It seems that this time of year, a few weeks prior to Easter, questions and conversations about Jesus and the Bible take center stage. Certain TV channels like the History channel, TLC and Discovery tend to air documentaries entitled “Bible Secrets Revealed,” “Who was Jesus?” and others. Many times these shows can be enlightening and informative, but as well, they can also be misleading and erroneous. The title of this article could very easily be a title for one of their documentaries. The question is a good one. Many people have asked it and many will continue to, so let’s look at the biblical answer.
Prior to “The Fall” in the Garden of Eden, God’s creation of man was perfect and complete. Adam and Eve walked with God and conversed with Him freely. It wasn’t until Satan entered the picture that all of that changed. With Eve’s decision to disobey God came the penalty of death, both physically and spiritually. Genesis 2:17 clearly states that God instructed Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil,
“for in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.”
Adam and Eve did not die the day they ate of the fruit, yet they did die, eventually. However, they did lose their close personal relationship with God immediately. God sacrificed animals to provide skins for garments and then He sent them out of the garden to work the land (Genesis 3:23).
God makes it plain in Romans 6:23 that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-” In this verse we see clearly that sin didn’t just enter Adam and Eve in the garden. Because they are the parents of the human race, sin is in us all. In our DNA you might say.
The Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi is proof that we, as a race, are sinners no matter how hard we try to be good. God clearly reveals His laws and His expectations of us yet He knows we can not measure up. It is a mirror for us to see our sinful nature and an opportunity for God to prepare our hearts for a Savior.
From the book of Exodus came the classic movie, “The Ten Commandments.” It not only chronicles the life of Moses who God selected to rescue the Israelites from enslavement by the Egyptians, but covers the “Pass Over.” On the night prior to the Israelites’ exodus they were to slaughter a lamb they had kept inside for four days. They were instructed to spread its blood on the outer door frame of their house. This would signify their faith in God Almighty and they would be spared as God’s wrath swept through the nation that night. The lamb is significant because Jesus was OUR “Pass Over” lamb who shed His blood for OUR sins.
Paul states in 1st Corinthians 5:7 “… For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” The Old Testament defines the need for blood to be shed to cover sin. He also sets up a “payment plan” for our sins in the form of animal sacrifice. This proves our indebtedness to Him for our sin, but animal blood only covers sin, it cannot remove it. So God in His awesome wisdom and love for us had a plan that would not just cover but would remove our sin in His eyes! This is where the blood of Jesus comes in to play. Without a “perfect” sacrifice, our sin is only covered, not removed.
Through free-will, when sin entered the picture, the possibility for relationship was lost because God cannot allow imperfection and sin. He is a holy and perfect God. Could He have just waved His hand and removed the sin or called it a clean slate? Certainly He is powerful enough for that, He is the creator of the universe, but the answer is “no.” He is also a just and righteous God and He could not just waive the penalty for that sin. Somewhere along the line the penalty would have to be paid, hence the need for Jesus. God in His wisdom allowed Jesus, the son of God, the second person of the Trinity, to be born, live a perfect, righteous life and to die a sacrificial death for our sins. He is our sacrificial lamb: pure without blemish. In His death, His blood removed our sins. It washed our sins clean.
1 John 1:7 states, “… and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”
His death, however, is not the end of the story. The glorious resurrection of Jesus the Christ is monumental to the Christian faith because even though His blood cleansed our sins, we are still dead, just sinless. Jesus overcame death, the penalty for sin. Once again we turn to Romans. In 6:9-11 Paul wrote:
“We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died, he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
With the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, He paid the penalty in full once and for all, for all sin.
As we consider the title question again, we see that coming to earth was His divine plan to save us from the penalty of sin while preserving our free-will. He won’t force us to love Him so He offers us this gift. All we have to do is accept it. So, this brings me to my final point: If you have not yet repented and asked God to forgive your sins through the blood of Jesus, and turned your life over to Him, then now is the time to do it. Prayer is simply conversation with God. Talk to Him and pour your heart out. Lay your sins on the table and let Him cleanse you once and for all by being buried with him in baptism (Romans 6:4). Then, submit your life to Him and enjoy the internal peace and freedom that follows.
by Cecelia Shelton