Struggling to understand Jesus' sacrifice

[Tippy]

I feel actually ashamed writing this because I know how important this is to Christian faith but I struggle to fully understand the meaning and reasoning of the sacrifice.

I understand we sin and Jesus died for our sins but then what exactly does that mean?

It's not like the death sacrifice stops us from sinning. Wouldn't it be better if he lived for our sins and reminded us not to?

If I have a dog and I notice all the other dogs are acting wild barking etc...does it make sense to sacrifice my dog whom I love for the bad behaviour of all these other beasts?

I know this is a very fundamental point but for some reason my brain can't actually fully comprehend the importance and meaning of sacrifice so I would appreciate some very simple explanations or books (maybe even ones directed at young people) on this topic.

Thanks!

 

[GoodShepherd]

I feel actually ashamed writing this because I know how important this is to Christian faith but I struggle to fully understand the meaning and reasoning of the sacrifice.

I understand we sin and Jesus died for our sins but then what exactly does that mean?

It's not like the death sacrifice stops us from sinning. Wouldn't it be better if he lived for our sins and reminded us not to?

If I have a dog and I notice all the other dogs are acting wild barking etc...does it make sense to sacrifice my dog whom I love for the bad behaviour of all these other beasts?

I know this is a very fundamental point but for some reason my brain can't actually fully comprehend the importance and meaning of sacrifice so I would appreciate some very simple explanations or books (maybe even ones directed at young people) on this topic.

Thanks!

The way I see the sacrifice of Jesus (God) is that He could have just sent messengers or angels to do it, or just make everything go away He is God right and could have done anything.

But the all mighty all powerful God, the creator of heaven and earth humbled Himself and came into His creations as a man, not in a golden cadilac either with gold chains and power over everyone sitting on a throne but quietly born of a humble virgin in a manger, there wasnt even a room for Jesus to be born in, He was born next too animals.

Then theyl way Jesus did His sacrifice was to be tortured, humiliated, falsely accussed and a horrible death naked and also decended into hell before His resurrection. This amazes me because out of all the ways God could have done it He choose this way on Himself which was very hard and had lots of insults and sufferings, its a great example for all of us and a testimony of a personal God who became like us so that we can relate to Jesus humanity and it also shows that we are also capable though the grace and power of God to overcome as humans.

Can you imagine if Jesus just snapped His fingers from heaven and just forgave us, its not the same, He shed blood and suffered as a man knowing before hand the sufferings He was going to face, this was done to demonstrate His love and forgivness to the world.

 

[Blade Runner]

There are various levels of this but the first part one must understand is that in the ancient world (near East) is that sacrifice is sharing a meal with a "god" and in this case, it is the one true God (as opposed to temples where humans previously were worshipping demons posing as "gods"). I can link a very good description of this in a video of the teaching if you PM me.

Christ becomes the way that people quite literally interact with God, the first time that they can share a meal with him. He is also the Great High Priest and the actual sacrifice, all at the same time. He is the unblemished lamb (as in the Passover) and his blood, previously not drinkable in the Old Covenant, is shared with everyone because the life is in the blood. So he saves his people from (the Angel of) Death and communes with them.

There is no part of this story that does not make it clear, for everyone in the world, that he is the God-man and he fulfills every last aspect of humanity and the connection to God that anyone ever could. As we say, "He was God before the ages and came and lived among men." To him is due all glory - now, and unto ages of ages.

 

[Aboulia]

I feel actually ashamed writing this because I know how important this is to Christian faith but I struggle to fully understand the meaning and reasoning of the sacrifice.

I understand we sin and Jesus died for our sins but then what exactly does that mean?

It's not like the death sacrifice stops us from sinning. Wouldn't it be better if he lived for our sins and reminded us not to?

If I have a dog and I notice all the other dogs are acting wild barking etc...does it make sense to sacrifice my dog whom I love for the bad behaviour of all these other beasts?

I know this is a very fundamental point but for some reason my brain can't actually fully comprehend the importance and meaning of sacrifice so I would appreciate some very simple explanations or books (maybe even ones directed at young people) on this topic.

