Cost for Our Redemption John 3:1-18

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8, NASB).

Today’s article is the first of a two part series that addresses our salvation. The first article gives a brief summary about the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. The second article next week gives a brief summary of the resurrection of Jesus. Together, the crucifixion and the resurrection are necessary if humankind is to have their sins forgiven and to have new life that is acceptable to God. Christians celebrate these two events together as the Easter holiday. There is not enough space here to cover everything that is included, so our discussion will be brief. As always, it is hoped that the reader will study more on what is discussed here. Let us begin today with the crucifixion.

The crucifixion is necessary for our redemption. The crucifixion cost humankind nothing, but it is very costly. It cost God His Son. What makes this true? We will see that the death of Jesus on the cross is not limited to the cessation of physical life. It is also the separation of the Father and the Son. Death is the absence from the presence of God. Throughout all eternity God the Father and God the Son coexist together. The crucifixion requires the separation of the Father and the Son. We are familiar with the loss and grief that we experience when death takes away someone that we love. I sometimes wonder if we really think about the loss and sorrow that both the Father and the Son experience on that day when they experience separation and loss. What happened that made the crucifixion necessary?

We cannot appreciate Easter if we do not know about God’s love. What do we understand about the familiar passage recorded in John’s Gospel? “‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life’” (Jn. 3:16, NASB). There are two things that catch our attention when we look at the first two verbs in this statement. First, God loved. Secondly, God gave. Taken together, these two verbs tell us that because God loves the world, it is necessary that God demonstrate His love by giving something. John 3:16 tells us that God gave His Son. Paul tells us that God gave His Son as a substitute for humankind because of the need of sinners. Those who believe in Him are saved and have eternal life. What does God’s love look like?

More often than not the word “love” means having a good feeling about someone. Love is having a positive regard for someone. Love makes us happy and at the same time if you make me happy I will love you. God does not love us this way. God loves us unconditionally. God does not seek to make us happy. Rather, God’s love requires Him to do what is best for our good. People or things might make us feel good and happy, but that does not mean that it is good for us. A good example is the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol reduces our inhibitions, and this allows us to have the courage or lack of restraint to do something that proves detrimental to our well being. God loves the world and He is willing to give His Son to die on the cross to save us from our sins. God is willing to be separated from His Son, not because this makes Him and the Son feel good, but, rather both the Father and the Son are willing to pay this necessary great price because it what we need most. Jesus dies for our good.

This price is necessary because all people are born sinners. Now, let us clarify something. When a baby is born it is born innocent in terms of sociology. The baby has done no wrong against another person and society. However, in relationship to God all are born sinners. Now, I did not say that all babies are born committing a sinful action. When I say that all people are born sinners, I mean that all people are born with a sinful nature. It is because of the sinful nature in all people that all people will in time commit a sinful act.

Since we are born with a sinful nature we are born separated from God. We are in bondage to the wrath of God. God’s demonstrates His wrath when He expels the first man and woman from the garden (Gen. 3:23). Driven from the garden the man and the woman are separated from God. They cannot reenter the garden. “So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24, NASB). Thus, the man and the woman die in the day that they eat fruit from the forbidden tree in the sense that their disobedience to God causes their separation from God.

The crucifixion is necessary because it appeases the wrath of God. You may be asking: Does God love us? If God loves us, why does He have wrath. The love of God can be demonstrated with a money coin. The coin has two sides; the head and the tail. Now, you cannot have the coin without having both sides. The love of God has two sides. There is the wrath side, and there is the grace side. When we look at John 3:16-18, we see that God’s love gives us the opportunity to choose the grace of God or continue to live under the wrath of God. John writes, “‘For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God’” (Jn. 317-18). Again, as seen in verse eighteen we live under the wrath of God. We can be free from His wrath if we believe in Jesus. When a person believes in Jesus they are saved from their bondage to the wrath of God, and God gives them eternal life.

The crucifixion is necessary because the penalty for sin is death. Death means no life with God. Thus death is more than a physical state of being. Death is that, and death also includes separation from God. At the same time life is being in the presence of God, but God cannot abide sin. When Moses nears the presence of God, God forbids him to come closer because he is about to leave a sinful world to come into the holy presence of God. “When the LORD saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses, Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ Then He said, ‘Do not come near here; remove the sandals from your feet, for the place which you are standing is holy ground’” (Exod. 3:4-5, NASB).

The cost of sin is death. The crucifixion is God giving His Son to bear the sins of all people for all times. On the cross Jesus bears our sins. That He bears our sins is seen in His separation from the Father. Mark records these words of Jesus: “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?” (Mark 15:34, NASB). Thus, the crucifixion cost Jesus His life. His death is a vicarious death; His life is a substitute for our life.

Jesus dies on the cross and in His death He becomes the means by which we are reconciled to God. Having paid the penalty for sins Christ restores the friendship between God and man by using His death as a means for settling God’s grievance against man. In the Old Testament the Law requires the sacrifice of bulls and goats for the sins of the people. However, these sacrifices fail to remove sin (Heb. 10:1-4). Jesus is the sacrifice that removes sins. His blood sanctifies the believer cleansing them of all sins (Heb. 10:14); making them holy (1 Pet. 2:9); a new creation in Christ with new life in the presence of God (2 Cor. 5:17). Yes, the crucifixion of Jesus was an act of human cruelty reserved by Rome to be executed on the vilest criminals.

Jesus is crucified and His death is sufficient to cover all sins for all people for all times. Our redemption, our justification, our sanctification, and our entrance into the presence of God is summarized in the one word “salvation.” We could not pay the price, but Jesus paid the cost in full.