"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death,
and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree . . ."
Deuteronomy 21:22
A teenage boy asked his dad, "Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Why couldn't God just tell everybody that they are forgiven?" His dad said, "Son, you raise a good question. God is forgiving, but He is also just. Justice requires a penalty for breaking the law. Jesus paid the penalty for us on the cross."
The cross reveals the very nature of God. He is love, but He is also holy. Justice comes from the holiness of God. Love provided Christ to take our just penalty. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." The cross is God's love tree for you and me.
The cross reveals the very nature of God. He is love, but He is also holy. Justice comes from the holiness of God. Love provided Christ to take our just penalty. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son . . ." The cross is God's love tree for you and me.
Jesus was not deserving of death. He knew no sin. We are deserving of death because of our sins. We have broken the law of God (James 2:10). Christ hung on the cross in our place, as our substitute. "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Cor. 5:21).
When we see a painting or a drama of Christ hanging on the cross, remember that He was there in our place. Every believer can be assured that Christ died for all of his sins. In Christ, we become the righteousness of God. We are deserving of death. Through the grace of Christ, we receive what we don't deserve, forgiveness and the righteousness of God.
Father, thank You for Jesus who died in our place.
