Why
does God Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Should
God’s existence be proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should the Bible and God Be Proven
Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible teach blind
faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
Why
Was Jesus’ Blood Important to Mankind?
Jesus’
blood is important to mankind, but why was it?
Why did Jesus have to die? When
Jesus died, he literally painfully bled for mankind’s sins so they could be
reconciled to God and so they could receive eternal life. Jesus Himself said that it was necessary for
His disciples to symbolically accept His sacrifice by drinking His blood and
eating his body in order to have eternal life (John 6:53): “In most solemn truth I tell you," said
Jesus, "that unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His
blood, you have no Life in you.” Notice
the later teaching of Paul in Romans 3:23-26 about the importance of having
faith in Jesus’ shed blood, which is the source of reconciliation with God and
forgiveness by God:
“for
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth to be a propitiation [source of
atonement] through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness through the
passing by of the sins that had taken place before, in the forbearance of God;
for the display of His righteousness at this time, for Him to be just and,
forgiving the one having the faith of Jesus.”
However,
in order to understand this general concept better about why Jesus’ blood is
important, it’s helpful to first review the animal sacrifices of the Old
Testament that foreshadowed the actuality of Jesus’ sacrifice. Ultimately, to demonstrate the seriousness
of sin and to foreshadow the complete solution to come, God instituted the
animal sacrifices and the ritualistic system
under the old covenant. The death of an
animal imposed a high financial cost on the person surrendering it to God. But additionally, as the New Testament reveals (John 1:29, 36), the animal
sacrifices had a teaching function for Israel, since they foreshadowed the Solution to come, when "God [would]
provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering" (Gen. 22:8). Consider the support
Lev. 17:11, 14 gives for the Christian theory of atonement:
‘For
the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar
to make atonement for your souls; for it is
the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement. . . .
For as the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life.
. . . “You are not to eat the blood of any flesh, for the life of all
flesh is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off.”’
Since
giving up life (which spilled blood symbolizes) is associated with atonement, this corresponds with Christian teaching that Jesus gave up His life in order to
reconcile mankind with God. The scholar
Michael Brown explains the central theory of the blood sacrifices: “They operated on the principle of
substitution, i.e., on the principle of life for life.”
Jesus' sacrifice was once for all time, and didn't need to be keep being
repeated, unlike the case for the animal sacrifices. Note the teaching of Hebrews 10:4 (RSV): "For it is
impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away
sins." When a bull, sheep, goat, or dove was sacrificed for
the sin or offense of a man or woman, that sacrifice would need to be repeated
if the sin or offense was repeated. But in the case of Christ's sacrifice,
it covered all human sins for all time for any reason.
Interestingly enough, Hebrews 9-10 explains this distinction in detail.
For example, it notes that unlike the Jewish high priest, Jesus' sacrifice
doesn't need to be repeated (Hebrews 9:25-26): "Nor was it to offer
himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood
not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the
foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself." Likewise,
Hebrews 10:12, 14 says: "But when Christ had offered for all time a
single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God . . . For
by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are
sanctified." The blood of God in the flesh is worth far more than
the blood of the animals He created: He could create any number of
them, but He was uncreated and thus of a totally different, and superior, class.
But then, one could ask why did the Creator decide to die for His creatures?
This
question overall relates to the profound issue of the theory of atonement. Let's first begin with who the human race was in debt to begin with
and why. For example, in Romans 5:1, it notes the consequences of Jesus'
sacrifice after Christians have accepted it by faith: "Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ." Similarly, there's v. 10: "For if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more,
having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." So Jesus'
sacrifice served to reconcile humanity to God the Father. Because of sin,
humans are in debt to God, since violating God's law causes an automatic death penalty to be assessed against us
(Romans 3:23): "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." So Jesus'
sacrifice paid the penalty of the human race's sins to God the Father.
Since God is the Creator, He owns us intrinsically and has the right to tell us
what to God based on His law, which expresses His law.
The
theory of atonement generally explains about why Jesus had to die. After
all, someone theoretically could ask: "Why couldn't God just look
down from heaven, and say, 'You are all forgiven if you repent'?"
Why did God Himself, meaning, the Son, have to die for humanity's sins?
This is a mystery at the deepest level, but a good way to look at this ultimate
puzzle stems from God's desire to impress upon all created intelligences, human
and angelic, His love for His creation. Therefore, by dying for created
beings, He shows His love for us, which means we shouldn't doubt his love
despite all the pain and misery that occurs to so many in the world. God
didn't want us to doubt His love while giving us free will that would result in
pain and misery for many as we exercised it. For God is in the process of
making beings like Himself who have 100% free will yet also will choose to be
righteous and obedient to His law 100% of the time. The latter takes time to
develop, for its a matter of settled character that God wants to develop in us
and see over time if we'll manifest it. Jesus' sacrifice also
rescued us all from the death grip of Satan (Heb.
2:14-15): "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh
and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He
might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release
those who through fear of death were all their lifetime
subject to bondage." Much more could be said on this issue, but it
is very important and relates to the question about why Jesus' blood was worth
more than that of animals.
If
the atonement has no ontological foundation (i.e., based on an absolute moral
law), but was a mere arbitrary cancellation of the penalty of God's law for
sin, how can men and women know that God is just in His actions? How
could one know whether or not He will punish sins when they should be punished?
Ultimately, the source of redemption has to be the Lawgiver Himself,
since God's moral laws are intrinsic to His eternal character and divine
nature. Having been the Lawgiver to Israel through Moses, Jesus was the
originator of the Law for humanity. Having been the reason for its existence,
He also could take in His own Person the penalty resulting from that law, and
stand in humanity’s place for it. The one who put the moral law in motion has
to be the Creator, and thus be God. The violation of the moral law
demanded human death as the penalty for its violation. Consequently,
Jesus had to become human to save us by becoming just like us. He also
had to become human in order to die, and to give up His life temporarily so
Christians may live eternally themselves. Although Jesus was our Creator
physically, and thus His life was worth more than all of humanity's combined,
He also had to be the Lawgiver in order to be able to receive the penalty of
sin in His own Person in humanity’s place.
Jesus’
blood had to be shed in order to make possible the promise of “the golden
verse” (John 3:16): “For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life.
Eric
V. Snow
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Why
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May
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Rhetoric vs Sabbath Refuted.htm
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and Hereafter.htm
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Is
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We the Beast vs Collins.htm
Should
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the Argument from Silence Abolish the Old Testament Law of Tithing 0205 Mokarow
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Will
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