Christians, why was the 'sacrifice' needed?

Question

Seriously. God could have snapped his fingers. Or blinked. Or done something on Earth that did not involve a barbaric act. The 'sacrifice' is completely arbitrary. And I put sacrifice in quotes because Jesus only 'died' for a weekend. He was completely bodily resurrected (the Bible even says Jesus, with his body, ascended into Heaven). So there was no permanent sacrifice at all.

So why would temporarily dying be needed?

No one is answering the question really - Believers tell us that "Jesus died for our sins"... my question is why was that necessary? It seems if that is the reason for his "death" than the sacrifice is COMPLETELY arbitrary.

If people agree with that and wish to come up with other reasons for the "sacrifice" than fine. But please, if you think "Jesus died for our sins" then tell me why 'dying' was needed at all.

"...precedent for God providing the sacrifice used to honor Him"

So God liked a disgusting barbaric act and that's why it was done this way? If God liked people hopping on one foot while juggling instead would Jesus have done that? Doesn't your answer admit that the "sacrifice" was completely arbitrary? It could have been anything God liked according to your logic then.

"For Jesus to get rid of our sin, or spiritual death, he would have to die himself to take all the sins of man and be able to bring everyone to heaven."

He would have to die!? No, God is all powerful remember. God, or Jesus, could have snapped his fingers instead.

"What would you do if your kids were running wild and not obeying you? As a parent I know I would do anything to save/help my children and if necessary sacrifice my own life in order to save them."

But, since God is All Powerful a sacrifice would clearly not be necessary. God could have got his message across without such a barbaric act.

"i think the reason he died on the cross was not only for our sins but to show us how much he loves us and yes he could have just snapped his fingers but what would that show us."

So I suppose Jesus would have shown us even more love if he was decapitated and his legs and arms were chopped off? How does a torture scene show love?

And yes, I realize "snapping fingers" wouldn't get a message across very well, but the point is God/Jesus could have chosen ANYTHING. They could have got whatever message across they wanted AND removed our sins, without the sacrifice.

Kait, you just assume a blood sacrifice is needed. For some reason you like to limit what your God can do. An all-powerful God would not *need* to carry out a blood sacrifice. If you want to argue that blood sacrifice is God's preference, then fine. It reflects very poorly on God however no matter how you try to spin it.

Answer 1

The superstitious people of the time wanted to see ( or at least hear about ) miracles before they sided with particular leader . There were lots of other 'magicians' with followers , especially in Rome and Judea . When Constantine ordered the writing of the New Testament / Catholic Catechism , the Christian leaders decided which miracles would sound good to the masses . They threw out the one about Jesus blinding the young boy for interrupting him when he was talking in the temple . They kept the ones about him creating more wine for the drunken people at a wedding , and the one about him dying and coming back to life . There are many examples in Greek , roman and Egyptian mythology about gods who can come back to life . So that was a 'must have' in the NT . And the necessity of religious and human and animal sacrifice was a cultural belief back then
Most likely ( assuming Jesus did exist as a teacher / Rabbi ) then he didn't die on the cross . He just appeared dead . He later recovered for a while before infection set in and killed him . Or possibly some follower hid the body that died on the cross and spread stories that Christ was alive in order to keep the movement alive . Or maybe it was just all made up by the writers of the new testament who were writing a new religion for Constantine to unite the people with . Many Cristian leaders at that meeting protested that their Jesus was NOT god but just a prophet .

Answer 2

The sacrifical argument originates with Paul in Galatians, when he confronts Peter. But Peter and the other apostles clearly had not understood it this way. I do not believe Paul was contending that he, who had never met Jesus or seen him resurrected, understood Jesus better than these apostles did. Rather, I think he was doing what Jesus did, which was couching his teaching in terms of Judaism while speaking to Jews: we are talking about a way of life and of being, not adherence to ancient laws. Jesus ends the need for sacrifices by becoming the last one is a symbollic statement that likely played on the idea behind Mithras, which Paul would have been familiar with but probably not the apostles.

Jesus is the sign of grace given into the field of time, into the world where we live. But God is eternal; grace has never not been extended there was never a debt to be paid. It's just a metaphor about a debt and paying back with interest The concept of interest comes from the borrowing of a flack of domesticated animals and returning it having managed the population to have increased during stewardship and the ancient Hebrew word for interest is the same word for calf. If the ancient shepherding metaphor isn't helpful, don't worry about it.

Answer 3

Dying a physical death whether temporary or not is still dying. As it is written in Revelation Satan is condemned to die , to turn to ashes from within. But how does God justify this to the bleeding hearts. God has made laws concerning the execution of murderers . These laws are in Deuteronomy Chapter 19. It basically says that upon the testimony of 2 good witnesses that a murderer should be executed and that was usually done by the eldest of the next of kin. Satan was responsible for the murder of Christ. So according to God's law which He Himself follows God has the right and lawful duty of executing satan / the great tempter/accuser. Christ said that He did not come to change any of the law but to fulfill / fully utilize the law (Duet. 19). That is why Christ had to die a physical murder / death. That way nobody could cry , unfair , unfair. Think about this. Let the wise understand.
WELL , 2 OF THE USUAL THINGS HAVE HAPPENED . KAIT HAS AN ANSWER WELL OVER A SCREEN IN LENGTH AND THE ATHEISTS ARE IN THEIR THUMBS DOWN ROUTINE. WELL MR. OBVIOUS , NO REBUTTAL ?

