God is all knowing He must have known that his creation was flaued creature , sin nature is the default program of man What possible connection could the painful and humulating death of his only son Jesus and mans hope of eternal redemption salvation through the shed blood of Christ for man kind. I just can not get past this issue of why God would want his son to suffer to pay for the sins of mankind.And to pay in what way how does the death of one person equal salavation for all humanity. And why would God require any thing from man when he created everything that man has confused

9/2/2007 12:41:28 AM by paddyboy, Member of Delve into Jesus since 4/19/2007

Have you the the article "Why Did Jesus Have To Die?" Click here to go to the article. I would be very interested to know if you found this article helpful, and to discuss the issues with you here after you read it. In my opinion, this is one of the most difficult questions in Christianity and so I would love the opportunity to discuss this with you.

9/3/2007 8:58:53 AM by arsindelve, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries

I like arsindelve's article and I think it strikes the right balance for making this topic understandable, but not too theologically deep. But one thing he does not discuss is the relationship between Adam and Jesus, and the relationship between sin and death. Paul explains this very well in Romans, especially Chapter 5-8. If you ask me, Paul's letters are very hard to digest completely, so I have just re-read Chapter 5 and 6 very slowly and with the use of the IVP Commentary on Romans. Here are the important points I get out of it.

• 1) Sin entered the world through one man: "When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. " (Romans 5:12)
• 2) Sin results in death - we know this from the verse above, as well as the well known Romans 6:23, "The wages of sin in death."
• 3) Jesus was the one man by whom sin is overcome. Romans 5:18 - "Yes, Adam's one sin brought condemnation upon everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness makes all people right in God's sight and gives them life. "
• 4) Jesus had to die and be resurrected because sin is death, therefore His resurrection shows His victory over sin. Romans 6:6 says, "Our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. "

Paul summarizes this in Romans 6:9-11, "We are sure of this because Christ rose from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once to defeat sin, and now he lives for the glory of God. So you should consider yourselves dead to sin and able to live for the glory of God through Christ Jesus."

I hope this helps. Like arsindelve, I hope you will join us in this discussion to talk about this very confusing and difficult issue. Thanks - Mark.

9/3/2007 9:26:27 AM by marklang, Member of Delve into Jesus since 4/3/2007

Hi Paddyboy...:) I never stopped to ask God - why Your Son? All I know is I am soooooooooooo thankful! If God witheld His Son from us we would all be lost! That's proof of HOW MUCH GOD LOVES US! If someone says they love you but won't share with you the thing that is most precious to them, wouldn't you doubt the depth of their love?

The article was beautiful Arsindelve and your Romans addition was great Marklang:)

1/13/2008 6:16:59 AM by Sandya, Member of Delve into Jesus since 1/7/2008

In the Old Testament, sinners were required to bring "unblemished" animals to the priest for sacrifice when they sinned. Let's say one man stole another man's cloak, the stealing man might have to find a calf without blemish to take for sacrifice to offer to God. Since there was no man without blemish, Jesus came down to be the sacrifice for us.

God made His laws and he could not back out, like the king in the story, so, Jesus came to die for all of us at once. It's hard to imagine giving up your life for someone else's sin. But that's what makes Jesus, Lord of us all. He bought us with the price of His life. So, since He died for us, it's only right that we live for Him.

That was my dime's worth of thought.

1/20/2008 6:21:29 PM by mrspiggy, Member of Delve into Jesus since 1/18/2008

The 1st time i look at discussions, i'm blown away, ThankYou Lord. Never could understand the cross, Praised Him for it, heard a lot said but it just didn't make sense, i gave up asking, thank you Arsindelve Executive Director, i even feel different. I pray that paddyboy feels the same. Praise You Lord.

9/19/2008 5:03:44 AM by mammak, Member of Delve into Jesus since 9/3/2008