His Story

Many have heard the phrase “Jesus died for our sins”. But what of it? Really, what does it mean?

I had heard this typical church phrase growing up, but it took a while to actually get what it meant and why it had anything to do with me. One thing that really helped me was understanding the whole story – not just the part about Jesus, but God’s history in the world since the beginning and how He set the stage for what Jesus would do.

My favorite thing to do is share this story with kids – the historical story of why Jesus had to die for our sins. So here it is in all it’s childlike simplicity

God created everything. The world. The shrubs. The grubs. Everything.

He loved to create. He even made a sweet garden where he would hang out with His creation – His favorite creation – man. Man was made in His image, so they are precious to Him.

The garden rocked, quite frankly.
It was pretty.
It had good stuff to eat.
The weather was always nice.
And God was there hanging out with His peeps.

But one day these peeps who had been living in the lap of luxury – living in the reality of immortality – living in the presence of the actual God, made a fatal mistake. They disobeyed Him.

He gave them one rule – don’t eat from that tree over there. But the enemy* (satan/devil) tempted them into disobedience trying to convince these two peeps that God was holding out on them.

(*note the Bible says that Satan was a fallen angel. He was basically the worship leader in heaven, but pride got the better of him and he wanted God’s job, so God had to kick him out, so he and lots of other angels who were on his side fell. They ended up here on earth (yay.) And now work to screw with everything God loves – especially man. Think of it this way. Satan is ticked at God. But God is God and quite frankly, Satan can’t do squat to God. So he goes after those who look like God, to get back at God. Thus you have what is written in Ephesians 6 – there is a spiritual battle going on which we do not see, but which we are affected by everyday.) I digress.

So, man has disobeyed and is no longer perfect. So man can no longer be in the presence of a perfect God. Man is cast out of the garden to work the ground themselves for food, and because they have left the presence of God, life deteriorates- and eventually man dies. Here is where we get the reality of “the wages of sin is death”(Romans 6:23). The price we pay for disobeying God is death – physical (our bodies die) and spiritual (we are separated from Him in life and even after we die – i.e. we are not set to go to heaven, we are destined for hell, along with satan and all the other angels who disobeyed God – permanent separation from God). God not only kicked man out of Eden, but He also had some choice words for Satan who had tempted man into disobedience. Basically God told Satan “I’m going to kick your butt, and I’m not even going to do it myself, nope…I’m going to use those people you tempted and thought were so weak. Through them, your days are numbered. Ha.”

Luckily for man. God is love. And He can’t stand the fact that He is separated from His most favorite creation. So He sends them a message – “Here is how you can be perfect, so we can hang out again.” This message is formally known as “The Ten Commandments”.

Unfortunately not one person can fulfill these 10 commandments perfectly. We continue to disobey or sin. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). God knows the wages of sin is death and so He tells His people how they must make sacrifices to get rid of their sin – that blood will cover their sin. They begin to sacrifice animals according to His instruction.

The only problem is that these animals aren’t cutting it. They have to keep making sacrifices because they keep sinning – year after year.

(* You may at this point be thinking – um…this is gross…all this sacrificing, why would these people ever believe God was in this? But these people were utterly convinced that there was a powerful God and that this truly was His instruction. You see, at this point in time, these people had just walked away from 400 years in slavery in Egypt. God had led them, parting a sea, via a cloud of smoke by day and a cloud of fire by night, after initiating all kinds of plagues to break them out of Egypt in the first place.. Yeah, I would have pretty open ears if some tornado lit up like a glow worm and led me through a desert and through a huge body of water, too. So God had proved Himself to them as REAL and POWERFUL and He was freeing them, so it seemed He was on their side. All the more reason to listen to what He said and do it. The other gods made rather a poor showing, since they were pretty much made of wood or gold and not actually real at all.)

So the sacrifices continue. And God begins to fill the peeps in about a greater plan…a plan to kick satan’s butt and redeem man. He was going to send a King and establish His Kingdom.

So God began to send messengers to the people (we call them Prophets) to give them clues (we call them prophecies) about this new King, where He would be born and what He would be like and all that jazz. And the anticipation grew as the people of God waited for a great King that would rule with power in righteousness and justice.

And they waited.

And they waited.

And some just grew tired of waiting and figured He wasn’t coming.

And they waited.

And then He came. This sneaky plan of God’s was being unleashed. His people were waiting for a great King. But the King was born to a young mother, in a stable, in a small town, nothing really regal about it (oh except the host of angels that came out to see it and those three kings from the east who traveled a far bearing gifts and all, and of course the fact that the baby was born to a virgin). But to the naked human eye, it just seemed like another little peasant kid was born. But this was not just some ordinary kid. It was a King…and even more than that, it was actually God Himself – in the flesh. Sneaky, eh?

