Forgiveness of Sins

Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins."  Hebrews 9:22

Many people find the cross of Jesus Christ offensive because of its cruelty and because of the thought of someone else being punished for my wrongdoing. But it was absolutely necessary.

When God gave the law to Moses, the requirements for animal sacrifice and the sprinkling of the blood was spelled out in great detail.(Leviticus 4) But before that, God required the Passover lamb be slain and the blood spread on the doorposts so that the death angel would recognize and spare God's people when He fulfilled His last plague so that Pharaoh would release the Israelites from slavery. (Exodus12:1-32)  But before that when Adam and Eve sinned against God and they recognized they were naked and were ashamed, God killed an animal to take away their shame by clothing them.(Genesis 3:1-21)

Jesus is called the Lamb of God, and His death for our salvation was planned from the beginning of time.(John 1:29; Revelation 7:10; John 10:18; Matthew 26:54; John 1:1-3,14;) So the cruelty of the cross was necessary to satisfy the wrath of God for the sins of the world. The shedding of blood was necessary to meet God's requirement for purification.

But it is God's great love and mercy that sent Jesus  - the perfect Lamb of God, without stain or blemish - to endure God's wrath for me.(Romans 5:8) God's wrath would destroy me in a nanosecond. And I certainly could never be good enough to save myself. So without Jesus, there is no hope. But God did not want to leave us without hope. He lavished His great love on us with the gift of His son.(Ephesians 2:11-13)