In Order to Save Us, Jesus Had To Die On The Cross

Section 4: Jesus

Week 3: Jesus Came to Live and Die to Save Us from Sin

Day 3: In Order to Save Us, Jesus Had to Die on the Cross

Isa. 53:1-6, Rom. 3:21-26

Yesterday we took a look at the role Jesus’ life played in saving us from our sin. Today we’re going to take a similar look at Jesus’ death. Go back to our Thingumabob illustration. Just like yesterday, you want to get the brand-new Thingumabob 3. Once again you find it on Amazon for just $10 and you have to have it. Unfortunately, you don’t have any money in your account. However, someone graciously deposits $10. Hooray! The Thingamabob 3 is yours!

Hold on a second, though. The Doohickey you bought with your debit card yesterday just hit your account. On one side of the ledger sits the $10 deposit, and on the other sits the $10 purchase. Because they offset each other, even with the deposit, you’re back to square one.

That’s the situation we’d be in if Jesus had only lived a perfect life for us. His righteousness has infinite value. The problem is, the debt we owe for our sin is infinitely large as well. That means, as long as the debt we owe for sin remains on our accounts, we’re out of luck. That’s why Jesus had to do more than just live a righteous life.  He also had to die to pay the penalty for our sins. As our representative, the payment he made was credited to our accounts. As a result, his death wiped out the debt we owed.  And with the debt gone, the only thing left on our ledger is his righteousness. 

Reflection Questions:

Do you have any debt that you wish you didn’t? How does that debt make you feel? If you went to make your next payment and found someone had already paid it off for you, how would that feel?

Challenge:

Rest today and enjoy the reality that Jesus has fully paid your debt with God!

Want to Dig Deeper?

Jesus went to the cross to save us. But what exactly happened on the cross and how did it bring about our salvation? There have been a number of different views throughout Church history, including the ransom, satisfaction, moral influence, example, and penal-substitution theories. We take a look at each in the second Digging Deeper Section.