Skip to content The Cross: Why The Gory, Bloody Details? Apr 23 · 25 min ...more
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Beth Jones is a Bible teacher and founder of The Basics With Beth, a non-profit Christian teaching ministry dedicated to helping people learn the Bible basics.
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The Necessity of the Cross 0:00 Hi, guys. I'm Beth Jones, and welcome to the Basics with Beth, where learning God's word is a joy. And I just want to say we are so honored to be with you right here on Pray0:12 dot com. In every message, we will do our best to teach you the Bible basics in such a way that it strengthens your faith foundation. In addition,0:24 I want to empower and equip you so that you have confidence to share these Bible basics with others. So lean in and listen with your heart. If you'd like to know more0:36 about our ministry, just go to thebasicswithbeth dot com and get all the scoop. With all of that said, now let's jump into today's message.0:48 So what we're gonna talk about is this. Why did Jesus have to die on the cross? Why the gory, bloody details? In other words, couldn't God have1:00 done this some other way? We've talked in previous episodes about who Jesus is, about who we are and our need for a savior, but why the cross? Why did Jesus have to die on the cross and1:12 then be raised from the dead? That's what we're gonna get into today. Okay? So I remember years ago, I received a letter from, a cousin of mine and she was seeking and asking questions about God and her and I were going1:24 back and forth in correspondence back in the old days when you'd send a snail mail letter. And she asked me 1 time in a letter, she said, okay. She goes, I have 2 questions. She goes, first, how could a loving God1:36 send anyone to hell? And I thought that was a good question and it's a very common question. People say, how could a loving God send anyone to hell? And really the answer is this, the answer the short answer is, a loving1:47 God doesn't. A loving God sent a redeemer, a savior, someone to rescue us from the problem and the penalty of sin. And it gives us the choice to receive him to go to heaven. So1:58 so her second question was this, if God is so loving, and God is so good, and God is so kind, how could he crucify? How could he murder? How could he kill his own son?2:11 Why the gory, bloody details? That was her exact question. And I thought, man, that's a great question. And I knew there was a good answer. I knew the cross was required. I knew2:23 that God did it the way he had to do it, but I asked the Lord. I said, Lord, why? This is a good question and I wanna answer her. I wanna write her back. So this is a good question. Why the gory bloody details? In other2:35 words, could you have done it some other way? Why couldn't you have just snapped your fingers and said, okay, Adam and Eve, you guys blew it in the garden. We're gonna start over, do over, snap the fingers, wipe these 22:47 off the face of the earth, no 1 would know, and we're gonna start with plan b. Why couldn't he have done that? Why couldn't God have said, okay, humans, you blew it, you sinned in the garden, but now here's the deal. If2:58 you do 10 good deeds a day for the whole rest of your life, I'm gonna stamp your ticket for heaven that you get to get in. Just do 10 good deeds a day. Why couldn't he do that? In other words, why did it have to be the3:10 cross? Was there any other way? What we're gonna talk about today is gonna help you see in, I believe, detail and with some revelation why the cross. Okay. So let's go back in the3:22 bible to Genesis chapter 1. Let's go back to the beginning, and let me read that to you. I have it right here. Genesis 1 verse 26. Then god said, let us make man in3:34 our image according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So in the3:45 beginning, God created man in his image and gave them authority. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God, he created them. Male and female, he created them. Then God3:57 bless them And God said to them, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, over every living thing that moves on the earth. This is all creation.4:09 So far so good. Then the Lord took the man, put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the4:21 tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Okay. So let's pause there for just a minute. So what's the picture here? The4:33 picture is that in the beginning, I'm asking the Lord. Lord, why the gory bloody details? I need to answer my cousin. I'm kneeling by my bed and I'm praying. I'm saying, Lord, why? Explain this to me. He takes me back to4:44 Genesis and I begin to see his original intent in creation. It was to create mankind in his image, to put them in an amazing garden, literally a garden of pleasures, the bible describes it. And God just4:56 breathed life into the whole scene. In fact, when you think about the creation