Death of Jesus

QUESTION: Why is the death of Jesus significant?

ANSWER:

The first Bible verse I remember learning was: "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). However, it was not until I had accepted Christ as my Savior that I realized the meaning of the word "gave." It meant the death of Jesus Christ for my sin. Christ paid my sin penalty for me. Death means separation and as a child of Adam, I was spiritually separated from God. The death of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the debt of sin that I owed.

However, it was not the physical death of Jesus Christ that saved me. If that were all it took to save the world, then any one could have died as did many sacrificed animals prior to the coming of the "Lamb that takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). It was the only begotten sinless Son of God that had to die and it was not just His physical death that occurred on the cross that day. It was the transaction between Jesus Christ and God the Father when the Sin of the world was placed upon Christ and God turned His face away and Jesus was spiritually separated from the Father because of the weight of sin. During those three hours of darkness (Luke 23:44), Jesus bore upon His sinless soul the sin of the world. That separation from the Father was the price the Savior paid for the salvation of man. Then when Jesus was reconciled with the Father, He gave up His physical life. "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost" (Luke 23:46)

Therefore the death of Jesus Christ was two-fold and that is something that is hard to wrap one's mind around. The death of Jesus Christ was the only way to reconcile a lost and spiritually dead world to God. The fact that I am a "whosoever will" is the joy of my life. The death of Jesus Christ means that I have eternal life in Him. How thankful I am that I came to that realization and I praise and thank God for the difference that it makes in my life right now and the hope that I have for eternity.