WHY DID GOD BECOME MAN?
Why couldn't an animal save us? Why couldn't another human save us? And why did Jesus have to die?
In our last study, we stood beside the altar.
Lamb after lamb.
Morning and evening.
Day after day.
Year after year.
Animals without blemish were offered to God.
Blood was shed.
Yet Hebrews says:
“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” — Hebrews 10:4
So what was missing?
If an animal couldn't finally take away human sin, what could?
The answer takes us to the heart of the gospel.
AN ANIMAL COULD NOT SOLVE A HUMAN PROBLEM
Animals were part of God's creation.
But human beings were different.
God said:
“Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” — Genesis 1:26
Human beings were created to represent God within His creation.
And human beings rebelled.
A sheep had not done that.
A goat had not rejected God's command.
A bull had not chosen its own will over God's will.
We did.
An animal could be offered according to God's command.
It could teach us that sin brings death.
Its blood could represent life given at the altar.
But an animal could never become the obedient human being that humanity had failed to be.
Something more was needed.
THEN WHY NOT ANOTHER HUMAN BEING?
Suppose God simply selected a man and said:
“You die for everybody else.”
That creates another problem.
That man would be a sinner too.
Paul says:
“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” — Romans 3:23
How could one guilty person finally solve the guilt of everybody else?
He has his own problem.
He needs saving too.
So we have what appears to be an impossible situation.
An animal cannot finally solve a human problem.
A sinful human being has a problem of his own.
What do we need?
We need someone who can truly represent humanity—
but who has no sin of His own.
THE SAVIOR HAD TO BECOME ONE OF US
Now some familiar words about Jesus begin to mean much more.
John writes:
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” — John 1:14
God did not send another lamb from somebody's flock.
He did something astonishing.
He came to us.
Hebrews says that because human beings share flesh and blood:
“He himself likewise partook of the same things.” — Hebrews 2:14
And a few verses later:
“He had to be made like his brothers in every respect.” — Hebrews 2:17
Jesus did not merely look human.
He became one of us.
He became tired.
He became hungry.
He suffered.
He was tempted.
He could bleed.
He could die.
The One who would save humanity became human.
BUT HE WAS NOT JUST LIKE US
Jesus shared our humanity.
But there was one enormous difference.
He did not join our rebellion.
Hebrews says He was:
“tempted as we are, yet without sin.” — Hebrews 4:15
Peter says:
“He committed no sin.” — 1 Peter 2:22
Think about what that means.
The sacrificial animals had been required to be without blemish.
Then Peter describes Jesus this way:
“A lamb without blemish or spot.” — 1 Peter 1:19
The old language of sacrifice has now been applied to Jesus.
But Jesus is much more than another sacrificial animal.
He is a human being.
He can represent us.
And unlike every other ordinary human being—
He has no sin of His own for which He must die.
NOW JOHN'S WORDS MAKE SENSE
John the Baptist saw Jesus approaching and said:
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” — John 1:29
John wasn't saying Jesus was literally a sheep.
He was using language Israel had been learning for generations.
Lambs.
Sacrifice.
Blood.
Atonement.
Life given.
And now John points—not toward another animal—
but toward Jesus.
THE LAMB OF GOD.
The sacrifices were pointing beyond themselves.
The answer had arrived.
BUT WHY DID THE LAMB HAVE TO DIE?
This brings us back to our original question.
Why couldn't God simply say:
“I forgive you”?
Jesus Himself tells us why He came:
“The Son of Man came...to give his life as a ransom for many.” — Mark 10:45
Peter says:
“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree.” — 1 Peter 2:24
Paul summarizes the gospel:
“Christ died for our sins.” — 1 Corinthians 15:3
Jesus didn't accidentally get caught in a political struggle.
The Cross wasn't God's plan going wrong.
Jesus gave His life.
For us.
THE INNOCENT FOR THE GUILTY
Peter puts it about as plainly as anyone could:
“Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God.” — 1 Peter 3:18
Look carefully at those words.
The righteous—for the unrighteous.
And why?
“That he might bring us to God.”
There's the problem and the solution in one sentence.
We had broken fellowship with God.
We could not repair it ourselves.
Christ was righteous.
We were not.
And the righteous One suffered for the unrighteous—
to bring us back to God.
GOD DID NOT ASK SOMEONE ELSE TO PAY THE PRICE
This is important.
We must not picture an angry God punishing an unwilling Jesus while God Himself watches from a safe distance.
Jesus said:
“I lay down my life...No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” — John 10:17–18
And Paul says:
“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.” — 2 Corinthians 5:19
The Cross is God's saving action.
God did not merely tell us that He loved us.
He entered our world and acted.
Paul says:
“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” — Romans 5:8
God did not look at our rebellion and say:
“Never mind.”
