Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” On the topic of Christ having died for our sins, this Verse seems the tip of the iceberg in explaining the reason as it implies two possible paths to such a reason. The first seems to be that God has determined that Jesus die for those who have sinned. And the second possible reason is that God may have seen that nothing would be accomplished if the sinners themselves die for their sins. After all, to risk a sense of earthly reasoning on this matter, what would be the point if a) God intended to show His Love for the world as explained in John 3:16-17, but b) God would go ahead and put to death the very people he wants to show his love?
And make no mistake, if death is the divine penalty for our sins, there wouldn’t be anyone left alive. As it says in Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” To be sure, anyone with roots going back to Adam and Eve had been fated to sin due to the “original sin” of that couple. So for everyone who came after, and has yet to come, sin is an albatross around our necks, which all we can do is temper it whenever it tries to rear its head. No matter how much we love God and how we show it, the sin we are born with lingers and looms.
So it seems God had Christ bear the punishment for our sins. What did that accomplish? It spared the lives of the sinners, giving God an opportunity to show His Love for us and to give us a chance to love Him by striving to live in a righteous manner. We may invariably sin from time to time since we are not perfect, but in His love for us He gives us a chance to redeem ourselves by asking Him for His forgiveness of our sins. As God explains to Moses in Exodus 20:5, He is a jealous God. As such, He loves being acknowledged, and our asking Him for forgiveness helps in giving Him our due and showing him our love.
It was known as far back as Isaiah 53 that God intended for his “only son” to live among us and ultimately endure the punishment for our sins. Has that changed anything? It helped bring to life a movement to spread God’s Word beyond His chosen people, that others may have the opportunity to be saved in accordance with John 3:16-17. That’s the best we can hope for in the time being, so long as the lord of sin is still alive in us.
And make no mistake, if death is the divine penalty for our sins, there wouldn’t be anyone left alive. As it says in Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” To be sure, anyone with roots going back to Adam and Eve had been fated to sin due to the “original sin” of that couple. So for everyone who came after, and has yet to come, sin is an albatross around our necks, which all we can do is temper it whenever it tries to rear its head. No matter how much we love God and how we show it, the sin we are born with lingers and looms.
So it seems God had Christ bear the punishment for our sins. What did that accomplish? It spared the lives of the sinners, giving God an opportunity to show His Love for us and to give us a chance to love Him by striving to live in a righteous manner. We may invariably sin from time to time since we are not perfect, but in His love for us He gives us a chance to redeem ourselves by asking Him for His forgiveness of our sins. As God explains to Moses in Exodus 20:5, He is a jealous God. As such, He loves being acknowledged, and our asking Him for forgiveness helps in giving Him our due and showing him our love.
It was known as far back as Isaiah 53 that God intended for his “only son” to live among us and ultimately endure the punishment for our sins. Has that changed anything? It helped bring to life a movement to spread God’s Word beyond His chosen people, that others may have the opportunity to be saved in accordance with John 3:16-17. That’s the best we can hope for in the time being, so long as the lord of sin is still alive in us.