of Adam and Eve I mean, get this picture. I think in heaven 1 day we'll get to see this video. But imagine this picture. God creates5:08 Adam, the bible tells us, from the dust of the earth. So God takes a clump of dust, turns it into some clay, some molding clay, and God creates God sculpts a statue, Adam.5:20 He sculpted out of dirt through and through, 3 d Adam full of dirt. And the Bible says then God breathed into Adam's nostrils the breath of life, and5:32 man became a living soul. Can you picture that? I mean, there's a statue. I mean, think about statues you've seen at museums. There's a statue that God has created, has formed.5:44 He breathes into the nostrils of a statue. And life, the God kind of life, eternal life fills Adam. And then God says as we just read, okay,5:56 guys, I'm putting you in the garden. I'm giving you this garden of pleasures. Tend it. Keep it. Now, where did Eve come into the picture? So the Lord caused Adam to go into a deep sleep, and then he took6:08 1 of his ribs. And from his rib, he fashioned, he customized, and made this fashioned woman, Eve. Of course, when Adam saw Eve, he said, woah, man. And her name was6:19 woman. You've heard that before, I'm sure. So here's Adam and Eve. God put them in the garden to tend it, to keep it. This is their this is their turf. They have authority. They have dominion. And the Bible says that the6:30 Garden of Eden is like literally a garden of pleasures. The finest gold, all the best rivers. I mean, it was a lush place that God gave to Adam and Eve to tend it and to keep it, and he put 2 trees in the6:42 garden. And he said, now listen, from this tree and really from all the trees of the garden, you can eat all you want. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from that tree, don't eat from6:54 it. Just don't do it, Adam and Eve. I'm just telling you, don't do it. I'm giving you free will, but don't do it. Because in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. You know, God's original plan when he breathed7:05 life into Adam and Eve was that they would live forever. It was eternal life. There was no plan in God's mind that they would die that wasn't even on the radar. It was everything in the Garden of Eden7:17 resounded life. Life, life, life, life, life. There was no death. There was nothing but life because that was God's plan. And then he said, don't eat from the tree. Y'all don't eat from the tree because in the day that7:29 you eat of it, you will surely die. Well, you know the story. Along comes the serpent in Genesis chapter 3. Along comes the serpent walking upright, which that alone is just a freaky7:41 picture. Walking upright and talking. And he says to Eve 1 day, he says, hi Eve. What you doing? He says, you know, God made all this7:52 delicious fruit, all this delicious vegetation, all of these things you could eat, but for some reason he doesn't want you eating from this tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil because he8:04 knows that if and when you were to ever eat from that tree, you would become like him. And Eve said, no. He doesn't want us to eat from that fruit because he doesn't want us to die. And And, of course, the devil did the8:16 same thing he does today. He just twist God's words, and he just tries to pull a deception, pull the wool over our eyes and say, oh, no. God didn't mean that. What God meant was that you become like him and he doesn't8:26 want you to become like him and you won't really die and he didn't really mean what he said and he just convoluted all of God's words, which is exactly what he does today. You know? He he takes God's word and he tries to8:37 be the deceiver. He's the master of deception. Well, Eve bought into the lie. Of course, again, you guys know the story, but I just want you to picture this. Because I'm kneeling by my bed, I'm saying, Lord, why the gory8:48 bloody details? I wanna answer my cousin. Help me understand this. And I'm seeing this picture. Life, life, life. Adam and Eve blessed. An amazing scenario. And And then along comes the serpent to mess it all9:00 up. And Eve listened to the serpent and so did Adam, and they deliberately sinned and ate of the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which the Lord said don't do. And in the9:11 day they did it, they surely died. However, they didn't die physically. Like physically, they're still alive. They didn't die physically for another 900 years, but they did9:23 die spiritually that day. They were united with God, living life, life, life, life, life, and then they sinned and the separation began. They were separated from God. Spiritually9:35 dead. Now, we know that because a few minutes later, a little bit later, God comes walking in the garden in the cool of the day to have fellowship with Adam and Eve like he'd always done. And he doesn't see them. He9:46 says, Adam, where are you? Well, of course, the Lord knew where Adam was, but he needed Adam to identify