Why did Jesus have to suffer and die for our sins? Why would an omnipotent God require this for our salvation?

Question

Jesus' teaching are truly divine. I believe they are the path to a truly holy life that brings us closer to God.

But there's something that I do not fully understand. Why did Jesus have to suffer and die on the cross in order for us to be forgiven, saved, or to get to Heaven?

God is supposed to be all powerful and omnipotent. He can do anything. Why would He require some violent act (totally in human terms) to get us closer to Him? God can save anyone. God can do anything. So why did Jesus have to suffer for this to happen?

I would love for someone to be able to put this theological construct into simple terms for me.

Thanks.

Answer 1

if God didn't require death for sin than that would make him a liar when he told Adam he would die if he sinned

Answer 2

A God comes into his creation, so that he may experiance everything a God who is beyond opposites alpha and omega. Experiancing all the love and all the hate. All he pleasure all the pain. Every part of his creation even a horrible death. St Aquinas said Christ went to the cross as a Groom to his Bride.
Every part of it.
God crossing into creation People crossing into God.
When we see that IT is ALL wonderfull. Every part of life, when we accept every part. THen the kingdom of heaven is truly upon us.Then We have gone back before there were opposites, before knowledge of good and evil when we experiance it all. Nirvana/
That is the message. it doesnt fill baskets. It doesnt create guilt and self lothing neccassary to keep people filling those baskets. So the institution of the church interested in power went with the other interpretaion.
When you ask God if he understand what you have gone through he can say YES and show you the holes in his hands.

Answer 3

Excellent question.

Could God have forgiven people their transgressions without requiring a human sacrifice? If so, then he is guilty of transgressing the same moral behavior he demands of us. If not, then his omnipotence is a fantasy.

Furthermore:
If you feel someone has taken advantage of your good nature, you don't arrive at forgiveness by sacrificing something more of yourself to them. Such thinking is called delusion.

A more down-to-Earth critical question is as follows:
What physical processes are involved in the banal act of dying (everyone dies; it's no feat) that absolve OTHER people from responsibility of their actions? Certainly the latter is a conscious choice and is unrelated to external events.

Answer 4

In the old times people used to use blood from sacrafices thinking that the were forgiven. Jesus was the only Perfect being here on earth and he was the Ultamate Sacrafice and through his blood we are forgiven and able to go to Heaven. He was the only perfect being that could show us the Ultamate love of God and even though he was being spit at and abused Jesus told God to forgive them.

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

It has to do with Crime and Punishment.
Here is a metaphor-
If you commit a crime, and get arrested, you eventually go to court- if you are guilty a bail is set and so is a penalty- sometimes money.
God sent Jesus to prepay this for us. It is NOT monetary- it is a form of BLOOD sacrifice.
In the OT you will see that BLOOD sacrifice was what you did to repent from sins. Usually you bought birds and sacrificed them. Once Jesus died for us, God quit requiring BLOOD sacrifices. Jesus' HOLY BLOOD paid us all out of our SIN debts.
Why Blood? I do not know. But I know that blood is a big deal in the Bible. Blood is a big deal to us. Maybe it was chosen for us to see the seriousness of sin.

Answer 6

God is omnipotent, but He is also just, meaning He doesn’t just overlook things (i.e., His principles, spiritual laws, sin, etc.) because it’s inconvenient. So consider this:

What is justice for a wrong committed? It is payment in one way or another for that wrong. God instilled a system of justice in this universe. Wrong was made… .many, many wrongs, beginning from Adam’s sin. Payment had to be made. Just payment for sin is death of the sinner. But God did not want to have us die. Also, not anyone could satisfy the penalty. Only a truly sinless human being could be satisfactory payment. For this reason Jesus Christ came into the world. God the Father Himself provided the Sacrifice – His Son – for all humanity so that with His death satisfying the judgment, we could once again be united with Him. Jesus had to be born of God to have a sinless status to begin with. The Old Testament sacrifices looked forward to the Ultimate Sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God, so that when He finally fulfilled the prophecies, people could recognize Him as the Lamb who saves us, the Lamb whom God spoke of all along. Those who reject God’s gift of Jesus Christ continue to stand guilty before God. But those who accept God’s gift of Jesus’ death for our sins, as well as His resurrection for ourselves, are released from eternal penalty, and receive new life now and forever.

God bless.

Answer 7

This is a great question and deserves an answer that is well thought out and explained. Which means I would tick everybody off if I clicked and pasted the answer. So I'll give you the link.

As a teaser... he didn't die for man per se but for the vindication of His names' sake.

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Articles/ByTopic/90/1541_Did_Christ_Die_for_Us_or_for_God/

Answer 8

It's because God is just. He cannot forgive sin until his judicial nature is satisfied. As to how Jesus' death appeased God's wrath see http://www.bcbsr.com/topics/atonement.html

Answer 9

Its easy....

God cannot tolerate sin

God says there is no remission of sin without the shedding of blood

God loved US so much that He had rather see His SINLESS SON die in OUR places.

To put it short - SOMEBODY HAD TO DIE TO PAY FOR OUR SINS!

Arent you glad it was Jesus and not us/ WE belonged up there on that cross - not Him!

Answer 10

He didn't have to. It was a choice of love. He offered himself in our place as a willing and perfect sacrifice that the debt of sin we incurred would be paid by someone who himself was blameless.