People often wrestle with the idea of God sending His Son Jesus to live on earth and die for sin. They ask questions like: If God is all powerful, why would He choose this method for “saving” people? Why not “just forgive” people? Or why not do it another way? Why Jesus?

The Bible offers a simple answer to these difficult questions: Jesus’ coming and dying provided the ONLY sufficient solution to an infinite problem.

The answer begins with God and two important aspects of His nature.

God is perfect. His every thought is perfect. Every action from Him is perfect. He can only exist in perfect places. Perfection is not merely a standard of activity that God must maintain; rather, perfection is an attribute of God. He cannot ignore perfection or act in a way that contradicts it because doing so contradicts His nature. In other words, for God to ignore His perfection in any way destroys His God-ness. An imperfect “god” is no “god” at all.

Again, God is perfect. If He settles for less than perfection, He will stop being God.

God is love. With an undying and infinite love, God loves people and wants to bring them close to Him. He longs to welcome people to Him. Love is not a standard of activity that God must maintain; rather, love is an attribute of God. He cannot ignore love or act in a way that contradicts it because doing so contradicts His nature. In other words, for God to ignore His love in any way destroys His God-ness. An unloving “god” is no “god” at all.

Again, God is love. If He settles for less than love, He will stop being God.

As attributes of God, therefore, both perfection and love must be upheld at all times. One cannot dominate or destroy the other. He cannot ignore one to satisfy the other. Both are completely true of God at all times.

Thus, the infinite problem emerges from the fact that people are imperfect. Even though God loves us, by virtue of His “God-ness” He cannot just ignore our imperfection. Again, if He allows imperfection, He stops being God. At the same time, God cannot just ignore us. If He fails to love, He stops being God.

So our sin creates a barrier for God. He must overcome the imperfection of our sin if He is to maintain His love for us. This barrier is the first step to understanding, Why Jesus?

More to come…