himself. Lord, we've sinned. Now we have shame. Now we have guilt. Now we feel unworthy. Where9:58 did these feelings come from? We didn't have this before eating that fruit, before sin entered. And the Bible says through 1 man, sin entered the world, the planet. And through that sin, death came and10:10 then death, spiritual separation, spread to all men. So I'm I'm envisioning this scenario and I'm like, lord, that is such a bummer. You had such a great plan. You wanted nothing but life, life, life, and then all of a10:21 sudden now we have death. Now we have a death situation. What is death? Separation from God. I said, okay. So then we're still asking the question, why the gory bloody details? Why did Jesus have to come and die10:33 on a cross? So I was pondering that, and I felt the holy spirit having a conversation with me to ask me this question. What overcomes death? You've got a death situation now all over the planet,10:45 all over throughout humanity. What's the only thing that overcomes death? Well, I thought about it, and I said, well, the only thing that would overcome death is life. Right? I mean, the only thing that if you have a10:55 dead person, the only thing that overcomes that is to somehow inject them with life. So then the Lord began to ask me, so what does my word say about life? And I remembered11:06 Leviticus 17 11. It talks about the life of the flesh is in the blood. The life is in the blood. I said, Lord, the life the life is in the11:18 blood. So if you could somehow get blood, you'd have life. And if you could overturn the death with life, that could be your answer. Okay. I'm catching on. So I began to11:30 think about the old testament. What did they do in the old testament? The old testament for a season, God set up a temporary structure of sacrifice for the purpose of taking a spotless sinless11:42 animal, particularly a lamb, a spotless sinless lamb with no defect, and once a year they would sacrifice the blood of that lamb. They would sacrifice a lamb to shed its blood. Why? Because11:53 life is in the blood. And they would shed that lamb's blood and then that blood would be applied to the sins of the Israelites in the old testament for 1 year.12:05 An atonement was made a covering. That blood that had life would cover the sins and the death that had been the result of sin. You following? It's a great plan of the temporary12:17 plan. It was God's temporary plan while he was working. His master plan. Because the Bible says that Jesus was the lamb of God slain from the foundation of the12:29 world. I mean, think about that. Even before Adam and Eve sinned, God had a rescue plan in place. Just so amazing. Jesus was gonna be the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, who was12:40 slain from the foundation of the world. But for a season, while God was working his master plan and getting all the players in place so that Jesus could come to the earth he created,12:52 God set up the temporary sacrificial system of the blood of animals, but it was just temporary. Their blood wasn't eternal and it was just a temporary fix because God knew really what he needs to do to have an eternal13:04 redemption, an eternal solution for mankind's now death problem. He has to find eternal blood, sinless blood, spotless blood13:17 to get the life that's in the blood. So here's the question, where is he gonna find blood? Well, who has blood? Humans have blood, but they can't be used because they're contaminated. Animals have blood. They can be used13:29 and they were used temporarily. Who else has blood? Nobody. But who's who's spotless? Who's sinless? Who's eternal? Well, mankind is eternal, but mankind is sinful. There's sin13:41 contamination. Animals have blood, but they're temporary, and they're not eternal. Who else has eternal qualities? God does. God is eternal,13:53 and God is sinless, but God doesn't have blood. If only God could become a man. If only God could take on the human body that has blood,14:05 then his sinless eternal qualities along with sinless spotless of blood could possibly be shed for the remission of sin without the shedding of blood. There is no remission of14:17 sin. Hebrews 9 22 tells us, without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sin. But if God could find spotless, sinless, eternal blood that could be shed so that14:28 death could be overcome with life. Wow. What a redemption plan that is. What an eternal master plan. What genius plan.14:40 Well, that was the plan. That's why God couldn't just snap his fingers and say do over. That's why God couldn't just say, hey, here's the 10 good deeds a day to do. Here's the password. He couldn't just come up with some14:51 little short little remedy for what had now entered humanity, death. The only thing to overcome death is life. Where's life? In the blood. Who's got the blood? The only person that's got the blood that's required, the15:02 kind of blood needed with the eternal life, the