Jesus is easily the most important person in the history of the human race.  No one else is even close.  Now, that being said, Jesus is God(John 1:1 14-17), so He starts off with a huge leg up on everyone else.  It isn’t a fair contest, God vs. a person(whom God created).  That being said, let’s look at what He did that makes Him the most important person in the history of the human race.

What He Did

Jesus did a lot, but for today’s purpose, we are just(this must be one of the most understated uses of the word “just” in human history) going to look at what His death on the cross did for us.  In I Pet. 2:24, Peter makes the point that Jesus died for us so that we could die to sin(meaning we would not live our lives for sin) and that we could live for righteousness(meaning that we would live our lives trying to be righteous, instead of sinful).  This is important because Jesus did not die so that we would have a free license to sin(Rom. 6:1-4).  We don’t live our lives in a sinful, worldly-minded way.  Instead, we look to His example of holy and godly living as an example to pattern our own lives after.

Jesus Brings Us To God

In Pet. 3:18, Peter makes the point that Jesus died to bring us to God.  You can’t bring someone to a place they are already at, so Peter is reminding us that we used to separated from God.  Sin does just that; it separates us from God(Isa. 59:2).  And since God is the source of all life, being separated from God means that all we have left is death(separation from God) and in the life after this life is over, that separation is called Hell.  And no sane person would want to spend eternity there. 

Jesus Died For Our Sins

Paul told the church in Corinth that Jesus died for our sins(I Cor. 15:3).  This is another important part of the equation.  Jesus died for our sins.  This means that He did for my sins.  This means He died for your sins.  This means He did for the sins of each and every other person who has ever lived and who ever will live.  Jesus died for the sins of every single person you walk past in your life.  Every driver that you see go by, Jesus died for their sins.  Every person(real person) you see on television, a movie screen or a computer(or other electronic device) is someone that Jesus died for . . . that specific person.

Jesus Paid the Price

I John 2:2 states that Jesus is the propitiation(now there’s a word you don’t hear often) for our sins.  The word “propitiation” means an atonement to appease God, or more generally, Jesus made a payment to God to pay for sin(anyone’s sin).  Jesus made a payment that no one else could.  Now, it is true that someone might be willing to risk their lives for another(like a spouse or child), but this is different.  I cannot just tell God that I am dying for the sins of someone else.  Why?  Because my sacrifice would not be acceptable.  God requires a perfect sacrifice, or to put it more simply, He requires the sacrifice to be a perfect person(i.e. sinless).  In Heb. 10:1-4, the writer makes the point that sacrificing animals for the sins of people was not acceptable to God.  Why?  They were animals.  And an animal is not a person.  The animal sacrifices under the Law of Moses were all about reminding people of their sin, and the consequence of sin(i.e. death, but instead of the person having to die, an animal would die effectively for illustrative purposes).  But when Jesus came to this world, lived as a human being and then allowed Himself to be killed(i.e. sacrificed), He paid the price for sin.  But He was not paying for His own sin, as He had none.  If Jesus had sinned, His sacrifice would have been useless.  But because He was sinless, He could offer Himself as a payment to God for the punishment that was owed for our sins.

Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself for us on the cross allowed us to be able to have our sins forgiven and be reunited with God.  This is the greatest of all the spiritual blessings that we have from God and through Jesus.  Over the course of the next three weeks, we will look at three more spiritual blessings that effectively flow from this blessing(things that would not be possible without His sacrifice).  As we live our busy, day-to-day lives, let’s not forget about Jesus and His sacrifice for us . . . for me(insert yourself here).  That should change the way we live our lives(I Pet. 2:24).  It should change the way we think about others, but more on that to come.