For those of you that believe Jesus is God's son - Why did God allow his only son to suffer so much & die?

Question

I was always taught to think that Jesus was God's son and have always wondered how anyone could allow their child, their ONLY child, to suffer so much for the sins of others (us). I've just never gotten that and now that I have a child myself I know that I would first die than to have anyone hurt my child so I just don't get why God would allow his only son to suffer so much. If you don't believe in God then please don't answer with He wasn't real. I would like answers from those of you who really believe in Him and that believe that Jesus was his son.

Answer 1

For God SO LOVED THE WORLD that he gave his only begotten son.

Answer 2

1. It was the only way. No mere man could Redeem or Restitute the wrong of man's destruction of the perfect order of Creation. Look at all the suffering around us, and realize that we did this.

2. God knows His own power. Raising Him from the Dead was never a doubt.

3. Jesus felt the destructive power of Sin & Hell so that we did not have to. God traded one for all. It was a true gift of love.

4. It was a horrible choice, but the sacrifice had to be made or all was lost. There is no way around the Holiness and Righteousness of God. Justice had to be served. Someone had to pay. This is why God paid it Himself. It is still horrible to imagine. The thought of His sacrifice, and the courage of Jesus inspires to good works.

Answer 3

Remember, Jesus is God's only begotten on earth. We are all the spiritual children of God, our Heavenly Father. It was decided in the great council in Heaven who would be the sacrificial lamb and that was Jehovah (Jesus). I also know that the love we have for our own children is not one to be described, because it can't. To lose my daughter at any age would be devastating in the least. We as Mormons also have this belief (understanding) that if we live worthy lives, we will one day be with her again. That is also the reason that Heavenly Father allowed Jesus to suffer and die for us. The greatest part of this is that Christ defeated death by being resurrected, giving us that gift.

Answer 4

The importance is to be placed on Christ within, it's not to be taken as HIStory, but as MYstery and YOUR story. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Rev 13:7) which is allegory for God's spirit poured out in our consciousness, Word made Flesh in all mankind. The bible is allegory (gal 4:24) and we have to see that the word made flesh is God's son lighting every man that comes into the world (Jn 1:9). If you take it literally you have to beleive in a God of mass genocide of many different races (Noah's flood, Mose's Eqgyptians, Philistines, etc) including his own son. This doesn't make sense unless you want to beleive a lie:

2 Thes 10:....because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:

The bible is writen in spiritual allegories and parables, only those seeking the truth outside of religious doctrines find the treasure hidden in the field (Mat 13:44).

2 Cor 5:16....though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. [we no longer see Christ as a fleshy character once the Spirit of Truth comes]

Grace and Peace

Answer 5

If you will remember under the old covenent a Lamb or another animal had to be offered to attone for ones sins. God sent Jesus for that very reason to be the living sacrifice. He did love his son but he also loved his children so much in fact that he knew that we would need a guide a mentor and a savior. It was in Gods plan but If had to immagine I would say it hurt him to watch. Just as it hurts him when we turn away from him and sin. However ! Its a pretty safe assumption to say he knew what was going to happen next.

Answer 6

God began to realize that the OT version of atonement through the use of sacrificial animals would not be sufficient to cover sin anymore for the animals couldn't WILLINGLY go to their deaths for the sins of the people. Therefore, God had to create a way for Him to be LEGALLY able to walk the Earth within man through the REMOVAL of sin instead of merely covering it. This is why Jesus was born the WAY He was born (virgin birth)! This way, He could escape the sin curse that man was born under after the fall of Adam and Eve and qualify to be a PURE sacrifice, without spot, blemish or any such thing, just as the OT animals had to be. It HAD to be done, or we'd ALL have to DIE to receive salvation! What would be the point of life from either our or God's perspective without Christ freely offering Himself?

Answer 7

Because He loved humanity so much! He was willing to take a human form and die Himself to pay the punishment for our sins. That's how much we mean to Him. We're His children, too! Also, you have to remember that Jesus WILLINGLY suffered and died for your sake. This is not something that He was just "forced to do" against His will. He could have easily defended Himself while He was being tried here on Earth. Pilate was prepared to let Him go! But if He had done that, we would all be doomed. It was done purely out of love.

Answer 8

Because we are ALL God's children. He loves all of us. And remember that Jesus is ALSO God. He gaves His life for us. There is so much love shown by that sacrifice - the Father's love for us; Jesus' love for us; Jesus' love for the Father. And it, too, must have grieved the Father to see the way His son was treated.

When thinking of this amazing sacrifice, its then that we can see how truly dreadful our sin is - that God would give Himself/His Son so that we might live.

Answer 9

The Word that was in the beginning with God, and WAS GOD, was God's body, and His body became flesh and dwelt among men. I will try to answer questions which I have been asked in doubt of this God given knowledge:

John 4:24, Jesus said, "God is a Spirit".

Colossians 1:15, speaking of the Son, "Who is the image of the INVISIBLE God".

John 3:34, "For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the SPIRIT by measure unto him".

Colossians 2:9, speaking of Christ, "For IN HIM dwelleth ALL the fulness of the Godhead bodily".

Jesus is the temple body for the fulness of God the Spirit. Why then is Jesus referred to as the Son? Because whoever places the seed within the womb of the mother, is the natural child's father, and God the Spirit translated His body, the Word, into Mary's womb. Jesus had no father after the flesh. This is why Jesus said the following:

Luke 11:20, "But if I with the FINGER OF GOD cast out devils". He is God's body and His finger is God's finger.

John 14:8, Jesus says to Philip after he'd asked Jesus to show them the Father, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not know ME, Philip?" (10) "...the Father that DWELLETH IN ME, he doeth the works".

Jesus is the body, who sits upon the throne of God, not plural thrones, and God is the Spirit, who is everywhere present and nowhere absent.

Romans 1:20, "For the INVISIBLE things of him from the creation of the world ARE CLEARLY SEEN, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and GODHEAD". What was made in the image and likeness of God? Man, and thru man, we can "clearly see" the Godhead. Genesis 1:26's image and likeness have two different meanings according to Strong's Hebrew Dictionary; image is #6754 and means phantom or illusion, but likeness is #1823 and means shape or model. Man is a two-fold being just like the Godhead; body & spirit:

2nd Corinthians 4:16, "...but though our OUTWARD man perish, yet the INWARD man is renewed day by day".

1st Corinthians 15:47, "The first man is of the earth, earthy::: the second man is the Lord from heaven".

2nd Corinthians 5:19, "...God was IN Christ, reconciling the world unto himself".

That is why Jesus said, My God why have you forsaken me, while he was dying; the Spirit of God had to leave Jesus' body inorder for him to die.

John 1:1, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." The Godhead is a two-fold being, but ONE person, just as we are.

God died for us.

Answer 10

God in the form of Jesus the 2nd person of the blessed trinity
Humbled himself. He would not allow His creatures to suffer in such way out of His love for us. This is the short answer.

The other invovles the explaination of the scale of sin that had to be righted in order to reconcile us to Him. Since there was no man that could have made up the scale of justice because of sin He had to do it Himself

Answer 11

Jesus said that if he asked, God would send a legion of angels to rescue him. God was totally willing to rescue his son the moment he asked, but Jesus loved us enough to go through what he did.