spotless sinless life with life is God. So then how does God become a man?15:14 The virgin birth. That's where we get Christmas. That's where we get Mary, the virgin Mary. That's why the virgin birth is a big deal, you know. Because now God, the holy spirit comes to this little teenage girl in15:26 in Israel and says, okay, Mary, God picked you. You have a pure heart. God loves you. He loves all of his people, but he picked you, Mary. He picked you to carry the savior of the world. And so the Holy Spirit's15:38 gonna overshadow you, and you're gonna conceive a baby in your womb. And that baby's gonna have human blood, but it's gonna have the nature of God, sinless, spotless, and eternal. And aren't you glad? Aren't15:50 you so glad that Mary said, be it unto me according to your word? The angel had given her this message and she said, be it unto me according to your word. And do you know, she conceived and16:02 she had a baby. And she carried that baby full term, praise the Lord, and delivered Jesus, couldn't even get a room at the inn, had to deliver Jesus in a stable somewhere. And you know16:14 when Jesus was born, I have to imagine that all of heaven was just like peeking over the banisters. To be like, he's in the womb, The spotless, sinless, son of God, Jesus the Messiah with16:26 the blood. The blood that will be shed for the remission of all sin. He's on the planet. Death is about to be overcome with life. Can you just imagine?16:38 And then the night he was born, no wonder the angels appeared in the sky singing glory to God in the highest and peace on earth, goodwill towards men. No wonder heaven was celebrating.16:50 Wow. God had worked a master plan down through the ages to get Jesus on the planet with the blood. Okay. So little quick little rabbit trail. Did you know that when a woman is pregnant, the blood of the baby17:01 it's a completely separate circulatory system. That blood never touches the mother's blood because of the placenta and because of the way God made the reproductive system. How smart was that?17:14 The blood of that baby in Mary's womb that was spotless and sinless never once was contaminated with the blood of a human, even though he was born through the body of Mary17:26 a human. How amazing is that? Only God's genius could have put that together. Alright. So what else? We're talking about why the gory bloody details? Why did Jesus have to go to the17:38 cross? It was all about the blood, the spotless blood. So now, Jesus is born. And here he is on earth, the Messiah. I mean, it's so amazing, God's humility. Jesus came to the planet he17:49 created. You know, it's like he's got the blood flowing through his veins, but he made the planet. He came to his own, the Bible says, and his own received him not. I mean, God's love, God's mercy is so phenomenal.18:01 We can't even plumb the depths really, can we? So now what does Jesus have to do? He has to live his life sinless. It turns out it was 33 ish years. He has to live a sinless spotless life, can never18:13 sin. But the Bible does tell us he was 100 percent man and 100 percent God so he was tempted. In fact, the Bible said he was tempted in all the ways we're tempted. Like, it wasn't a cake walk. He18:25 was tempted, but he never sinned. And the bible says this, now get this, the bible says he laid aside his God advantage. Like, he was God, 100 percent, but he laid aside that18:36 advantage. And everything he did on earth, he did it as a man empowered by the holy spirit to redeem mankind because legally in in the courts of heaven's justice, so to speak, a man had to pay for18:48 man's sin. So Jesus was a man. He was the God man. So he lives his life out, never sins. And now really the issue is, he's gotta get to the cross because without19:00 the shedding of the blood, there's no forgiveness. So Jesus has to get to the cross. And it's so interesting, you know, sometimes you hear and you see depictions of the Easter story as if they took his life.19:12 But Jesus said, nobody takes my life. I lay it down freely. Now, it looks like you're taking it, but I could call thousands of angels right now and they would come deliver me. But I'm not gonna take that easy option out19:24 because I came here. I came to shed my blood for the redemption of mankind. So he freely goes to the cross, lays down his life, knows what's to come, knows the crucifixion, knows the torture,19:36 knows what he's going to face and he does it freely. He does it so freely for you and I and he gets to the cross, they pierce his side, they put holes in his hands, he sheds his blood and that's19:48 what it was all about. That was that was the goal, that was the mission. The mission was to shed the blood. And when Jesus sheds his blood and then dies on the cross, of course you know the the story, the20:00 the veil was rent between the holy place and the most holy place and suddenly we are able to be reconciled back to God. Suddenly, life that was in the blood20:11 