Doctrine
"Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?"
Luke 24:26
Men often ask why God did not simply forgive sin with a word. Why the cross? Why the blood, the nails, the darkness, the cry? The Bible answers that the cross was not a tragedy that overtook the Lord Jesus Christ, nor one option among many. It was a must — the only way a holy God could be just, and yet save the guilty.
God is holy, and His law is holy. Sin is not a small thing to be waved aside; it carries a penalty, and that penalty is death. A righteous Judge cannot simply ignore guilt, or He would cease to be righteous.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:20)
From the beginning God taught that sin is covered only by the death of an innocent substitute, whose blood is shed in the sinner's place. All the lambs and sacrifices of old pointed forward to this one truth, and to the one perfect Sacrifice who would come.
"And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission." (Hebrews 9:22)
No ordinary man could bear this price, for every man owes the debt for his own sin. Only one who was Himself sinless, and who was more than man — God manifest in the flesh — could stand in our place and bear the sin of the world. On the cross He took our guilt upon Himself and suffered in our stead.
"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." (Isaiah 53:5)
"Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree." (1 Peter 2:24)
In the garden, the Lord Jesus Christ prayed that if it were possible the cup might pass from Him. It did not pass — not because the Father was unwilling to hear, but because there was no other way to save us. Love held Him to the cross as surely as the nails.
"O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." (Matthew 26:42)
At the cross, mercy and justice met. God's justice was fully satisfied, because sin was fully paid for; and God's mercy flowed freely, because the payment was made by Another. This is why the cross is a must — and this is why it is the greatest display of love the world has ever seen.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."Romans 5:8