God’s incredible love for man surpasses all our understanding. We can substitute our feelings for what we think God might have felt. We can imagine what we would do for our child to save him, and we can imagine what we might do for other people’s children to redeem them. However, we cannot reach the level of understanding necessary to comprehend what God did and has done for us. Jesus told Nicodemus, “…even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:14b-17).
The atoning sacrifice could neither be an angel nor any other member of the heavenly host. All were insufficient. It could not be a man—all humanity is flawed by sin. It could not be an animal, for the blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin. The only propitiatory sacrifice had to be God Himself, but it wasn’t enough for it to be God. Not only was there a need for a sacrifice, but there was also need for a Mediator—someone who could bridge the separation between humanity and the Father. The sacrifice had to be the Son (Matthew 20:28; Mark 9:12; John 1:14; Romans 1:3-4; 8:3; Hebrews 10:1-2).
When Jesus came, He lived to be a sacrifice for humanity. He lived flawlessly in terms of righteousness, living without sin (Hebrews 4:14-15) and without guile (1 Peter 2:22). Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan, and the temptations of humanity were answered (Matthew 4:1-11; John 8:1-11). He lived as no one else has ever, nor will ever, live. Moreover, He did so for you and me so that He could defeat our greatest enemies—Satan and Death (Hebrews 2:14).
Did Jesus have to do this? Was it beyond His choice, or was He forced to obey? No. Instead, “he humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8b). Let us live in view of the cross and the “…Lamb as though it had been slain…” (Revelation 5:6) because He died for our transgressions and was bruised for our iniquity.