He dealt with it.
At enormous cost.
HOW CAN GOD BE JUST AND STILL FORGIVE THE GUILTY?
Now we can return to one of the hardest questions in the Bible.
If God is righteous, how can He justify guilty people?
Paul says God presented Christ so that He might be:
“just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” — Romans 3:26
God does not become unrighteous in order to save unrighteous people.
He doesn't pretend sin isn't sin.
He doesn't call evil good.
At the Cross, God deals with sin while providing salvation for sinners.
God remains just.
And God justifies.
That is far greater than simply saying:
“Forget about it.”
ONCE
Now we can understand why Hebrews makes such a big deal about one word:
ONCE.
The old sacrifices continued.
Morning.
Evening.
Tomorrow.
Next year.
Another priest.
Another animal.
More blood.
But Jesus was different.
Hebrews says:
“He has appeared once for all...to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.” — Hebrews 9:26
Again:
“We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” — Hebrews 10:10
And then comes that beautiful contrast:
“Every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices.” — Hebrews 10:11
But Jesus:
“When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.” — Hebrews 10:12
The priests kept standing.
Jesus sat down.
The sacrifices kept being repeated.
Jesus offered one sacrifice.
Why?
Because His sacrifice did what those animals could never finally do.
THAT IS WHY CHRISTIANS DON'T NEED ANOTHER TEMPLE SACRIFICE
The Jerusalem Temple was eventually destroyed.
The sacrifices stopped.
But Christianity did not lose its sacrifice.
Its sacrifice had already been offered.
Hebrews says:
“Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” — Hebrews 10:18
Think about that.
No longer any offering for sin.
Christians are not waiting for another lamb.
We are not waiting for another altar.
We are not waiting for another priest to offer another animal.
The Lamb has been offered.
Once for all.
BUT JESUS DIDN'T STAY DEAD
If the story ended with a dead Jesus, death would appear to have won again.
But it didn't.
God raised Him.
Peter preached:
“God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.” — Acts 2:24
The gospel is not merely:
Jesus died.
It is:
Christ died for our sins.
He was buried.
He was raised.
Death entered the human story through sin.
Now a human being has come out the other side of death.
Alive.
AND GOD'S PLAN IS BIGGER THAN SAVING MY SOUL
Remember what we learned in the first study.
Human rebellion affected more than human beings.
Paul says creation itself was subjected to futility.
Creation itself is groaning.
Creation itself is in bondage to corruption.
But Romans 8 doesn't end there.
Paul says:
“The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption.” — Romans 8:21
God isn't merely rescuing a few souls and abandoning everything else He made.
He is putting right what sin put wrong.
THE BIBLE ENDS WHERE IT BEGAN
The Bible begins with God and humanity together.
Creation is good.
There is life.
There is a tree of life.
Then sin enters.
Fellowship is broken.
Death comes.
Creation groans.
But turn to the end of the Bible.
God dwells with His people.
Death is gone.
The curse is gone.
And remarkably—
the tree of life is there again.
Revelation says:
“No longer will there be anything accursed.” — Revelation 22:3
Peter describes our hope as:
“new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” — 2 Peter 3:13
And God says:
“Behold, I am making all things new.” — Revelation 21:5
That's where the story is going.
NOW DO WE SEE WHY WE NEED JESUS?
Sin wasn't spilled milk.
It wasn't a minor mistake God could simply shrug off.
Humanity rebelled against its Creator.
We brought guilt.
Death.
Broken fellowship.
And creation itself became caught up in the consequences of our rebellion.
We could not repair what we had done.
Animals couldn't repair it.
Another sinful human couldn't repair it.
So God came to us.
The Word became flesh.
He lived among us.
He was tempted, yet without sin.
The righteous One suffered for the unrighteous.
The Lamb gave His life.
He was buried.
He rose.
And He will finish what He began.
THIS IS THE GOSPEL
God did not look at the wreckage caused by sin and say:
“Never mind.”
He didn't abandon His creation either.
HE CAME INTO IT.
The Creator became one of us.
The sinless One died for sinners.
The dead Christ rose.
And the God who created all things has promised:
“BEHOLD, I AM MAKING ALL THINGS NEW.”
Now perhaps we can finally look at the Cross and say:
“I understand why I need Jesus.”
Not merely because I need somebody to make me feel better.
Not merely because I need better rules.
Not merely because I need another chance.
I need redemption.
I need reconciliation.
I need resurrection.
I need what only Jesus can give.
READ FIRST. CONCLUDE LATER.
Read these passages for yourself:
Genesis 1–3
Romans 3:21–26
Romans 5:6–11
Romans 8:18–25
Hebrews 2:14–18
Hebrews 9–10
1 Peter 1:18–21
1 Peter 3:18
Revelation 21–22
Then ask one question: