Jesus Died to Take God's Wrath for us

Reason number 1: Jesus died to take the wrath of God
God is both just and loving. He is holy. We take these things for granted as believers. But since God is Holy, He can have nothing to do with sin. Romans tells us that, "the wages of sin is death." We also know that we are all guilty, see Romans 3:23. We all have sinned, and sin is not a small thing, because it is against God Himself, and God is not a small God. You see, the seriousness of the insult rises with the status of the one insulted. Which crime are the police going to work harder on: Joe Smith's house was robbed, or the White House was robbed? A bigger penalty for insulting your neighbor or for insulting the Queen of England? See what I mean? Failure to follow God is not a trivial thing - it is treason to the Creator of ALL THINGS. Ask God if He's got a MySpace Page; He'll say, "The whole universe, is MY Space." To not uphold His penalty for sin (death(Rom. 6:23; Eze. 18:4)) would be unjust, and since God is infinitely just, He cannot do this. He requires His Holy wrath to be poured out against it. A Holy curse hangs over sin. But God is also Love...Infinite, unfathomable, unplumbable, indescribable...Love. Not this empty emotion we humans describe as love, but the actual living embodyment of LOVE. He was not content to let His wrath be the end of humanity, He is not content to let the curse hang over mankind. He does not stop at showing His wrath, no matter how justifed and Holy it is. Therefore, He sends His own Son to take the wrath being poured out, and to bear the curse. Christ literally "became a curse for us." (Gal. 3:13) and in so doing, removed us from the curse when we place our faith in Him. C.S. Lewis wrote about this in The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Edmund was a traitor, and the old Magic in Narnia said that blood was required to be paid for a traitor's crimes. If it was not satisfied, the world itself would split apart and be destroyed by fire. (By the way, if you've never read The Chronicles of Narnia I highly recommend it.) Now, of course, this is a grand literary exposition for what God does with us, but the idea is the same. To not punish sin would be for God to deny His very character, who He is. Death is required. Blood is required. The curse must be met and fulfilled. The wrath must be poured out. But Christ came and took it in our place. The "propitiation" for our sins (Rom. 3:25). The removal of God's wrath by provision of a substitue. God provided the substitute in His own Son. You see, as the propitiation - the substituite - Christ does not simply cancel God's wrath and judgement; no you see, the price must be paid. Christ instead, takes the full, world shattering force of God's wrath upon Himself. Remember Christ's cry upon the cross (Echoed from Psalms): "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?!" "My God, My God, Why have You forsaken me?!" Imagine, total separation from God Himself, when you have lived in perfect communion with Him your whole life. God's wrath was poured out, His Holy anger fulfilled, the curse met, Jesus took the wrath upon Himself, and diverted it from us to Himself. God's wrath was spent, not withdrawn. Let us never trivialize the justice, the holiness, or the love of God. "This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." 1 John 4:9-10.

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