Born To Die Series

BORN TO DIE THAT WE MIGHT LIVE

John 6:38-40

Jesus came down from heaven with a mission to accomplish! He had an assignment which He took upon Himself in coming to earth to do the Father’s will: that you will have eternal life and will be raised up at the last day.

We all know that there is nothing in this life that happens by accident. The Bible says that God created everything for His purpose. None of what is going on today, right here, right this very minute that God is not aware of.

There are so many reasons that we can enumerate from the Bible just as John Piper wrote a book “The Passion of Christ” listing down 50 reasons why Jesus came to die. I should say there is only one main reason: that we may have eternal life. This reason encompasses all the reasons or benefits that you can imagine beyond your wildest dreams. For as long as you are in this world you will not be able to understand nor fathom eternity. And yet that is what Jesus came here for: so we can be with Him forever and ever and ever and ever . . . .

We know now that Jesus came down to earth to die to pay the penalty for our sins which is death. But there are questions that we always ask ourselves, i.e.

• Why did He choose to die by crucifixion?

• Why did He not choose to come down in our time and then choose to die of an electric chair?

• Why did He not just lived a perfect, beautiful life and healed people of their physical ailment then everyone could have lived a wonderful, healthy life?

Couldn’t he accomplished more by living the perfect life that every man would love to have?

• Imagine the thousands of people He could have healed had He stayed and lived until our present generation.

• Imagine the many problems He could have solved.

• Like the war in Iraq - Pres. Bush would probably sitting in the white house enjoying his tea or coffee

• Like the problems of aids - no person would have been living with this illness

• Like cancer - if He would have been here nobody would suffer from it

• Everybody will have no eye problem. There will be no blind people begging on the street.

• Imagine the teaching, preaching that He could have done.

And yet God had a different plan. God is God. His mind works differently than ours. His thoughts are not our thoughts. God’s purpose is eternal. For God is not bound by space and time.

WAS JESUS THE ONLY ONE WHO DIED BY CRUCIFIXION?

Aside from the two criminals who were crucified together with Jesus, history records that thousands have died by this kind of death. In Jesus’ day, the Jews did not normally crucify people as the Romans did. One exception took place in 76 BC when the Jewish ruler Alexander Jannaeus crucified 800 rebels, an action criticized by other Jews. While the origins of crucifixion are obscured in antiquity, it is clear that this form of capital punishment lasted for around 800 years and hundreds or thousands of individuals were subject to this cruel and humiliating death.

Jesus’ crucifixion is the most famous in history. But what made CHRIST’S CRUCIFIXION different from the 100s of thousands who were also crucified?

• The reason behind it. On the cross, Christ died in our place. He died the death all of us should have died, taking the punishment we all deserved.

• Unlike the rest of the individuals who died of crucifixion, Jesus was the only one who was SINLESS! Jesus who did not commit any sin and yet He took upon Himself to die this kind of cruel, humiliating death. Because of Christ’s death, his followers have the chance to be reconciled back to God. Thus, Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are the most important events recorded in the Bible.

DID JESUS KNOW THAT HE WAS GOING TO DIE BY CRUCIFIXION?

At least three different times, Jesus told his disciples plainly that he would be killed: (Mark 8:31; 9:31)

• One, was while they were on their way to Jerusalem, Jesus said to His disciples:

“We are going to Jerusalem and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will hand Him over to the Gentiles (Romans), who will mock Him and spit on Him, flog Him and kill Him. Three days later He will rise.” (Mark 10:33-34)

But the apostles did not understand what He meant and were afraid to ask Him about it. (Mark 9:32)

Similarly, the gospel of John has three sayings about the Son of Man (Jesus) being "lifted up" (John 3:14; 8:28; 12:32-33)-a reference to crucifixion.