Why Did He Have to Die
When we are asked the simple question about what the meaning of Easter is or why did Jesus Christ, Immanuel came and died? What have we been accustomed to reciting as our standard response? What do hear in every Sunday school report in every church, in every denomination, and at every opportunity? What is heard from every pulpit across America? What is the message the world hears from the saved, from the elect, from the body of Christ?
“Jesus died for our sins and the sins of the world so we can go to heaven. He died on the cross so we could have a second chance at life. His death brought new life.”
There isn’t a living soul on God’s green earth that would disagree with the above statement. I have given such a statement myself. If we are honest with ourselves we could all come to the mutual understanding that yes; we have said the same thing. As the body of Christ we should give permission to our hearts to allow it to soak into our being and merge with our minds. As this happens, you can literally feel all sorts of emotions well up inside you. Like a boiling pot of water, you can see the slow boil transform into a roar as it overflows. You can taste that knot in your throat as the corners of our eyes begin to flood and the tears rush down our faces because the thoughts of forgiveness bring back memories of lives we left behind.
I purpose that we have just revealed that part of us that we all deny existing. In our attempts to be noble and grateful to God we have shown what matters the most to us. As try to appear holy and filled with piety, we find ourselves using flattering speak as well as meaning words. We have missed the most important element that make up what we call Christianity. In our quest for the “get out of jail for free” card, the essence of it all have flown over our heads.
We have forgotten that the body of Christ is a community of believers who work together to spread the Gospel to those we seek restoration. We preach the Gospel not to make converts but to make disciples. A convert and a disciple or two very different and distinct persons. To gain a better and more explicitly understanding just think of a person who rents a home and one who owns a home. The two persons have completely contradicting mindsets. The renter is looking for what he can get for the money he pays in rent. There is no mutual interest between him and the landlord. He doesn’t look to improve the property or taking on any cost for it. He is looking to the landlord to simply provide a service. When there is a problem he looks to the landlord to fix it. When the landlord doesn’t come through, he files a grievance with the court system. The home owner seeks to add value to his home. He has a long term commitment to the home as well as the community that the home is in. He has a shared interest in his neighbors and their well-being. He seeks to increase the beauty and strength of his house and neighborhood.
Christianity is about a community of home owners who already have their names seated in heaven. It is a community of believers that are in relationship with one another. They’re not merely tenants but investors who love their homes and because they love their homes the things that they do reflect that. And they do what they do because of it, regardless of how hard or how much work it is or even if the reward is now or later. The owner is not concern with the payoff but what the relationship with the home provides for all that enter and those that live there.
When we concentrate on the immediate gain of having our sins forgiven and making it the main point of a sacrifice, we reject God’s heart and why He gave his Only Begotten Son. We ignore the language that is used throughout the bible. We have to in order to arrive to the conclusion that Easter’s first point is wiping the slant clean.
17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [h]he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and [i]He has [j]committed to us the word of reconciliation.
Corinthians 5:17-19
Every time the Holy Scriptures mentions what Christ has done on Easter we find this word reconciliation or reconciled.
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; [d]though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified [e]by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved [f]by His life. 11 And not only this, [g]but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Romans 5:6-11
In Romans 5:10, the word of God says that when we hated God and we were against God, even if it was just being indifferent to God, we were reconciled to God because of Jesus’ death on the cross. Christ’s death reconciled us, it was Jesus Christ’s life on earth is was saved us! And we are to praise Jesus as we can now blessed God; God can know receive our praise because Christ’s death gave us reconciliation. Ephesians 2:16 speaks on how Christ’s death brings the community together because of this reconciliation. What does sin actually do? Sin separates from God, it pushes us away from him. What does reconciliation do and what does it mean? It is the restoration of friendly relations, it is the bringing together of two parties that have been separated. It is the coexisting in harmony and peace where there was once wrath. It’s making the account balanced and consistent with another and thus allowing for transactions to begin but not yet completed. Reconciliation is focused on rebuilding and repairing the relationship. Mutually agree to leave the past in the past.
But to God it is much more, it is restoring his family. It is signing adoption papers for you with the blood of Christ. Jesus’ life on earth saved you because his perfect life was lived and gave to us to make us the children God always wanted. And Jesus’ death made the adoption real. So Easter is our day to thank God for making us His very own. He did all of this because He wants to be more that a Father to us but he wants us to call him “Abba” daddy. Only kids who really and truly know their fathers personally and intimately call out daddy. God wants a relationship with us so badly that he didn’t even spare his Son.
Anointed Place Ministries 
I pray you are well. God bless thee and make his face shine upon thee and give thee strength, in Jesus Christ name, amen.
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