Jesus
did not turn away from His atoning sacrifice for our sins. He has died
and has redeemed the world. That liar, Satan, lost the war. This Gospel
message has gone into the world and people have believed it and received
God's gift of salvation.
But Satan is not going to stop lying. It’s his nature. Another lie that he tells during
Lent is that Jesus didn’t have to die. Actually, this lie predates
Jesus’ incarnation. Despite the clear prophecies such as Isaiah 53 and
Psalm 22 that the Messiah would come to lay down His life, Satan misled
many into thinking that it was not necessary for someone to die to atone
for sin.
We know of the numerous run-ins that Jesus had with
the Pharisees. These were Jewish teachers who taught that the Messiah
would not die but come to live and reign forever on earth. Their
spreading of Satan’s lie was so widespread that even faithful Peter
wanted to prevent Jesus from doing the most important thing He came to
do.
This lie is so dangerous that Jesus rebuked Peter as though
he were the devil himself. We, too, should realize its danger, because
Satan is still spreading that lie today. You might have heard some ask,
“Couldn’t God just snap is fingers and make sin disappear?” It’s very
tempting to think, “That would have been a good idea. God is
all-powerful, after all.”
The truth is it was
perfectly fitting for Jesus to suffer and die. God is perfectly
righteous and holy. He cannot ignore sin. Had not someone stepped in, it
would have been necessary for us all to die eternally. But Jesus did
step in and He took the full judgement in our place. Since God has
executed His perfect justice on His Son, He declares us righteous and
grants us life.
In
bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for
whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of
their salvation perfect through what he suffered (Hebrews 2:10). |
