And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood!
Died he for me, who caused his pain!
For me? who him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

– Charles Wesley,  And Can It Be

 

Jesus came to earth to fix a problem.

“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the 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.” (Genesis 2:16-17)

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden…And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”  (Genesis 3:8,10)

Adam and Eve were separated from God.  Just the same, we are separated from God because we are descendants of Adam and Eve.

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. (Ephesians 2:1-3)

We all inherit the nature to sin. Where does that come from? From Adam.

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man (Adam), and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)

Jesus said that every person who leaves this life spiritually dead is headed for an eternity in which they perish.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

 

To sum it up so far:

• ​We all face alienation from God in this life
• ​We all face permanent separation from God in the afterlife

 

Jesus shed His blood on the cross to deliver us from both ends of this problem:

• To give us life and relationship with God during our earthly life
• To deliver us from the curse of hell in eternity

 

For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23)

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. (Leviticus 17:11)

Substitutionary Atonement: ​God will accept the death / the blood of an innocent substitute to atone for my sins.

The blood shall be a sign for you, on the houses where you are. And when I see the blood, I will pass over you. (Exodus 12:13)

It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. (Hebrews 10:4)

Animal blood could never achieve the final satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin. To purge the sin of human beings, ultimately God’s justice demanded the substitutionary death and lifeblood of a human being.

For Christ our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (1 Corinthians 5:7)

 

More scriptures about Christ’s work on the Cross:

And the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:7)

He entered once for all into the holy places… by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. (Hebrews 9:12)

Knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:18)

For this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. (Matthew 26:28)

Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. (Romans 5:9)

We are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, who God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. (Romans 3:24-25)

If you and I go into eternity with the wrong covering, or hiding behind the wrong hope – it’s going to be a disaster for us.

“In yourself, you can never stand before God. In your nature, in your past life, in your breaking of His holy law, in your indwelling sin, God can see nothing but what He must condemn. You must be covered with a spotless righteousness. And Jesus offers you this perfect righteousness through His blood.”

– Robert Murray M’Cheyne