Alpha Course, Why Did Jesus Die?

Tonight's Alpha Course session again focuses on Jesus, who I noted last week is at the heart of Christianity. Last week considered who Jesus was, and looked at his Lordship. This week's focus is on the cross.

The cross has become an important symbol of our faith because it represents Jesus' ultimate sacrifice made on our behalf. That, in itself, is an awesome thought to consider. Most people — Christians and non-Christians have heard the verse John 3:16, which reads, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." But how many of us really stop to consider how incredible that idea is?

Nicky does a good job of breaking it down into a couple simple points. First, why it was necessary. Basically, Jesus made the sacrifice because we are imperfect beings. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Not some of us make mistakes — we all do. That is a fundamental idea in our faith, and fundamental to understanding Jesus' sacrifice.

Second, Jesus' sacrifice was the solution to our problem of sin. I love how John Stott puts it — calling the crucifixion the self-substitution of God. 1 Peter 2:24 says, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” The words of Peter are a mirror of one of my favorite descriptions of Jesus' coming sacrifice offered in the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah. Isaiah 53:4-6 says, "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all."

Most of us can process that idea intellectually, but one of my favorite moments from this Alpha session is when Nicky offers the powerful description of what it would have been like from a physical standpoint. Then flips it and talks about what it would have been like from a Spiritual standpoint. It is a lot to take in, especially considering that he is the God of the universe. Jesus, the perfect lamb of God, took the sin of the world — not just in the past and present, but the future as well — on himself and suffered a horrific physical death on our behalf.

That is a pretty awesome thought and an incredible gift.