QUOTE(Sip @ Jul 18 2006, 06:10 PM)
Can someone please explain to me how Jesus dying "for us" is a sacrifice? If He was the Son of God (or just "God" as some claim), why would dying for God's message be any sort of sacrifice? I mean I would understand if He gave up something special to die but He was going to heaven so what could possibly compare to Heaven that would constitute the tradeoff a "sacrifice"?
Also, all these slogans of "Jesus died for our sins" ... how did He die for "our sins"? Didn't He die for His own benefit to go to Heaven?
Sip; if you are not going to call me names, I'll tell you from what I know.
God send his only son to this world so that His son through His teachings and His way of living and behaviour towards people and also animals show the world how God wants us to live and wants us to love one another; but also to always follow Gods rules and also the Ten Commandments. Jesus died on the cross at the ripe age of only 33 and He died by bearing all our sins upon Himself. It took Him I believe about 3 hours to die; but during that time, I believe He experienced all the hellish consequences that us people would've bear while He was on the cross. Those 3 or 3+ hours, it felt like 30 years for Him; because He felt extreme emotional and spritual pain while He took upon Himself all our sins, so that we the human kind would be able to go to heavan rather than being condemned to go to hell as it was the case before Jesus came to this earth.
God did all that. He did bring to our world His only son for the love of us the people whom He created. Because before Jesus humans were condemned to go to hell as practically no one followed God's rules to the tea, and therefore God created His son Jesus for that so that by knowing what God wants us to do and live on earth we'll be able to go to heavan, or at least have the option.
But there is one more thing to do for us humans now. We have to follow God's words, the Ten Commandments and what Jesus preached us, which was what God's words, rules and wishes were.
Therefore, when we dedicate ourselves to Jesus, then we may go to heavan; which is in the final analysis, it is still up to God to decide.
Edited by Anahid Takouhi, 18 July 2006 - 07:18 PM.