Why Did Jesus Die?

Did you ever wonder why death happens?

We stand horrified when an athlete or celebrity in the prime of life, drops dead for no apparent reason. Feverishly, we wait for the cause of death. Why, what is our motive? Isn’t it to avoid their demise? TV Medical dramas are so popular because we all want to believe, if an unknown disease or trauma happens, someone can and will fix us.

Did you realize death is the only thing completely beyond our control? Oh, we can cause death and we can seemingly delay it, but we cannot stop it. Even with all the health foods, exercise, and precautions, nothing stops physical death.

But, why does death happen?

For those of us who believe in God, we find the answer in His Word, the Holy Bible.

God set death as the penalty for Adam’s disobedience. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden, he directly disobeyed God’s one and only command. As a result, sin entered the human race. Therefore, we all sin, falling short of God’s glory, and as in Adam, we all die.

But is this the end or is there something beyond physical death?

We've heard of near-death experiences. Some talk about a feeling of love and a bright light, others have a frightening encounter. Why is this so? Obviously, physical death is only the end of our human bodies, this house or tent that shelters our soul and spirit, the real person.

So, what happens or where do we go upon physical death?

Again, the Bible has the answer. In the book of Hebrews, God tells us it is appointed for man to die once, but after death comes judgment. Scripture also tells of two abodes for our spirit, heaven or hell.

Because of sin, each person born is destined for hell upon physical death. But since sin and death came to all men because of Adam’s disobedience, God’s great love caused Him to set in place a way for mankind to escape hell. A sinless human could pay the death penalty for all humanity.

Do you see a problem with this plan?

Since all humans are born with a sin nature, finding a sinless one is impossible.

However, with God, nothing is impossible, so He prepared for Himself a human body. God, the Father, sent sinless Jesus, God the Son into our world, born of a woman, to pay the death penalty.

On this day called Good Friday, almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus died on a cross and shed His blood as a once-for-all sin offering.

By dying, Jesus paid our sin penalty, something we could not do for ourselves. This is why Jesus had to die.

However, the Blood of Jesus is not automatically applied to our sin account. We must make a choice.

If we surrender, choosing to believe and receive His death as full payment for our sin, when we die, we will spend eternity with Jesus in heaven. But if we reject Him, hell is waiting.

The choice is yours!