After having been involved in many different church's, an explanation surrounding the death of Jesus was very vague and in now way did any understand or explain it without the standard argument of "You have to have faith"!
In many instances, the days of hiding behind a bible with that argument does not gain a church any credibility of understanding thier own scripture. God encourages understanding, diligence in the seeking of truth and not just being a blind sheep following an ill-informed leader.
Jesus died as a lesson, a guide, an example, an explanation, a resolution and of course as a sacrifice. All by the will of God yet it seems no one understands the sacrifice of God because it seems to us that it is all about "How does this relate to me"? May we address first what I think is the most common argument against the validity of God in this modern world.
If there is such a thing as God, how can a so-called loving God allow that/my child to suffer and die? How can a loving God be so cruel? You watch on helpless as a child suffers and dies, the pain you feel is unconsolable and those around you feel your pain. But how much more pain would you create if those around you knew you had the power to end all that suffering but instead you just watched the child die?
To fully understand this next concept, an understanding of what Jesus was put through in his humiliation, torture and chastising until his final crucifixion will help. To my mind, the two most gruesome murders this world has ever seen is that of Annita Cobby and of Jesus, brutal beyond any level of human endearment than any could imagine, savage beyond your worst nightmare.
God watches as all his children suffer but there are no Angels screaming in pain as you watch your child die because they already learnt about this pain almost 2000 years ago. The day Jesus was being crucified, every Angel in Heaven screamed in agony with Jesus, the Angels screamed at God to stop looking at his favourite son suffer and save him. But God watched and God cried as Jesus suffered immensly. As Jesus cried to God "Father, why have you forsaken me"? Silence fell upon all of Heaven as the most loving of all Fathers watched his child die.
That was the example that God gave the world that you are not alone when you suffer, God has suffered every bit as much as any loving parent and asks that you understand that this suffering is only temporary in this world. God guides your heart so that you know that your are not alone in suffering.
Was Jesus a sacrifice for our sins? That all depends on wether you love him or not! By Gods law, all sins require a sacrifice but what a sacrifice meant to someone 3000 years ago does not hold the same value in this day. To sacrifice a lamb for example to God back then was quite a price to pay, the cost was significant and the act was solomn. As humanity changed, there is no place in modern society for such a sacrificial act (the do-gooders would have a field day) but the law of God is unchanging and a blood sacrifice will be offered for your sins. So I ask again, do you have love for Jesus? Have you cried for what he went through as I have? Then yes, the blood that flowed through his sacrifice he willingly gave for you, your sins have been attoned for in blood as is the requirement of God!
The death of Jesus was also an explanation of of one of God's promises, an example of the truth in the utterance of our creator. God has promised us through scripture that he will not give us any more pain than that which we can endure. Sadly we can give each other more pain than what God would ever give us, what men do to satisfy a perverted sexual desire, what men do in the face of war or just out of pure cruelty. there are such torturous acts done by man that any of us would rather be eaten by a lion rather than suffer at such a cruel hand.
God has designed in us defence mechanisms to make true his promise, many shark attack victims have spoken of the initial attack that they did not at first feel the extent of the pain for such an inflicted injury. They felt some pressure of the bight that completly severed thier leg but no intense pain, that is the brain instantly going into shock, a defence mechanisim designed by God. Adrenalin instantly surges through the body to give you a better fighting chance to survive as the brain starts the release of endorphins, the bodys natural pain killer. If you survive the attack, it will be extremely painful but the endorphins will take the edge off the pain. But when the pain gets to intense, we black out. These are the systems that God has built into every one of us and Jesus was the example of these inbuilt mechanisms in action. Jesus was almost beaten and tortured to the point of death but he endured all the pain admistered to him. When he was ordered to drag his own torture device, the cross, adrenaline gave him strength way beyond his physical ability until he was relieved of the burdon and the cross was carried for him. And through this whole ordeal, our Father watched and let his son be killed because this was what was needed for all of mankind, for the greater good. None of us have or ever will suffer like God has suffered, to watch on as His beloved creation do the unthinkable to each other, a Fathers greatest sorrow.