Answer 4

When God created humans, He created us with freewill. That means, that no matter whether or not it's right, we are allowed to choose to do what we like. But God warned us that the wages of sin is death. I'm sure you've heard that before - maybe it sounds cliche. But God created the world, it's what He says that makes any difference. So, He said that the wages of sin is death. So, everyone who sins has to die. God could change that, but then He wouldn't be the unchangeable and everlasting God that He proclaims to be. Well, we ALL sin. As the Bible says, "All have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God." So, since we all sin, we'd all end up having to die. But God sent His son to die instead. Yes, God could have snapped his fingers or blinked. But that wouldn't fulfill what He said. Death was the only thing that could fulfill that. The death of a sinless offering. Christ lived a sinless life, something that none of us can do. I fully believe that if Christ had sinned, He would have died like all of us will. But He didn't. And He paid the price for us by His sacrifice. God could only accept death, so Christ died for us. For our sins. So that is why Christ had to die.
~Erin

Answer 5

If you read the old testament you will see that the sacrifices always required shedding of blood and death of the animal, this was a foreshadow of things to come, the shedding of blood and death of Christ, he rose again on the third day gaining victory over death. Which is our victory over eternal death. Long story that needs to be studied out. There is a physical death which we face on earth, but there is also a death unto judgement which you can read about in Revelation Chapter 20: verses 11-15 this speaks of the second death which is the death of the unsaved and their doom, Revelation 21:8 tells of those who won't make heaven....
You have to study it from front to back of the Bible to really understand it and why the sacrifice. Christ was our victory over the grave....

Answer 6

god isn't responsible for all of the bad things in the world that go on. god gave us and nature the gift of free will. God can't stop a crazy gunman's bullet from hitting a person, because God does not intervene with our free will. Many people say then well why did he make the victim that person? Well God isn't responsible for death either. We believe in a loving God not a cruel God. God wouldn't randomly choose a person to die or live. God is only responsible for the good he gave us, not the bad we have created out of it.
My response to the sacrifice part is death came about from sin. Adam and eve's sin brought about death from the situation. God did not tell them that e would now put death on the earth. Death came from the consequence of the situation. For Jesus to get rid of our sin, or spiritual death, he would have to die himself to take all the sins of man and be able to bring everyone to heaven. Death comes from sin. The only way to get rid of everyone's sin was to take on the form of man to hold the sin of everyone. Jesus resurrected because he was god and never really had that sin that he took on the burden of.
Hope this answers your question.

Answer 7

If you read Genesis 22:1-16, you'll see that there is a precedent for God providing the sacrifice used to honor Him. In the case of Jesus, the sacrifice was in the pain that Jesus (an extension of God) bore, not whether it was permanent or not. After this ultimate sacrifice, no other sacrifice was needed, so the Jews didn't have to do their sacrifices anymore. It freed us all from our sin so that as long as we believe, accept Jesus as our saviour and try not to sin anymore (repent if you mess up), then we have the chance at everlasting (spiritual) life.

Answer 8

What greater sacrifice could God of given other than his son?
It was necessary because the world was not listening. God did not create us to live in sin. The simple message is to 'love one another' does the world do that? No - humans have lost the plot not God. What would you do if your kids were running wild and not obeying you? As a parent I know I would do anything to save/help my children and if necessary sacrifice my own life in order to save them. God is our Father and we are his kids. I'm so glad I'm not God.

peace

Star

Answer 9

God can't just undo sin. He is absolutely Holy in a way that nothing else is, and only something that is equally holy can be in His presence. Because He is also just, He MUST punish sin. The only punishment for sin is death, so sacrifices were necessary to atone for sin, and only a perfect sacrifice was acceptable. Now, since lambs (the proscribed sacrifice) are neither perfect nor eternal, we could just go on forever sacrificing lambs for the sins of man, and in the end we'd still die in our guilt of sin. But God made a loophole, if you will. He sent His own son, who lived a life free of sin, and this son sacrificed Himself for us so that we could be forgiven. God accepted this One and Only perfect and eternal sacrifice for sin, and raised Him up so that we could not only share in His obedience to have forgiveness of sin, but share in His eternal life to live with Him. This way, God A) satisfies justice, B) exercises mercy, and C) makes known the depth of His grace (which is what creation was done for in the first place). God had no reason to do what He did except His love for us and His grace. It all comes down to that. Paul says it best in Romans: "For as by the one man, Adam, sin entered the world and death through sin (the crime), so also through the obedience of one man, Jesus Christ, came forgiveness (the sentence paid for the crime for all men for all time)." Like any gift given, one must accept the gift and the sacrifice for themselves or they have to pay the price themselves. The gospel (literally, "good news") is that you don't have to pay that price, it's been paid for you. You are, however, free to pay it yourself, but either way, justice must be served.

Answer 10

Sometimes things which we are oblivious to become obvious only when we learn the truth. It was obvious that the world was flat until sometime sailed around it. It was obvious the moon was made of cheese until somebody made that "one small step for man one giant leap for mankind."

The biggest leap for mankind was made by Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. But it will only become obvious when you learn the truth. It can be explained by another person. It is best though, if YOU study so that YOU may be able to relate to why He did what He did for you.

God bless