Thanks!

 

[GodfatherPartTwo]

Different branches of Christianity have different understandings of the Atonement. I will share the classical Reformed understanding.

I understand we sin and Jesus died for our sins but then what exactly does that mean?

It means He propitiated for/satisfied the wrath of God that was against us due to our sin. He took the guilt, penalty, and curse onto Himself to save us from having to endure it. God does not neglect either His Justice against sin or His Grace for sinners.

It's not like the death sacrifice stops us from sinning. Wouldn't it be better if he lived for our sins and reminded us not to?

We believe that those who receive Christ's work through faith are Justified, and if Justified, they will also be Sanctified, meaning that God will work in them to cause them to stop sinning over the course of their lives. If they are Justified and being Sanctified, they will also be Glorified. We believe that Christ is not only our perfect example but that He sent the Holy Spirit to cause us to ever be conformed to that example. Examples in themselves are not sufficient to change us, they only show the goal. We need the very work of God Himself to affect that change in us, and it was accomplished at the cross.

If I have a dog and I notice all the other dogs are acting wild barking etc...does it make sense to sacrifice my dog whom I love for the bad behaviour of all these other beasts?

The analogy does not fully address the Gospel. Christ's sacrifice is fully Trinitarian. Meaning all the persons of the Godhead are pleased and will that Christ lay down His life for the Church. Because Christ is truly God, all sin is an offense against Him. A better analogy would be this: if you crashed my car, you legally owe me restoration, I would be within my right to make you pay for it, but so that I don't bankrupt you and instead choose to be reconciled to you, I forgive you and pay for the damages myself. Even my analogy does not adequately capture the offense to God that our sin is, and neither does it capture the truly gracious nature of His forgiveness that blots out sin.

If God was only Gracious, He could not be Just. If He was only Just, He could not be Gracious. But by sacrificing Himself on the cross, He remains both Just and the Justifier of them that have faith in Jesus.

 

[Sandalwood Peak]

It doesn’t make a lot of sense in my opinion. Not to say I don’t believe it, but the logic isn’t really there. This is the issue I have with the reductionist slogan of “he died for our sins”. What would that mean to a non-Christian? I would wager not a whole lot.

The problem that the event poses is that Jesus is not the only person to be crucified. I wouldn’t be surprised if the likes of Mohammed approached it from this same angle. Crucification doesn’t make you special.

The supplementary information that I feel is required to rectify the whole situation is as follows. Jesus is God. Your physical body is a temple, meaning it’s actually quite special. People’s actions have a spiritual dimension, meaning murder has far reaching implications beyond just a dead organism. Forgiveness was involved in the sacrifice. Death was defied through the resurrection. A new covenant was formed through the sacrifice, this was also the “proof” for the Apostles.

Basically the general idea is that the crucifixion had an inter-dimensional aspect if you will. Reality fundamentally changed. Something happened that should not have been possible, but it happened because God willed it. The magnitude is kind of summarized in the “sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him”.

I’m a retard, not a scholar, but that is how I perceive the whole affair.

 

[Blade Runner]

I've addressed the saying "He died for our sins" which is more in line with protestant emotionalism, and misses the better point (they do the same thing in misunderstanding "faith" as some mental assent), which is that he died on account of our sins. And of course He did, because we put him to death. But he had a greater plan, and even so, he willingly or voluntarily chose death. That is the fundamental change, it was a person who is sinless choosing to enter into this creation and overcome all of its foolishness.

If you read the gospel, by the way, "justice" (in the way that humans think about it) is not something God participates in. That would make life "fair" but we already know it's got nothing to do with it, and we don't even see this in lived experience. Beyond that, it's not "just" at all to even allow a sinless man to die - proving the point.

 

[An0dyne]

“The life is in the Blood.” We see this repeated throughout the Old Testament. When Israel was in bondage to Pharaoh and not a people, the LORD delivered them from death by the blood of the Paschal Lamb on their doorposts. Death literally passed over them, and they passed over from death to life through the waters of the Red Sea. They who were not a people became the people of God.

