To Christians: About the begotten Son of God?

Question

Christians believe Jesus as son of God. And Jesus, as a son of God, died for mankind's sins. I have two questions:

1. God sacrificed His only son to atone for the sins of mankind, and that this son was a god. If it was true that he was a god who was beaten, insulted and crucified, and died, then this doctrine contains elements of blasphemy because it accuses God of weakness and helplessness. Is God really incapable of forgiving the sins of all His servants with just one word? If He is Able to do all things (and the Christians do not dispute this fact), then why would He need to sacrifice His son in order to achieve the same thing?

2. Why do Christians venerate the cross on which Jesus was tortured and crucified in great pain – as they claim? They take it as a sacred object of blessing and healing, instead of scorning it and hating it as a symbol of oppression and the worst possible way for the son of God to die?

I'm pretty sure I won't get any convincing answer. Anyway....

Thanks for the answers you all gave. About half of them are really descriptive about the matter. But, the problem is, the answers which stand out among others have contradictions in them. May be for different people, different minds.

Answer 1

HEre is the only answer that makes sense. Please, please do not try to inject sanity or logic into this quagmire...you will confuse many, irritate most, and scare some. At the very least, there will be traffic jams of people trying to get to their ministers for answers here...when at a loss, these people run to the minister who has all the answers. IF you expect an answer here, forget it. This is far above the bar. Good luck

Answer 2

1. It's not that God couldn't do it another way, He chose not to. The idea of Jesus dying on the cross is much more symbolic than anything else. It's a symbol saying that our sins are so bad that we should die. It goes back to the Jewish customs of sacrificing an animal for our sins. Basically that idea is that our sins are bad and need to be made up with blood. They are made up for with the blood of an animal, however, since an animal is merely an animal, it's a never ending process. With Jesus it's the same idea except that rather than having to continually sacrifice an animal it's a one time sacrifice because He is the son of God. Like I said, He could have done it a different way but He chose not to. The idea of making a sacrifice implies that we need to make a decision to be forgiven. If we were just automatically forgiven there would be no choice.

2. I don't really have much of an answer to the cross question. I don't wear a cross around my neck or anything like that because in my mind it's just a symbol and really means nothing. However, I think the idea of it is that since He died on the cross, the cross is a reminder of the horrific things He went through for us.

Anyways, I hope that those are convincing enough for you. The thing about it is that when it comes down to it, you either believe it or you don't. We can give as many answers as you want and believe them to be convincing enough, but when it comes down to it, you either accept it or not. In my opinion my answers are pretty good, but whether you accept them or not is up to you. Anyways, I hope those answers at least gave you something.

Answer 3

1. God sacrificed His only son to atone for the sins of mankind.

Jesus was not "A" god. He was the physical manifestation of "THE" God. Remember, God is omnipresent: everywhere at once. God had established the law (the commandments) for the people. The rules were very clear and easy to understand. Basically, all he demanded was that we love Him, and love his other creations. He established a very simple and clear consequence.

The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was an act of Love. He could have done it any way He wanted, but He chose to demonstrate sacrificial love for those He loved.

And even the bible says that Jesus' death was a voluntary sacrifice; that he could have called down 10,000 angels to rescue him. He had the authority to do so. But he didn't. I wouldn't exaclty call that weakness and helplessness.

Bottom line, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was self-sacrifice, and that is not weakness. Nor is the act of being physically on earth and simultaneously on the throne in Heaven. None of these facts suggest weakness.

2. Christians venerate the cross because it represents the agonizingly painful punishment we'll never have to face. It represents the key to the shackles of our damnation. Despite what we deserve, what happened on that cross saves us.

Answer 4

1. Jesus was never helpless. It was a willing sacrafice. He told Pilate that the only reason Pilate was able to carry out the crucifixion was because the power was given to him from God. It was the plan from the beginning. Jesus came to the earth just for the purpose of teaching God's true way AND to be sacraficed.

The lesson on why Jesus had to die through crucifixion, and how that correlates to forgiveness is way too long for the scope of this forum. The quick reason is because blood has to atone for sin. Since a perfect, sinless sacrafice was the only thing powerful enough to atone for man's sins, Jesus was the only qualified individual for the task.
Now, believing on His ministry is the only way you can partake of that atonement.
God could just forgive us, but that is not just. There had to be something that would warrant forgiveness. Believing in Christ and what He did, and being sorry for our sins is the payment that God asks for in return for forgiveness. There is much more to it, but that is the quick answer. You can contact me if you want to know more.

2. It is a reminder of the sacrafice of Christ. It keeps us in rememberence of the act. Every time I see that cross, it reminds me of how much God loves me. Since we are flawed creatures, we need that jarring sometimes.
It is not meant to be an object of worship although some people take it as such.
If Christ didn't die on that cross, I would be lost. So, it is the symbol of victory and not defeat.

Answer 5

What you over look is that, the basic bedrock of Christian belief is that Christ rose from the Dead, over coming death, and the profound support that He left for all to use in their renewal of their faith, on a daily biases, His body and Blood in the Holy Communion, not represents but IS!

As to often done, you try to resolve issues with human intelligence and reasoning, yet you use the eye, but can not explain how it functions, the living cell structure and how it all came to be, that is should develop from a male sperm and the female ovum.

God let man do his will, do his evilest, and thru His example showed the way to do things that even today we fail to grasp while we kill each other, hurt and slander with racial indignities.