While the world waited for prestige and glory and honor and riches to reveal the identity of this coming King. God snuck in through the back door, walking in meekness and humility, desiring to serve all, making Himself nothing – and living without sin. But as He grew up, He began to speak of His Kingdom – one of peace, righteousness, grace, love, perfection. He began to teach about how to be a part of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven. He was telling them how to get back to Eden, as it were (somewhat metaphorically speaking), how to have a relationship with God again. Jesus said “I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly” (John 10:10). He would speak about the scriptures, the words that had been recorded in the past and breathe understanding upon them. People were amazed, captivated by His teaching. He also performed some rather amazing miracles like raising people from the dead, casting out demons, healing the blind, multiplying food, walking on water, calming the seas, just to name a few. People began to follow Him with a hunch that maybe this guy was really a somebody. Maybe this guy was going to be King. The expectation was that He would take over, like a typical King, perhaps brining an end to the Roman occupation at that time in Israel.

But instead, He was killed.

You see, word got out that Jesus claimed to be God. Which obviously means He’s either crazy, lying, or in fact ….is God. Saying you are God didn’t go down well with some of God’s people, especially the Pharisees (the religious leadership), they thought it was a little blasphemous, and it is – unless you are Him.

So they beat Him….crucified Him…and buried Him. His followers were a little confused because they thought He was going to take over the land and be King with riches and power and all that stuff.

But He died. And He bled.

But after years and years of the people trying to be perfect, and sacrificing daily, yearly for their sins. God stepped in, and became our sacrifice. No more would ever be required. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Jesus died on the cross for our sins. And made a way for us to be reconciled to God. He was a perfect sacrifice because he lived a life without sin – He had no guilt, but paid the price for our guilt.

He proved the power of His blood, the identity of Himself as God in that three days after He died. He resurrected Himself from the dead. Walked around again for 40 days, hundreds of people saw Him, and his followers understood this wasn’t just any Kingdom He had been talking about. “Christ died for our sins…He was buried…He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures…He appeared to Peter, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred…” (1 Corinthians 15:3-6). He implored His followers to go and tell the rest of the world that there was now a way to have a relationship with God – through Him.

This was God’s Kingdom, one far greater than any earthly Kingdom – death couldn’t even keep this King down. And so, His followers were so convinced that they had seen what they had seen and heard what they had heard, they began to talk to others about Jesus – and the promise of His Kingdom – that it was available to all, if they would accept His sacrifice for their disobedience to God, all of their sins would be forgiven – God would see them as perfect. And even in this life they could have relationship with God, like back in the good old days in the garden. His followers were empowered by the Spirit of God – the very presence of God dwelling inside them, that they would serve Jesus and share the good news with others even if it meant death. And for many of them, it did.

So here we are thousands of years later and the message continues to be circulated that God became man and died for the sins of all men that they could be reconciled to God. Satan lost, the cross was his fatal blow. Death no longer had power over man to separate them from God forever. God had made a way to conquer death – the blood of His son, Jesus shed for all who would accept it. And a Kingdom is being established. Jesus is coming back for His people, to reign over His Kingdom – those who chose to believe Him and live for Him. He came in meekness and servitude, and He will come again in power and might and “every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.” There will be no doubts about who the King is, but we only have one lifetime to decide if we want to be His.

So that’s the story of why Jesus died for our sins. The Bible is an account of God’s interaction with man from the beginning, through Jesus’ life – and even to the end. Yes. God even tells us how the story ends, the ultimate victory when Jesus comes back for His Kingdom – those who know Him.

So what do I do with this information?

Test it. Read the Bible for yourself, and hear what it has to say. I suggest the book of John in the Bible is a good place to start. There are resources out there to investigate the validity of the Bible and the historical and archeological proof that this wasn’t all just a felt board story, but actually happened. I would encourage you to look into these things for yourself. I can pass on resources, but I can’t convince you – only the Holy Spirit can reveal this truth.

Here’s a good website to begin looking for answers http://www.carm.org/

If the Holy Spirit has convinced you that this is true and you just want in on it – it’s really just an act of faith: “By grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

You believe the truth that Jesus is the way,the truth, the life – the only way to have relationship with the Almighty God.

You repent – turning away from a life of disobedience to God and begin to live for His Kingdom.

And you receive His forgivness and salvation through faith in Jesus.

It isn’t about a magic prayer or experience. It’s about identifying Truth and beginning to live each day by it. This isn’t a decision meant to be made and then thrown somewhere in the back of your closet. It is meant to utterly transform you and your life to reflect the Kingdom of God and Jesus Himself – so that your life becomes a living testimony to the Truth, so that others may enter into relationship with God as they interact with you. And it is meant for you to experience the reality of a relationship with a living God even now.

It’s a nice story and all, but aren’t all religions just the same, pretty much, just different sides of the same coin?

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me’” (John 14:6).

It is logically impossible for all religions to simultaneously be true. They claim different things about the character and person of God, and even His historical interactions with this world. According to logic, just empirical fact, this is not possible. Which is all the more reason we should seek out Truth for ourselves and seek what holds water. Not what makes us feel good, but what is TRUE. I implore you to seek out Truth – if what I have shared is true, if Jesus really is “the truth” you will discover this if you seek it out. Here’s a simple prayer that has seemed to prove very effective for people, “God,if you’re real, show yourself to me!”

God desires to reveal Himself to you more than you can imagine. He has a destiny and purpose for your life. He loves you so much He took your death sentence on Himself. He is pursuing you even now. Are you willing to trust Him? May God bless you on your journey.