How does "Jesus dying for our sins" make any sense at all?

Question

I mean, god could forgive our sins with a snap of his fingers.

Even if he sends his son down, why does he have to die to save our souls? It is a test run? Does god need a practice try of saving a soul? How does Jesus dying forgive our sins that god could not do before?

And why must we believe it to go to heaven?
Wouldn't god be more direct, and not associate our salvation with such loose and corrupt institutions and the church and the bible?

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Answer 1

Well you have to take into consideration the ancient Hebrew tradition of blood atonement for sins which basically says, Yahweh demands blood, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Among the Essenes which Jesus has been linked to, Christos which means the anointed one meant a priest who was designated as the sin bearer or the redeemer who atoned for others sins through the process of a ritual sacrifice. The ritual sacrifice of Savior or Sacrificial Kings had a long tradition in eastern religions and the various sects of Judaism were one of the last cultures to practice the tradition of human immolation and various sacrificial rites. The Romans viewed the practice as barbaric and it was outlawed after they took over the Hebrew lands. The mythical Jesus was certainly not the first Christos or Christ, but may have been one of the last of these Sacrificial Kings to willingly be sacrificed to atone for the sins of the people.

Answer 2

This is a good question and to many the answer is obscure. Without Jesus presence on earth, you and I would be happy believing that everything was “life as usual,” and we would never figure out why we keep living and dying. We would be content believing that the subtlety of the serpent was God’s work. Not one person would repent of sin, had Jesus not been faithful to God and proved beyond doubt not only that Christ is the way, but God's true nature and power. Going one step further, and we would see that without Jesus, mankind would not have been aware of what exactly sin was or its effects on human minds and bodies. So in order for us, as humans, to part with our ugliness, Jesus had go to the cross and die, so that sin would be rejected by man through spiritual understanding, rather than forever being loved by the old man. It is not His death that destroys our sin, put it gives us the power to do our work on earth, namely, repent and turn from sinful thought and action of all kinds, and without this work completed, the door to heaven never appears. The old man can’t enter in.

Answer 3

Because He gave us free-will, not a free-ride.

When God created the earth, and Adam and Eve there was no sin on earth. When Adam and Eve sinned by eating the forbidden fruit, they were no longer sinless and could no longer be with God. God gave His son out of love for the people that He created. He wanted to give us the opportunity to be with Him for eternity. By accepting the gift of salvation that is provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are making a definitive choice to follow God. If we don't make that choice, then our Godly punishment for our sins has not been met. If we choose to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then Jesus has taken our punishment for our sins.

We need to not follow pastors and churches (denominations), but follow God. Pastors and Churches can assist us in that goal, but because pastors, ministers, priests, etc are human, they are fallable and capable of making mistakes. Our salvation and eternity is through Jesus -- not man (or woman).

Yes, God could forgive us with "a snap of his fingers" but He is a fair and righteous Father. He gave us a choice - we can live the way we want on earth and spend eternity in Hell, or we can live the way He wants us to on earth, and be rewarded for eternity in Heaven.

Answer 4

Jesus actually paid a ransome for our lives. He bought back what Adam, by his disobedience lost for mankind...everlasting life on a paradise earth (earthwide Garden of Eden). God's purpose for the was to have it filled with people who loved him and those people were to take care of the planet and all God's other creatures that inhabit it. Adam and his offspring would never have died had he not sinned. Jesus lived a perfect life, free from both inherited sin and individual sin. Therefore, when he gave up his perfect life, it made up for Adams sinful life, and bought back for us the chance to have life everlasting.

Romans 5:11 & 12: Therefore I ask, Did they stumble so that they fell completely? Never may that happen! But by their false step there is salvation to people of the nations, to incite them to jealousy. 12 Now if their false step means riches to the world, and their decrease means riches to people of the nations, how much more will the full number of them mean it!

Your last question...why must we believe it to go to heaven, is based on a wrong assumption.

John 3:16 says:"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life."

Believing is better translated, exercising faith, to believe the way this verse is speaking of takes something from us, actions which show our belief. Just like it says at James 2:26..."faith without works is dead"...Satan believes it, but we are assured in the Bible that his life will end. He will be destroyed...Also if you will note that Jesus said will not perish (be destroyed), but have everlasting life. It does not say go to heaven. The Bible teaches that the earth will be home to most of obedient mankind ...