So, too, with the establishment of the Tabernacle, on the Great Day of Atonement, sacrificial blood was sprinkled in the *Most Holy Place*, literally covering the Mercy Seat as an act of ritual *purification.*

Christ is our true Passover Lamb, who became sin for us by taking death into His eternal Self that we might become the righteousness of God by participating in His Divine Nature. On the Cross, mingled water flowed with Blood from His riven side. Just as Eve was born from the side of Adam, so the Church is born from that riven side. Just as Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, in the waters of Holy Baptism, dyed with Christ’s Blood, we pass from death to life. Just as Israel covered their doorposts with the Blood of the Paschal Lamb, so the Blood of the Paschal Lamb slain from the foundation of the world comes to us in the Mystic Supper, covering the door posts of our lips with His life-giving Blood. “Whoever eats My Flesh and drinks My Blood has eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last Day.” The door imagery also corresponds to the New Testament, as in Revelation 3-4 we see Christ stand at the door of our hearts and knock—the same door that is the door to the heavenly Temple. The Tabernacle was a shadow of the eternal reality that our bodies become the heavenly Temple of God when we participate in His death and Resurrection through these Sacred Mysteries. Our souls become the Holy Place, and He reigns on the Throne of our hearts. The purifying Atonement Blood sprinkled on the Mercy Seat corresponds to this heart-throne. His Atonement Blood purifies our hearts and gives us new life in Communion with Him as His people. This is the point of Christ’s Sacrifice.

 

[Steve Evets]

I feel actually ashamed writing this because I know how important this is to Christian faith but I struggle to fully understand the meaning and reasoning of the sacrifice.

I understand we sin and Jesus died for our sins but then what exactly does that mean?

It's not like the death sacrifice stops us from sinning. Wouldn't it be better if he lived for our sins and reminded us not to?

If I have a dog and I notice all the other dogs are acting wild barking etc...does it make sense to sacrifice my dog whom I love for the bad behaviour of all these other beasts?

I know this is a very fundamental point but for some reason my brain can't actually fully comprehend the importance and meaning of sacrifice so I would appreciate some very simple explanations or books (maybe even ones directed at young people) on this topic.

Thanks!

Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord
Hebrews 9:22 - And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.
John 14:6 - I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

You have to go back to the fall of Adam in Genesis 3. God had told Adam and Eve that they would die if they ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they disobeyed God, they sinned, and separated themselves from God. They immediately realized this, and quickly tried to cover their newly understood nakedness with fig leaves.

Several times in Scripture God is described as being longsuffering, slow to anger, etc. Genesis 3 is the first demonstration we have of this, as he did not kill Adam and Eve on the spot, despite telling them they would die. Instead he showed them grace, declaring that the Seed of the woman would eventually smash the serpent. But God, in His nature, cannot overlook or abide by sin in any way. So death had to come in, and after He pronounced the various curses that came to pass because of sin, God killed an animal and clothed Adam and Eve with its skins. In this way, it was established that only the shedding of blood was sufficient to cover Adam and Eve's nakedness, where the fig leaf was insufficient. So it went with the sacrificial system described later on on the OT, those repeated animal sacrifices were acceptable to God, at least in a temporal sense.

But ultimately animal sacrifices could never be enough to reunite sinful man with a holy God. Enter Christ, who became man, joined us in this corrupted world, and did not sin, offering Himself in death, such that His shed, spotless blood would be adequate to cover the sins of all who believe. The significance of this is without that sacrifice, there would have been no way for man to reunite with God. In another of His mercies, at the end of Genesis 3, God kicks man out of Eden and bars them from returning, thereby preventing a now sinful man from living forever and cementing his corruption for eternity. If there is no death, there is no payment for sin. But because death came in, Christ could then die and offer His perfect blood for us. His resurrection, ascension and seating at the right hand of the Father was confirmation of God's acceptance of the sacrifice, thus opening the only way for humanity to reunite with God to eternal life, as stated in John 14.

If Christ had just been, say, a unique man on the earth who just lived forever, always there in the flesh to remind men of all generations not to sin, as I think you are getting at, that still would have left all men separated from God permanently since all have sinned.