Punishment is the consequence of breaking set rules and the entire humanity had broken the one rule that God gave to them. The man was required not to feast on the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil but here we are. It probably had an amazing taste but the consequences were dire.
But You Must Not Eat From The Tree Of The Knowledge Of Good And Evil, For When You Eat From It You Will Certainly Die.” Gen 2:17
The punishment for disobeying God’s law was death for humanity. Death here is not limited to the event when one’s physical life ceases, death here was more in reference to a separation from God – it was spiritual death. Humanity was supposed to face the wrath of God and never be able to have fellowship with Him after our disobedience. We deserved our punishment and we had to face it…
When Adam Sinned, Sin Entered The World. Adam’s Sin Brought Death, So Death Spread To Everyone, For Everyone Sinned. Rom 5:12
It is a great privilege to have a Father who is omnipotent and can help us through every situation. A God whom we know is eager to communicate with us and will answer when we call on Him. So imagine a world where we could not reach God as easily as we can today. Imagine a world where God will not step in to deliver us from the troubles we face. What a world that would be.
Interestingly, our lives were exactly as described after we sinned against God. Men and women had to ask for forgiveness of sins through a high priest. We had to sacrifice animals in order to be able to be “clean” in God’s sight. We did not have access to God as we do today.
So…What Happened?
Imagine a teacher who would take the punishment on behalf of his students when the rules his students broke were rules made by the teacher himself. That’s odd, right? As the saying goes; ‘you have to be odd to be number one. God is number one so guess what, He’s ‘odd’. God did exactly what that teacher did. He stepped down from His throne only to come to earth for one purpose – to die for His creation.
God became a man on earth and His name was Jesus. Jesus took away our sins by allowing Himself to be killed. The principle of God is that sin would be paid by blood and that is why prior to the coming of Christ, people had to sacrifice livestock to appease God for their sinfulness. The same principle applied when God decided to take away man’s sins. God sacrificed himself by dying on the cross.
For Since Death Came Through A Man, The Resurrection Of The Dead Comes Also Through A Man. 1 Corinthians 15:21
Good Friday is good because Jesus sacrificed himself just so that we can have a great relationship with Him. We have been saved from perishing in hell because of the work Jesus Christ did on the cross. Due to one man’s death, humanity has been saved from the fires of hell and that is more than good news. It is great news!
So God became a man and took our punishment on the cross of Calvary just so that we will be free from death.