Psalms 37: 9-11, 29, 37-40: For evildoers themselves will be cut off,
But those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.
10 And just a little while longer, and the wicked one will be no more;
And you will certainly give attention to his place, and he will not be.
11 But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth,
And they will indeed find their exquisite delight in the abundance of peace.
29 The righteous themselves will possess the earth,
And they will reside forever upon it.
37 Watch the blameless one and keep the upright one in sight,
For the future of [that] man will be peaceful.
38 But the transgressors themselves will certainly be annihilated together;
The future of wicked people will indeed be cut off.
39 And the salvation of the righteous ones is from Jehovah;
He is their fortress in the time of distress.
40 And Jehovah will help them and provide them with escape.
He will provide them with escape from wicked people and save them,
Because they have taken refuge in him"

Matthew 5:5: “Happy are the mild-tempered ones, since they will inherit the earth"

There are a few who will go to heaven, but they have a specific role that they will fulfill there, purpose if you will. That is to rule with Jesus, from heaven, over the earth (human, earthly subjects) for a thousand years. There is a specified number of them...144,000. The rest of us have the hope of everlasting life on earth. That is God's purpose for creating humans. It was in Adams day and it is the same in our day. However, Jesus had to give up his perfect human life in order to reconcile us to God. Of course God could have done things differently, but he follows his own just laws and he does everything for the benefit of all his creation, those on earth as well as those in heaven. Now we have seen that man doesn't do a very good job of ruling over man, so we look to God's heavenly Kingdom to take over soon and right all the wrongs that mankind has done along with Satans help and influence!

Answer 5

Yeah God could forgive us with less than a snap of His fingers but The whole thing is that God wants for us to be able to choose he wants us to ask for forgiveness. If he gave it to us automatically than what would be the point in believing in Him and His Son?!

Answer 6

"I mean, god could forgive our sins with a snap of his fingers." How do you know that that is true? God cannot do anthing wrong, what if snapping His fingers and forgiving people's sins was wrong? What if the only right thing to do was to exact justice on people for their sins (justice = giving people what they deserve - that is, you sin - you are punished)? But, what if there was a way to get around justice, let's call it mercy (mercy = not giving people what they deserve for their sins - you sin, but you can repent and be forgiven so that you are not punished for your sins). But what if they only way to bring mercy into existence is by means of God sending His son to take upon him our sins and die and be resurrected.

Answer 7

I guess you would have to be a believing christian to understand this type of blind faith.

Jesus, in my opinion, was sent here for us as proof God existed. Human beings are visual and need tangibility. God chose the form of a human son to live on earth and perform miracles so we could relate to him as tangible and see and believe. Dying for us was the sacrifice to prove God loved us to much he was willing to give his only son. Again, this may not make sense if you have not given into blind faith in Christianity.

Answer 8

He died to save us from our sins because he loves us and so we can be saved by grace. And God And Jesus are One in unison if you read Matthew Chapter 9 verse 18-26 you'll will see how a ruler came to Jesus to heal his daughter and as they were walking a woman came and touched Jesus garment(the hem of his garment) and within that hour she was made whole. Look at the part where it says Jesus turned around and called her his daughter, why would Jesus call her his daughter? aren't we all Gods children so that goes to show you that they are one.

Answer 9

God is a righteous God. When a law is broken, a penalty has to be paid. The penalty for breaking God's law is death. He can't overlook the penalty. However, He came to earth as Jesus to pay that penalty.

Imagine a judge in a courtroom with a child molestor. Let's say the child molestor was sorry, was active in the church and community. Could the judge "snap his fingers" and let him go? Just forgive him? No. There was a crime and a penalty should be paid. If the judge let him go, we'd see that judge as corrupt.

It's like we got a speeding ticket and Jesus came down and paid it. Intense kind of love, isn't it? To die so you could live!!!

Answer 10

Good instruction needs good example to be effective. Jesus told people to value love and to love others as ourselves. Then he showed us what love is by his self-sacrificing life and his acceptance of death on the cross, his fate decided by humans.

Jesus' death was the culmination of God's teaching to humans. It began with his old covenant with the Jews, and ended when he came down himself and showed humanity what he really meant, when humanity had grown up enough to comprehend it and preserve a record of it.

You must not only believe it, but you must have faith - that is, your actions must belie your belief. I mean, the devil believes there is a God but he isn't going to heaven. You must have faith much like you must exert effort to graduate from different levels of school. You believe if you don't study you'll fail. And if you don't study, you'll fail.

God is fair and so after telling us and showing us the truth, he allowed the devil to have his say. The devil's MO is obfuscation and deception, and his greatest work has been to associate our salvation with loose and corrupt institutions. As a defence to this, he gave you a critical mind. Have faith in God and faith in yourself, and you'll be fine.