Christians, how does this 'Lamb of God' doctrine work?

Question

My understanding is that Christians believe that "Christ died for your sins" and that "God gave his only begotten son (John 3:16)" etc.

Yet it is also believed that Jesus the Christ is resurrected and alive in the flesh.

So where's the sacrifice? 'Give' is forever. If you give a thing up, that's sacrifice. If you get it back, that's no sacrifice. God got his 'Son' back, so he never 'gave' anything.

And don't give me the 'He suffered and died' bit. Lots of people suffer and die, and for good causes, too, and none of them has come back alive in the body, so their sacrifice is real.

Answer 1

Excellent question, I have asked the same but all I got was nonsense. If Jesus was rotting in hell for taking upon himself the sins of the whole world, then I see a great sacrifice. As it is, he is in heaven with angels serving him cocktails. Indeed where exactly is this great sacrifice the Christians talk about?

Answer 2

First of all, Kudos on the question because it's so original. At least I've never heard it phrased that way. Perhaps the mandated definition of "sacrifice" is what threw me. You indicate there can't be sacrifice if the person is still alive. Semantically, that "sounds" right. Let's think about it though. By coming back to life, Jesus defeated DEATH, so that allows others to live eternally. If he didn't conquer death and stayed dead, then I think THAT would not be a sacrifice because others wouldn't have gained anything, much less eternal life. By simply dying--well, that's sad, but as you say, lots of people die and "none of them has come back." So their death didn't accomplish something for everyone else. My second point is that the "sacrifice" refers to much more than the death of Jesus. His sacrifice was deciding to become a human in the first place. I think if you left your beautiful home to become an ant because you knew that would be the best way to communicate with ants, and you loved them enough to do so, then, that, in itself, would be a monumental sacrifice. Sacrifice can mean OFFERING also. So if someone hurt you and deserved jail time, but you felt so compassionate that you told the judge, "I'll serve their time, even though I was the one hurt," then that would be a real sacrifice, no matter what events transpired after that. So, Christ offered himself up to take the penalty of sin (death) so that we could be set free. Perhaps I'm not explaining this subject as clearly as I should. You do make an insightful point.

Answer 3

It's an interesting theological issue and a great question.

Back in the early days of christianity, this was one of the most contentious issues in christendom. The whole council of Nicea, the first and most important catholic/christian council where the Nicene creed was cemented into orthodoxy (the absolutely essential -"i believe in the father, son and holy spirit, 3 God's in one trinity thing was actually a defense against what was called the Arian Heresy. This 'heresy' was widely believed by a major proportion of early gentile-christian populations and the belief as coined in the name of arius before 300ad.

The gist of the Arian heresy was that God and the Son were separate entities, this made the sacrifice very real, Because Jesus in this context wasn't God, but more of the graeco-roman religionesque demigod status, he was man from God with some godlike power rather than God Himself and thus when he died and suffered as God's Son the sacrifice was very real, Jesus was truly forsaken and had a separate relationship with God.

Whilst Arius and all the major proponents of the heresy were eventually cleansed over the next two hundred years (baked alive in their own houses for the most part!). Catholicism and subsequently Christianity absorbed the Arian doctrine of the importance of the suffering of christ and death as supreme sacrifice.. although the sacrifice itself in modern christianity has become obscured by the trinitarian belief system. It is harder to understand the sacrifice is real God and Jesus are one and the same entity, therefore Jesus knew God was going to raise him from the dead. And that him dying on the cross is as far as dying horribly goes is about a 7 rather then a 10 on the scale of human experience.

But this is religion and most people don't worry too much about the theological nitty gritty, like you and me. Or i would like to think they would share my bemusement at it all.

Way/.

Answer 4

Jesus was a sacrifice because He paid the price by suffering God's judgments for all of mankind's sins on the cross to redeem mankind from their sins. By this sacrifice God justly cannot punish those who Jesus has redeemed but gave them the gift of His righteousness in Christ. God created man with the intention that man lives eternally and for this Jesus must conquer death on the cross by resurrection from the dead to show the way that man can live eternally. As Jesus has conquered death the correct postion in Scripture is that a Christian does not die but fall asleep in Jesus. So Jesus' work on the cross is to save us from our sins, from dying without hope, to give us abundant life on earth and eternal life. The sacrifice is the suffering, the punishment and the separation from His Father that Jesus endured for the sins of the whole world. Jesus cannot die because death has no hold over Him. He can lay down His life and take it up again.

Answer 5

Christ took our place on the cross. He was the lamb led to the slaughter.
When we suffer and die, we deserve our death. It is the result of our actions.
When He died it was not for His sins(because He had none), but for our sins.
Because God is a just and holy God, He required payment for the sins committed. Sacrificing Himself on the cross in the form of Jesus Christ was His answer.
It was His way to allow us into His presence and to have a relationship with us.
The reason everyone else has stayed dead is because they have all sinned, Jesus was the only perfect man to die and the grave could not hold Him.

Answer 6

It is difficult enough for the average person to comprehend the nature of Yahweh without accepting an insertion by a person (or persons) of little credit.
The Trinity states that God is one being who exists, simultaneously and eternally, as a mutual indwelling of three persons: the Father, the Son (incarnate as Jesus of Nazareth), and the Holy Spirit.

1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)

Answer 7

Lamb of God refers to Jesus Christ. Jesus died on the cross to save sinned of sinners on earth as man but was brought back to heaven when he resurrected from the dead as God, the Son of God. Jesus as God still watching you and forever to watch you while in heav en with God the father.

The sacrifice is the giving of his life as human to be nailed on the c ross and caused his death as written by the prophets.

You are very wrong on your logic. You failed to pass with zero average.If I were your teacher, I will not let you pass the subject on Philosophy and Logic.
jtm
jtm

Answer 8

i understand your frustration at the poor explanation .... god isnt a person its *love*
so god incarnated in the man jesus to experience lack of love ... the bible (new testament) was written 300 years after jesus died (the man) the bible knowledge was taken from only 4 of the gospels ... so lots are missing ... look up dead sea scrolls etc ..... the gnostoics were a secyt that looked at all the teachings but were barred from contributing

Answer 9

Make yourself a character in the play and study your part. You will understand better when you have children, I suppose. You cannot know this mystery yet. 404 Access denied.

Answer 10

His resurrection is how we know that his sacrifice worked.