The Bible says, "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17). God could not "just forgive us" because He is holy and righteous. They say, "Why couldn't God just forgive us? Why did Jesus have to die?" Many people do not understand why Jesus died on the cross. He died for my sins, and He died for your sins. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, died for the sins of all people, for all time.īecause He was the sinless Son of God, Jesus could die for the sins of the whole world. There is no need now for anyone ever to offer an animal as a sacrifice for his sins. What does the name, "the Lamb of God," mean? It means that God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the perfect and complete sacrifice for our sins. When John the Baptist first saw Jesus, he cried out, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). God accepted these sacrifices as a "covering" for their sins until Jesus came. But, when a lamb was sacrificed, it was a "picture" of how God's Son would, one day, die on the cross to take away our sins.įor thousands of years, people sacrificed lambs as God had taught them to do. The Bible says, "…without the shedding of blood, there is no remission " (Hebrews 9:22).Ĭan the blood of an animal take away our sins? No, it cannot. It is so terrible that the blood of an innocent animal must be shed for sins. What was God teaching the people? He was teaching them that sin is a terrible thing in His sight. God had said, "…it is the blood that makes an atonement …" (Leviticus 17:11). The lamb had to be killed in such a way that its blood was poured out. The person would lay his hand on the lamb and say something like this, "I have sinned, but God has allowed this lamb to die in my place so that I can be forgiven of my sins." A person who wanted to be forgiven of his sins would take a lamb to the priest. The Bible says, "God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth…and it grieved Him at His heart" (Genesis 6:5-6).įrom the beginning, God taught His people that they must offer an innocent animal, usually a lamb, as a sacrifice for their sins. Think of how it grieved God in His heart. Think of what it meant to God when sin came into the world. But God's first man, Adam, rebelled against Him and brought sin and death into the world. God wanted people who would love Him, obey Him, and bring glory to His name.