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August 2026I received some questions from a reader recently. This led me down the path to answer his question without doing what so many have done in the past, and that was to preach at me, not teach me. Scripture is wonderful, but to a skeptic, the curious, or believers still trying to understand certain concepts, just quoting a Scripture is usually a non-answer answer.
As believers, we should be able to answer beyond just quoting Scripture and explain the reason behind the reason. In fact, when asked, we should always be prepared to go beyond just Scripture if needed, because these were valid questions I was asked, and others will ask you at some point, and they deserve a thorough answer.
Why did Jesus need to die for our sins?
We have to go to the beginning first to understand the reason, and ultimately, it comes down to a couple of different but equal starting points that happened in quick succession. We were created uniquely, sin became a part of our lives, God cannot tolerate sin, and it needs to be reconciled.
God created a connection with us through the breath of life, which was exclusive and unique to humanity. He made a point of setting us apart from the animals He created by giving us a soul; that connection allowed Adam and Eve to be in His presence. We are given a hint of this sinless perfection in Genesis 3:8 when we learn God was walking in the garden looking for Adam and Eve. Some like to think God could have simply snuffed Adam and Eve out and started over, but He can’t; He is forever connected to us through the breath of life, our soul.
He created something perfect to be shared with us, but then free will was exercised, and sin entered. Sin cannot and should not be tolerated; if God tolerated sin of any kind, He would have to tolerate all sin. If He did that, then good would no longer exist, and our understanding of good and evil would cease to exist completely and become a constant state of grey.
God has outright refused to tolerate sin, and for good reason — sin leads to death. We are told this from the beginning in Genesis 2:17, “for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.” This is a death that is beyond just our heart stopping, this is a death that results in never being able to be within His presence again.
That was never what God wanted for us; we were always meant to share the Earth with Him and be in His presence. Eden shows us this, and Revelation confirms this when we get a new Earth and Heaven.
A crucial question to consider when studying Genesis and learning this subject is: what kind of God would He be if He had just snuffed Adam and Eve out? And this includes us, because from the very beginning He knew us, He knit us together, and appointed us. Jeremiah 1:5. This is an intimate, respectful, and loving act done just for us. That would have been cruelty at its worst and an unjust act by a just God.
Would He have just left their souls, which are connected to Him, floating out there for all eternity, feeling the weight of sin with no possible way to be redeemed, no possible way to be reconciled, and no possible way to ask forgiveness? No, and we’re going to learn that what He did was an act of mercy and unconditional love.
This is where some harder questions came in. Why send Himself to suffer and die for us? Why was death even needed, and couldn’t He have done something else instead? I won’t lie, for some, this can be one of the hardest concepts to wrap the mind around. I know this because I have been there myself.
In order for us to even enter Heaven, we need to choose God, be resurrected, and be transformed with new bodies. We need these new bodies to live in our new Heaven and Earth, bodies free from sin. God will be creating a new environment for us so we can once again be together with Him.
“Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God Himself will be with them as their God.” Revelation 21:3.
Now, something had to happen to sin because sin is a transgression against God’s law. Sin needs to be conquered and separated from us, so that we are no longer separated from God. To explain it the best I can, sin is a debt we cannot pay on our own. Sin is too heavy, too dark, too unholy for any one person to carry with them to Heaven.
Jesus (the Son of God) came to carry and atone for our sins; He took it upon Himself, into Himself, so that we are free of it when we die and meet Him in Heaven because He was the perfect “vessel” for lack of a better word, to take all sin, carry it, destroy it and conquer it.
This was an act of love and mercy.
We are not left hanging, trying to carry our sins with us for eternity, and constantly separated from God. Sin strangles our soul with its weight. Our sins are now atoned for because Jesus took them and conquered them. Now we can be with Him once again , if we so choose. “He himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness...” 1 Peter 2:24.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus...” Romans 8:1.
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