WHY DID CHRIST HAVE TO DIE? (1)
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. Common Questions
a) If you have a question and are seeking an answer from the Bible, you may find what your are looking for the commonly asked question below.
2. Why did Christ have to DIE?
a) When the release of Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ hit theaters, it turned the world's eye to a real event that occurred over 2,000 years ago. Some today are now asking how such violence could be an expression of love on the part of a compassionate God. Even though the brutality of the cross was indeed real, one must ask if Hollywood is better at depicting violence than it is at explaining Divine compassion.
b) Is it possible that this movie may have focused more on the shadow of the cross than the sunlight of the cross? Could it have exaggerated a true and ugly focal point in a story that is much larger and much more beautiful?
c) In the Bible the cross is at the center of a cosmic struggle between good and evil, between the forces of darkness and light. The Bible has more to say about the freedom, joy, and happiness brought about by the cross than it does about the letting of blood.
d) The cross is a revelation to our dull senses, of the pain which any departure from perfect happiness causes to the heart of God. The Bible says "...and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zechariah 12:10). Here God uses the tender compassion that fathers and mothers feel for their firstborn child to depict the tragedy of sin.
e) God also used the sacrifice of lambs in the Bible to demonstrate how sin hurts the innocent. The Bible says of Christ "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Many are rightly sensitive to cruelty to animals. Some are appalled that God would allow people to sacrifice animals. In times past God used the display of love for animals as a vivid illustration of how sin crushes the innocent. Today we have little sense of the tragedy of sin. Sometimes it is easier for fallen humans to hate cruelty to animals while practicing cruelty to God.
The End ...
1. Common Questionsa) If you have a question and are seeking an answer from the Bible, you may find what your are looking for the commonly asked question below.
2. Why did Christ have to DIE?
a) When the release of Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ hit theaters, it turned the world's eye to a real event that occurred over 2,000 years ago. Some today are now asking how such violence could be an expression of love on the part of a compassionate God. Even though the brutality of the cross was indeed real, one must ask if Hollywood is better at depicting violence than it is at explaining Divine compassion.
b) Is it possible that this movie may have focused more on the shadow of the cross than the sunlight of the cross? Could it have exaggerated a true and ugly focal point in a story that is much larger and much more beautiful?
c) In the Bible the cross is at the center of a cosmic struggle between good and evil, between the forces of darkness and light. The Bible has more to say about the freedom, joy, and happiness brought about by the cross than it does about the letting of blood.
d) The cross is a revelation to our dull senses, of the pain which any departure from perfect happiness causes to the heart of God. The Bible says "...and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him as one who is in bitterness for his firstborn" (Zechariah 12:10). Here God uses the tender compassion that fathers and mothers feel for their firstborn child to depict the tragedy of sin.
e) God also used the sacrifice of lambs in the Bible to demonstrate how sin hurts the innocent. The Bible says of Christ "He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not his mouth; He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter; and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth" (Isaiah 53:7). Many are rightly sensitive to cruelty to animals. Some are appalled that God would allow people to sacrifice animals. In times past God used the display of love for animals as a vivid illustration of how sin crushes the innocent. Today we have little sense of the tragedy of sin. Sometimes it is easier for fallen humans to hate cruelty to animals while practicing cruelty to God.
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