Why do we need Jesus? Ask this to someone in your congregation and you might get a funny look as they respond, “because He died for us silly.” However, the essential reason to why Christ died is left out. If He died for us what did His sacrifice even do? And why would he need to die for us, couldn’t God just magically wipe away our sins without Jesus’ sacrifice? These are the questions we are going to be discussing today.

               The first question can be answered with one word, sin. Ephesians 2 makes a great argument for the necessity of Jesus. “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins in which you previously walked according to the ways of this world, according to the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the disobedient.” The world of sin had us dead in our sin. We were slaves to our own sins with no way of even being able to seek freedom.  God’s beautiful mercy and grace are the only ways we can be accepted into the kingdom of heaven. Without Him and His teaching we will all surely die. Christ is absolutely necessary for our salvation because of our sin. Now we know his Sacrifice was necessary but, what did it actually do?

Covenants are a very foundational part of the New Testament and old Jewish culture. Marriage is a covenant that Christians still partake into this day, and like marriage, we see that some covenants are taken not between just two people, but between God and His chosen people in the Old Testament. The first one we see is in Genesis 15, with God and Abraham. God also made covenants like the Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5. The only problem with these covenants is that they were broken, specifically the Mosaic Covenant in Exodus 19-24. All people have broken at least one of the ten commandments, and as they break them, they break this covenant relationship with God. Breaking a covenant is not something that should be taken lightly. In Genesis 15:7-21 we see God walking through the torn apart bodies of animals.  This symbolizes their promise, it’s like saying, “If I break this Covenant I will be torn apart like these animals. Now usually in Old Testament covenants, both people would walk through the animals but this time only God did. This is God’s way of saying,” do not worry for I will take your punishment if you break this Covenant, and He does, through Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate way to pay for our crimes against God.

               Why couldn’t God save us without Jesus is a question that can be answered in one word, Justice. God is a just God does not by any means clear the guilty. Our part of the Covenant was broken so for justice to be fulfilled and take place punishment must occur. If God just wiped us clean, then he wouldn’t be just. Some one had to be punished for our sin. Jesus’ death was him taking on our punishment for us, on our behalf. This goes to show how much God loves us. He was willing to take all of our punishment so that we can be free.

               However, this punishment cannot be affirmed without the resurrection. Without the resurrection the punishment isn’t fulfilled, Jesus had to be resurrected to show that death had been defeated and Christ has won. Without the resurrection Jesus is nothing but a man who died on a cross. Without the resurrection we have nothing. Through the resurrection and baptism, we are made new through God to

               If there’s anything from this essay you learn and apply to your life I hope it’s the fact that God is a graceful, merciful, and loving God. He loves you so much he sent his only begotten son to die on the cross for us. So instead of living in depression because of your sin, let God break your chains and help you move forward. Christ died for you, so now go share it like He asked us to.