Putting aside the obvious problem of God’s (non) existence, I’ve never been able to work out the logic of the crucifixion.
Why would God arrange for the death of an itinerant Jewish rabbi? Whether or not this rabbi was the Son of God doesn’t resolve the problem. Why would God need to arrange His death as a reason for Him (God) to forgive sin?
There’s also the problem of God appearing to revise His attitude to sin. If it required Jesus’ crucifixion to somehow cause God to forgive sin, it seems that God did not forgive sin prior to the crucifixion. Did God kill Himself in order to convince Himself He ought to forgive sin?
The deeper you go into this the less sensible it becomes.
OB
This is perhaps the best question any person can ask, and it is also perhaps the one most theologans can not answer.
And it is a valid question indeed.
I did not understand this "forgiveness of sin with the blood of Christ" theory and I decided to try to see what is meant by "Sins are washed away bu the Blood of Christ" etc.
The answers I got was most certainly one of dogma with long winded theological proposals. Me being a simple and practical person just could not grasp what was said.
Eventually I read the Bible with the mind to note everything about sacrifices and covering sin with blood.
This is how it works.
God created Adam, (Mankind) to live forever, not to die. He told Adam that if he sould eat of the forbidden fruit, he will surely die. This means Adam (and Eve) were immortal creations. We also know that prior to their state of being under the curse of sin, Adam and Eve did not know they were naked. The reason is that they were created in the immage of God, and God is covered in a bright white light and wears light as we wear garments (Psalm 104:2)
After Adam and Eve sinned, they lost their immortality, and their glorious light vanished, and they covered themself with leaves.
God then slaughtered animals, and used their skins to dress the human.
Ok, so what is the significance of this story?
Well, God is Life, and there is no death in God. Death is the absence of God. Adam and Eve became living corpses ageing day by day. We have billions of dead cells in and on our bodies, and more and more cells die as we grow older. No living being in this corrupt state can appear in front of God, it is just impossible to bring death to God.
However, with sacrifices, blood is shead, and it somehow covers, or if I may use the word, blood radiates something that covers the decaying bodies we live in, and this allowed God to live amongst Israel in Sinai.
When Moses faced God, he was not allowed to look directly to God, but only from the back with the hand of God protecting Moses from destruction. even this light radiated from God and made Moses shine with light so bright, that the elders in Israel had to cover Moses for the fear the people had looking at him.
We will also recall that Jesus was glorified and He turned into a bright light, and when He ascended into heaven, He changed into a bright white light.
Therefore, It is a Biblical claim that God created Man to live forever in a body that does not have any decay or death in it.
OK, so as for the offering of sin and blood that takes away our sin, this is the angle to the story.
Blood sacrifice covers the sin of the person who is in the presence of God. The High Preists used blood sacrifices to cover not only people, but every utensil and object in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple. This allowed the Glory of God to enter the Tabernacle and temple. If you read the Bible, and eventually end up in the letters of the apostles, you will find how they give numerous descriptions on how the priests of old had to mke blood sacrifices to allow God to lead Israel, but they continue to describe how Jesus was now the Blood Sacrifice who covered all the sin of the world by His death.
During the 3 Days where Jesus was dead in the grave, His spirit descended to a place called the kingdom of death, where he spoke to the dead souls showing them how they will change into an immortal body again at the day of judgement. This was the promise fullfilled where God will restore us to the state as Adam and Eve were in the beginning.
This was the creation Jesus brought back to human kind who is now a living dead body, or as the Bible calls it, our "born in sin" bodies.
To end off, many people would claim that children are not born in sin, and people can not be judged on the sins of their ancestors, but they dont realise that the "inherrited sin" from our ancestors are not something we do wrong such as lying, or stealing, no, it is the sinfull body we are born in which Adam through his sin brought death to all of us.
Physically, our bodies reek of death, and in the perfect existance of a perfect God, we are nothing.
However, He still sent His Word who became flesh, yes decaying and dying human like us, to die like us under the curse of death, to allow us to get a new immortal body to return to God as His companions and friend. Did God know this will all happen when He created Adam?
Yes He did, and the reason was that he knew Satan will corrupt His creation, he knew mankind will revolt against him, but he also knew that amongst all his created children, there will be those that will not forsake Him, and he let history go by so to allow them to be saved.
He also know that those that denyHim, will be destroyed, together with Satan and his fallen angels.
There is a saying.
If you love someone, let him / her go!
If they return, they are the ones who love you.
What use if God would force everyone to love him like pre programmed Zombies?
Or if He would appear to us all in full glory and everyone would have to admit that there is a God?
No, If you come to the conclusion by scripture that God exists, it is your choice to decide to return the love God has for you.
Return to him, it is the greatest of love man can give in his short life to gain eternal love in his future existence.
Greetings