has overcome death And then God could extend to you and I the opportunity to receive Jesus, to receive forgiveness, to be born again, to have eternal20:23 life. We were spiritually dead, all of humanity was, but Jesus shed his blood so that we could be born again and reconciled to God. How awesome is that? Okay. Now back to my story.20:35 I'm kneeling by the bed. All of this, the Lord's showing me this as I'm having this time of prayer with him and looking up verses in my bible and and seeing the picture. And I realized, Lord, it had to be the gory bloody20:46 details. And that makes me I hope it does you too. It makes me think, Jesus, you're the ultimate hero. I mean, we have people that we admire. We have heroes and, you know, celebrities and stuff in our culture, but do20:58 you know who the greatest celebrity of all time, the greatest hero of all time, the greatest person who should get all of the awards for all time is Jesus. He stepped out of heaven to21:09 take on flesh, to have the eternal spotless blood in his veins, to shed it on the cross for you and I. That's a true act of love. For God so loved the21:21 world, he gave his only begotten son. His only begotten son. Now listen, little rabbit trail here, but Jesus was plan a. Jesus was the only 1. It wasn't like God said, hey Jesus, you go21:33 first. Let's see if you can do it. If not, I've got Jim Bob and Jesse and Joey up here in heaven. We'll send them if you're not successful. No. Jesus was the only he was the only option. He was the only begotten son of21:45 the father. Like, Jesus had to be successful. It's no wonder he sweat great drops of blood. It's no wonder in the garden he said to the father, father, if there's any other way, if21:57 I don't have to do this, if there's any other way, let this cup pass for me. But nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done. Man, aren't you glad? Aren't you glad Jesus was so submitted to the father's22:08 will? Why? For you? For me? So So that we can have a life. That's why the gory bloody details. Man, I hope it stirred you up. I hope it makes you fall in love with the22:20 Lord even more and just really appreciate what he did for you and I on the cross. So we're talking about getting a grip on the basics. And that's the most basic part22:32 of the gospel story of all of it. That's the basic at the roots story of the gospel of the cross. All of this explains why Jesus could make the statement, I am the22:44 way and the truth and the life. No 1 comes to the father except through me. He could make that statement because it's about the blood. It's about the life is in the blood. It's about life overcoming death. It's about22:55 what he did on the cross and nobody else did that. Jesus didn't claim to be a religious teacher or a great rabbi. He claimed to be the savior of the world, the Messiah, God in the flesh because he so23:07 loved the world, laid down his life for you and I. And there are numerous other verses in the Bible and in fact in the workbook there are about, is Jesus really the only way to God? Yes. There's 1 mediator between God23:17 and men, the man Christ Jesus according to Timothy. Yes. In Acts 4 12, it says there's no other name given to men under heaven by which men can be saved except the23:29 name of Jesus Christ. So I just wanna encourage you. Jesus is the way, and it's so awesome that he has freely extended to you and I the opportunity to receive him. And so let's take a minute and let's23:41 do that right now as we wrap up this program. Alright? Say this swiftly. Say, dear God, I come to you in Jesus name. I need you. I know that I'm a sinner in need of a23:53 savior. And right now, I turn to you. Jesus, come into my life. Be the Lord of my life. Thank you so much that you forgive all of my24:04 sins. This very moment, all of my sins are forgiven and Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for me, is now the Lord of my life. Thank you24:16 Lord, that you've given me eternal life. And from this day forward, I know I'm a Christian, and Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life. Amen.24:29 Amen. That's the best. That's the best prayer you could ever pray. And I'm so glad you joined me today. We're gonna pick up with this. Got lots more to cover in the basics. So I'll see you next time in our next24:41 episode on the basics with God. Hey, thanks so much for listening to today's message. I hope you were encouraged. Be sure to hit the follow button so you can binge on all the24:53 Bible basics throughout the week and stay encouraged in your faith. And don't forget to share these messages with your friends. If you'd like more information about our ministry, you can always go to thebasicswithbeth25:05 dot com. That's thebasicswithbeth dot com. It's been great to be with you, and I will look forward to seeing you next time right here on pray dot com.In this video 0:00 The Necessity of the Cross
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