then I was convinced.