Even from my Sunday school days I have been harbouring a doubt as to why Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross voluntarily. Strangely, His disciples never asked him "Why". Nor did Lord Jesus say why he was going to die. Perhaps, God wanted us to find out by ourselves the precise reason for Jesus Christ's death. After years of self discussion and consulting others on a point or two, I came to a certain conclusion. I am giving it here in this article for the readers either to agree or disagree or modify my view. I shall be very grateful l for a critical analysis of my article.
My most favourite Bible verse is, Jn 3:16 because I see spotlights of the Human history, Past, Present and Future in it. It reveals the tremendous love God had for the “Human beings” and it was so great that He refused to abandon them even when they had gone astray. This love was so strong and binding that God decided to go all out to redeem them.
Heaven is populated with angels, who are created beings and eternal. (Ps 148: 5,6). They are innumerable. (Heb 12 :22 ) Possibly twice the world population, say over 10 billion. By word of mouth, God cold create angels in hundreds and thousands in one go. God is the father for them too. But angels are mere messengers and a work force. God perhaps wanted a different type of Beings with different characteristics in His abode alongside the angels. He would all them “Human Beings”. It was His wish that such human beings to be born of women with a different kind of body, live on a planet which would be quite away from Heaven and enjoy everything God would create there in course of time, have a limited life on the planet, die a natural death there and come to Him and live with Him for ever. Their status would be greater than that of the angles'. God must have been highly fascinated with these design parameters too.
As time rolled by, God created Adam and Eve as per the Plan and placed them in Eden to enjoy everything there but with a warning not to eat the fruits of the tree in the midst of the garden and if they did, “they would die”. Incidentally, Satan and his angels were present on the Earth much before the creation of Adam and Eve. [Why and How, is a different story]. Satan's aim then was to prevent the Human beings from reaching Heaven. Satan played with God's words and coaxed Eve into disobeying God's command. What did God mean by, “You will die”? Was it physical death or spiritual death? I feel it is both.
The "spiritual death" could mean, "separation from God and also denial of entry into Heaven." This punishment was implemented immediately, in that, God didn't appear to Adam and Eve anymore and the gates to Heaven had been closed for the human beings.
The first punishment of premature physical death, not only for Adam and Eve and also their descendants, had been kept in abeyance till a later date.
Satan had succeeded in his plan. But, only temporarily !
Thus, the people of the world had made themselves ineligible to enter a new Home which God had intended for them. They were lost. But God at any cost wanted them to come to Him because of the incomparable love He had for them. (Read Jn 3:16 once again, in this light). This love was so compulsive that He had to think of an alternative plan to save/rescue them from total abandonment. [Lk 19:10 and Mt 19:11]
“Saving the entire humanity” would mean cancellation of the "death punishment announced in garden of Eden". But, could God violate His own words or forget the death punishment conveniently? No. If He had to set aside that, He had to do some atonement in the first place. The atonement could be in the form of "someone" else dying in their place. That someone couldn't be another human being but someone far above.
That's how Jesus Christ was sent to the world in a human form, to die "in our place" or "instead of us" or " to take our punishment on Himself". Jesus was a ransom for all. [Mt 20:28, Hos 13:14]. “Ransom” is redeeming someone by a payment.
Jesus Christ didn't die on the cross by accident. The Jews may have found fault in Him including the charge of blasphemy but we know from the Bible that He died in accordance with God's plan. Jesus Himself said [Jn 12:27] that He would die. But He didn't give out the reason behind it. But the prophecy gives it out in Is 35: 10 - “After this ransom and redeeming, the ransomed of the Lord shall return to Zion with singing.”
