How Does the Death of Jesus Christ Pay for Our Sin?
God requires a blood-sacrifice for sin.
“...without shedding of blood is no remission¹” (Hebrews 9:22).
Jesus Christ is God's acceptable “blood-sacrifice” for sin.
Falsely accused and convicted of blasphemy by the Jewish leaders, Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross by the Roman government. He bled and died on this cross. This was no accident, God sent Jesus Christ into the world for this reason.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Speaking of Jesus, Colossians 1:14 says,
“in whom we have redemption²through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins.”
Jesus' sacrificial death is acceptable to God because He is holy. He is God's Son, not fathered by a man, therefore, He is not a sinner. No one fathered by a descendant of Adam could be an acceptable sacrifice. God chose a virgin by the name of Mary to give birth to Jesus; He was conceived by the power of God's Spirit — the Holy Spirit.
Luke 1:26-35…
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.
And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.
He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
It is important to understand that Jesus died and was buried. God, however, raised Him from the dead on the third day after His death. How do we know? The scriptures tell us He was seen alive by His disciples and over 500 other people.
1 Corinthians 15:3-6
For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once...
Furthermore, the scriptures tell us that His apostles (chosen witnesses) saw His ascension into heaven.
Acts 1:1-11
The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:
And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me.
For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel;
Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
Based on these scriptures, we know that Jesus did not stay in the grave, but was raised from death to life and then ascended bodily into heaven.
His death would not be of any help to us if He had remained in the grave. Jesus Christ has conquered death for us.
Jesus' resurrection³ matters because it proves that His sacrifice was acceptable to God — God raised Him from the dead.
Acts 3:26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.⁴
Revelation 1:18
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
John 11:25
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.”
¹Remission - forgiveness or pardon of sins, remission of the penalty
²Redemption – liberation procured by the payment of a ransom
³Resurrection – raised from the dead
⁴Iniquities – injustice, unrighteousness
Next time…
The Biblical Response to what Jesus Christ has done