Good Friday is seen by many Holy Week celebrants as the day we commemorate the death of the Son of God for the sin of the whole world.
The cross is the representation of the biggest event ever in history -- the time that God set all mankind free from the power and consequence of sin. It has been said that even before the beginning of time, God ordained it that He would come down to earth to give His life up for all of us.
But have you ever asked yourself why Jesus had to die on the cross? Think about it -- the highest, most supreme being in the whole universe coming down in the lowest form possible just to die a shameful and agonizing death. Was there no other way?
There are other ways that God could have saved us because He is a God who can do all things, but the cross was the best way that God found and thus the best way there was to set us free from sin. Here are four reasons why Jesus had to die on the cross for our sins.
No other sacrifice is sufficient
In the Old Testament, God commanded that sin be atoned for by sacrificing the life of the innocent because the wages of sin will always be death, hence the sacrifice of animals and doves in the Old Testament times. To atone for the sin of all the people of the earth, only one person could bear the sins of many, and that's Jesus. He is the once and for all sacrifice for all mankind.
Hebrews 9:28 says, "so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many..."
It is in God's nature to be just
God could not just cancel out sin because that would be unjust and justice is in God's nature. The price had to be paid for, and Jesus took upon Himself the burden of paying for the sins of a thousand generations.
To show us how much He loves us
God is not just a God of justice, he is also a God of love. Why did God send Jesus -- His only Son -- to die for the failures of people who had failed Him so many times? Because even if we didn't deserve His love and grace, God gave them still.
John 3:16 tells us, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."
To display how valuable humility is
For the God of the universe to come down and be born in a stable to a carpenter and his wife took a whole lot of humility. Consequently, we are assured that Jesus sets the best example for extreme humility.
Philippians 2:5-7 says, "Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."
