Jesus’ death on the cross is undeniably one of the most significant events in the Christian faith and in human history.

The cross also became a core symbol of Christianity, encapsulating how Jesus’ death and resurrection brings us life and forgiveness from our sins.

But have you ever questioned why? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross for our sins to be forgiven? Couldn’t an all-powerful God just wipe out sin and pardon us?

God is just

“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a)

Sin has consequences. And because God is perfectly just, He cannot let sin go unpunished.

As humans, we feel unsettled when we see something unjust. Think of trending videos on TikTok where someone is doing something morally wrong; we feel like someone has to make it right — that is because we all have a desire for justice.

Similarly, a perfect God must deal with sin rightly and justly. He must find a way to deal with sin properly, with no compromises.

Imagine that you have broken a plate in a restaurant.

The restaurant owner can either ask you to pay for the plate, or he can spare you from paying the cost. Choosing to spare you, however, would mean that the restaurant owner has to bear the cost of the plate himself.

In a similar sense, God chose the latter when we dropped the platter. He chose to bear the debt and punishment of our sins for us.

God is love

Because He loves us, God does not want to see us perish in our sins. And God is not a cruel God who longs or desires to punish us.

Hence, Jesus, God’s only Son, was sent as the perfect atonement for our sins.

Jesus came down to earth and was born fully human, while being fully God, and He lived a sinless life.

He did not yield to any temptations or sin (Hebrews 4:15, 1 Peter 2:22). He led a life that was perfect, blameless and fully pleasing to God. 

Fully man and perfect, Jesus was able to represent man and serve as the perfect sacrifice to atone for the sins of mankind.

And because He is also fully God, Jesus is able to bear the cost of our sins. Jesus was the only person who could fulfil the righteous requirements of God’s law.

That made Him the perfect sacrificial offering for the sins of humanity.

Where justice and love meet

“‘He himself bore our sins’ in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’” (1 Peter 2:24)

At the heart of the Christian faith is a God who is perfectly just, and is perfectly loving.

Hence, the cross became the perfect solution. The cross, where God’s justice and love meet.

Jesus chose to come in and pay the price of our sins, even though death is what we deserved. He isn’t afraid to love us to the point of giving His life.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13)

Jesus’ death on the cross is the ultimate demonstration of God’s love for us (Romans 5:8).

It is a love that pursues us at all costs. A love so radical that God was nailed on a cross for creation.

If Jesus would willingly lay down His life for us (John 10:18) even in the face of death, to redeem us and reconcile us to God (Colossians 1:19-20), what can stand between us and God?