[Truth] 6. Why did Jesus crucify Himself?

>
6. Why did Jesus crucify Himself?

Why did Jesus come in the flesh and allow Himself to be sacrificed by his creatures?

6.1. Original sin

The first humans, Adam and Eve, succumbed to the deception of the Devil and ate the fruit of good and evil, which God had commanded them never to consume (See Genesis 3).

Adam and Eve learned about good and evil by eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge. Knowing good and evil does not merely mean having knowledge of what is good and what is bad; it means becoming close to God and the Devil, the sources of good and evil.

The fruit of good and evil contains elements of the Devil, so if you were to eat it the Devil may claim you.

He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. (1 John 3:8)

Sin does not merely imply wrong deeds; it encompasses the Devil's elements that have entered us through the course of the acts. It does not go away even if you are forgiven by another.

If sin was simply a wrongdoing, there would be no reason for Jesus to have come to earth and undergone his own sacrifice. God’s forgiveness of our sins would have been enough.

In Old Testament times, God created a system of forgiveness that involved the blood of animals to represent washing away sins with the blood of Jesus. To wash away our sins, God needed the blood sacrifice of His Son.

God cast Adam out of the Garden of Eden fearing that he, with the elements of the Devil, would forever be lost to the Devil's side if he would eat the fruit of the tree of life.

And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. (Genesis 3:22-23)

6.2. Where is the Garden of Eden?

Consider this question: Where is the Garden of Eden?

Many people believe that the Garden of Eden is somewhere in the Middle East because the Bible states that the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers begin in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14).

However, the Garden of Eden is not on earth. Let's see why.

In the Garden of Eden, there was a tree of life.

Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Genesis 2:8-9)

The New Testament refers to the location of the tree of life as paradise.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Revelation 2:7)

But, as explained earlier, Paradise is in the third heaven, the world of God, where the apostle Paul went (2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

Therefore, paradise, the Garden of Eden, is actually in God's world.

Adam, who lived there, was created as a spirit. And because of sin, he was cast out of God’s world.

6.3. Devil's rule

Driven out by God and forced to live on earth, Adam and Eve were brought under the Devil's control.

A devil, who tested Jesus, revealed his dominion over humanity.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." (Luke 4:5-7)

But who gave this devil authority over the whole world?

It was the devil's king, Satan.

Satan dominates Hades outside the universe, and the devil who tested Jesus is his subordinate who received authority from Satan to dominate all people on earth.

Therefore, when a person dies, the soul is taken to Hades by demons. One day, God will destroy the Devil, and all the dead will emerge from Hades and receive judgment.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done. (Revelation 20:13)

6.4. Death and resurrection

The Bible says that the death of the flesh “sleeps”. This means that the dead will later wake up and be judged (Daniel 12:2). Death in the Bible indicates a spirit that has been abandoned by God.

To be forsaken by God and controlled by the Devil because of sin is called ‘First Death’.

Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. (Romans 5:12-13)

Escape from the First Death is called the ‘First Resurrection’. Those who have experienced First Resurrection include martyrs who became heavenly soldiers (Revelation 20:4-6). Through His resurrection, Jesus became the ‘firstfruits’ (1 Corinthians 15:20). To represent it, God commanded to bring the best of the firstfruits of their soil (Exodus 23:19).

To escape Hades after the Devil's destruction is called the ‘Second Resurrection’. These people will be judged, and those who are not saved after judgment will be thrown into the lake of fire, which is the ‘Second Death.’

The Devil is a murderer and the father of lies.

You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. (John 8:44)

To save all those drawn to the Devil, you must first catch the Devil. This will not be with words; there must be a war.

For 6,000 years, throughout the history of mankind, God has been gathering soldiers to destroy the Devil. The story of this military will be covered in detail later.

6.5. Jesus' sacrifice

For God to select someone as a soldier, they must be free from sin. This is because you cannot enter the world of God as a sinner.

God drove out Adam due to his sin, but Adam's descendants were ultimately more sinful. Therefore, no one can go to God.

The problem is not only that we cannot wash away our sins ourselves, but that we do not understand what sin is.

Our sins do not go away by reading the scriptures, meditating, or doing anything.

God sent Jesus to earth so that our sins might be washed away through His sacrifice.

Jesus prophesied that his sacrifice would create a spring of living water. This is the water of life.

And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. ... On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. (Zechariah 12:10-13:1)

The prophecy above, “They will look on me, the one they have pierced”, indicates Jesus on the cross. Therefore, this, too, is the word foretold by Jesus.

6.6. Promise of the Water of Life

Jesus promised the living water to those who believed in him.

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." (John 7:37-38)

Jesus revealed that this living water would be made at His sacrifice. With the flesh and blood of Jesus, it became so.

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53)

This is not a physical word to eat his flesh and blood, but a word about the spirit.

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. (John 6:63)

In other words, eating and drinking the flesh and blood of Jesus stems from the living water made by Jesus' sacrifice.

Jesus said, "I am the way" and "No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14: 6).

This means the sin in us is washed away with the blood of Jesus so that we can go to God and live eternally.

No man is without sin, and no one can say that they are not a sinner even if they have not committed a great sin. Indeed, we are born with the sins of our parents at birth. And not believing in God, who made us, is a great sin.

It is a great joy to be forgiven of our sins by believing in Jesus. They are recorded in the book of life and saved at the judgment. Those who hear of Jesus but do not believe are thrown into the lake of fire.

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

However, being forgiven of sin does not destroy the sin in us.

If you allow the elements of sin, that is, the elements of the Devil, that reside in us to be washed away, you will no longer be controlled by the Devil. This is even more joyful than the forgiveness of sins.

As will be explained later, those washed out of sin become heavenly soldiers who may fight the Devil. After the Devil is destroyed, they will achieve great glory in the kingdom of God with the authority of judgement, kingship, and priesthood.