Many people believe that Jesus was simply a good teacher who was martyred for his radical faith.

… This could not be further from the truth …

Simply put: Jesus was a demonstration of the Father’s Love for us in offering a way back into a loving relationship with Himself.

First of all, we need to set the ground work for what exactly happened, and why Jesus needed to suffer and die.

What Exactly Happened:

When humans were originally created they had a unity with the Father that Christ had when He walked the earth. Adam’s act of disobedience brought forth a major consequence which henceforth effected all of creation. Satan deceived the woman who in turn led her husband to sin, thus allowing the devil to gain control over creation. Sin and death followed, and our very nature became subject to the devil’s dominion.

What the devil did through his subtle influence separated us from God. God had to remove us from His presence after sin in order to maintain His holiness because God is perfect love. In His love He countered the devil’s move by promising us redemption in our future.

“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” 

Genesis 3:15

As a result of this, everyone born of Adam is born into a sin nature. There is no way to avoid this. Sin, quite plainly, is an aberration to God’s holiness and love. There is no way for Him to draw near to us without tarnishing His own nature. Thus creating the need to free us from our sin nature and restore us to His everlasting love. Thus we come to the giving of the law back in the time of Moses.

The law came into being in order to show us the righteousness and holiness of God’s spirit of love. By it we can clearly see how far we fall short of God’s holy nature.

A system of retribution was established as a means to clear us until the true payment for our sinful acts could be made. By sacrificing innocent animals (shedding their blood) we were given an opportunity to be right with God, but we still did not have the full relationship He desired to have with us. It was merely a way for us to repent and start fresh in our walk with Him.

Our sin gives the devil a claim on us. In order to be freed from our sin nature and the bondage he exercises over us via our breaking of God’s law, our sin nature needs to die. In order for our sins not to draw us into the lake of fire (which is where the devil will be banished to someday) we need a punishment for them.

… This brings us to God’s plan of redemption …

Why Jesus Had to Suffer and Die:

Because of our inability to follow the law as a result of our corrupt sin nature God had to place a piece of Himself into that fallen nature and bring it to death, thereby freeing us from the devil’s legal hold on us as a result. God becomes the Son via His Holy Spirit and carries the sin nature, without sinning, thus fulfilling the law, to it’s  end. This opens the way for us to follow Him out of our sins in faith.

Because Jesus carried this plan out living perfectly by the Spirit and truth and never sinning, He became, in His death, the perfect sacrifice (that is payment) for all of our sins.

By dying He fulfilled the requirements of the law, which stood opposed to us and opened the way for a new covenant in which He takes full responsibility for sin to those who will simply accept this free gift.

By His suffering in righteousness He paid for all our sins, freeing us from all the claims the devil has on us.

So you see, Jesus was not a martyr, but a sacrifice made by our Father in His love, to bring us back into fellowship with Himself.