Like so many others, you totally missed the lesson.

The only thing humans understand as the absolute is death, so God did that just to prove that man has no power over Christ and that Christ is both GOD and has a human nature.

The cross symbolizes that to the world. By letting you do your worst and his not fighting He showed the world how to resolve issues! You cannot be oppressed and at the same time ask for fogginess for the one doing things to you! Where is/who as the real strength?

You have the wrong idea if you think that any one cares one iota about what you think or wanting to convince you. All you get here are varying answers to your question, each according to his/her understanding, if they have that!

When you walk on water, raise the dead, come back from the dead and have hundreds of millions read your life story read, come back and ask your question.

Answer 6

Jesus is the proof that faith is love in action. God does NOT provide any "easy out". Love is not always easy, so God sent a son to die to demonstrate wonderful love for us. Just as Jesus died a sacrificial death, so am I as a Christian called to offer myself as a living sacrifice to God.

The cross was really painful for Jesus, though was the best possible way for God to show love. If our sin did not require a sacrifice, then the cross would mean less. Since excruciating pain occurred on the cross, so redeeming love now is poured out through the sacrifice. The deep love of God will go that far to bring us to heaven. God's love is unconditional, which is why we were allowed to cause Jesus' suffering. Jesus was sent here to show us perfect love, which God gave at the highest price.

Answer 7

Ok first of all Forgiveness of sins requires a blood sacrifice like in the old testament where ppl would sacrifice animals for forgiveness. God sent his son to be that sacrifice and Jesus willingly gave his life...that doesn't show weakness it shows strength to endure the pain and ridicule that ppl put him through. It says in first corinthians 13:7 that love endures all things. And Jesus is the perfect example of true love.

As for the second question we feel that the cross does represent healing and blessing because that is what Jesus died for. He died for the remission of sins and for the healing of the body. We respect him for that and we look to the cross as a reminder at what our Lord and Savior did for us

Answer 8

>> why didHe need to sacrifice His son in order to achieve the same thing?<<

God can do anything yes, but sin cannot exist in Holiness, WE can't live in God's presence, He did this for US not for Himself. In God taking on the form of a man and suffering as a human, we can know that God really does know how we feel. Without this we could reasonably say "Im in pan, how could God know what it feels like if He has never felt it" and such things like that. We can also know in this that He loved us enough to prove it but doing such a thing. He very well may have been able to do it a different way, but He did choose this way and this is a pretty extraordinary way to show love.

Catholics mainly are the ones who hold crosses as sacred and an object of healing and blessing. Protestant Christians dont hold objects in such a way but we do use it in memory of what Christ did for us.

On your last comment, I can see you dont WANT a convincing answer so Im sure none of these will matter to you. But.... this is the reason. No one can convince you but yourself.

Answer 9

Jesus wasn't killed. He gave His life. He accepted the nails for me and all of those who believe on His name.

He chose the plan of salvation. He designed it with purpose in mind. If you read and study your Bible that purpose will become clearer to you. His purpose was to bridge the gap between sinful man and a Holy God. I would not be so arrogant as to suggest how God may have better achieved this.

The cross is sacred to us because it is a reminder of what He did for us, what we have been spared from. Don't misunderstand. When I think of what He went through, it is a very emotional thing. I can't be angry for those who put Him on the cross for very good reason. A. They couldn't have done it without his will (He chose to accept it) B. My sins were part of the reason He went to the cross. As far as an object of healing and blessing- I don't have any idea about that. That may be catholic.

There is a very good book that may help you reason through some of this. It's called "Don't Check Your Brain at the Door".

Answer 10

The greatest love is to lay one's life down for another and that is what Jesus ALLOWED to have happen to Him. It was prophesied through Isaiah years before it happened. He could have chosen not to, but being full of God's Spirit, He found the strength to carry out the prophesy. God is not a God who keeps His children guessing. God's plan really is laid out before our eyes if we just open our spiritual eyes we can see it. If those who put Jesus on that cross would have only believed the words of God's prophets, they would have recognized what was taking place and would not have had to ask why He wasn't saving Himself (as you are asking). The theif on His left at the cross knew what Jesus' death meant for him.
The perfect sacrifice was made to allow a way for us to have our sins covered (or not seen by God, Who can not look upon sin) when we accept that sacrifice and the ressurection of Jesus, who is now seated at God's right hand to interceed for us, who accepted His sacrifice. It is the blood that was shed on the cross that makes atonement for our sins and not 'just one word' as you have said.
It's not the cross so much that has a significence ,as
crusifiction was a form of execution for many back then, but it does point to the place where Jesus made that sacrifice for us all. If some one is saying that the cross has powers to heal and bless they are misinformed Christians, as the power is in the blood that Jesus shed.
Love only works when it is given and that's why God gives us the right to choose His sacrifice through Jesus or not to. If you chose someone to be with you but all they wanted was to not be with you, would you enjoy that situation?

Answer 11

old testament....must have sacrifice for atonement of sin....this was Gods word
new testament .....Jesus was sacrifice for our sins......God cannot go against His nature, he requires a sacrifice without blemish and that was Christ
Jesus was both God and man..he cannot be not-god but he also had to become man to be atonement for our sins....its a faith thing I guess because there is no proof that he was either God or man..
the cross being sacred....only to some,not all christians... just like some christians show more reverence to Mary than others, that is just a preference to display the cross on which Christ died for them...
convincing ... probably not but it is what I believe