3. God's Sacrifice

God said: “Thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17.

Satan said: “Ye shall not surely die.” Genesis 3:4.

The Bible tells us that “the soul of every living thing” is in God’s hand. Job 12:10. Why didn’t God let Eve die the moment she sinned? Why didn’t God let Satan disintegrate instead of spreading lies about Him? To understand this situation better let us consider even further the accusations of Satan. What if we listen to him and likewise question God’s love and motives? What will we think when we see the death of a sinner?

Imagine you are observing the conversation between Eve and Satan. You hear Satan questioning God’s love, accusing Him of lying, since according to Satan “ye shall not surely die.” You hear the serpent accuse God of selfishly withholding the fruit because He knows by eating it you “shall be as gods.” Genesis 3:4-5. You then watch as Eve takes the fruit and, trusting the serpent instead of God, she bites into it. Now with this view that God lies, that He is selfish and unloving, you observe what happens next.

Immediately Eve turns to dust. Genesis 3:19.

Suddenly the serpent, Satan, disintegrates into a flame and is gone. Psalm 104:4.

In an instant those who opposed God are wiped out.

If you observed such events, whose word would you believe more, God’s or Satan’s? Would you believe God because you trust and love Him, or would you obey Him out of fear? If God had simply let go, letting Eve die the moment she sinned, then the argument of Satan would have appeared to be true. If we choose to believe Satan when he tells us that we will not die from disobedience, that the God we disobey is unloving and selfish, then the ultimate conclusion is this - if a sinner dies it is because God kills the sinner. It is the natural conclusion of Satan’s arguments that God kills.

It is striking to see the Israelites believed this very lie when God led them through the wilderness. Notice they actually echo all of Satan’s accusations against God’s love, character, and motives.


“Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:3.

Because the Israelites missed the food they were accustomed to they thought God did not care and was keeping good from them. They accused Him of not just killing them, but through the cruel manner of starvation. In believing the lies of Satan the Israelites distrusted God’s love - His promises and warnings - and ultimately believed it was God killing them instead of their own sins.

God did not say to Adam and Eve “if you eat of the fruit I will kill you”, instead He said you will “surely die.” Genesis 2:17. God pointed out to them the consequence of their choice, the inevitable result. Romans 6:23. When they chose to sin, they were saying to Him “depart from us; for we desire not the knowledge of Thy ways.” Job 21:14. By distrusting Him they separated themselves from Him in Whom “we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28. The same can be said of every one of us. It is sin that separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2. It is this separation from God that leads to our death, for He “is our life.” Colossians 3:4.

How does the “great and terrible God” respond to these accusations that He kills the sinner? Nehemiah 1:5. How does the “high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity” answer when His creatures doubt and accuse Him? Isaiah 57:15. God said that the sinner “shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:17. The Bible is clear that “the wages of sin is death.” Romans 6:23. From all appearances the death of any man could be blamed on God, in fact the Bible is full of this imagery. How can God reveal that sin leads to death, and yet make it clear that He has no part in this death?

The answer is breathtaking, heart melting.

What if God Himself demonstrated for us, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that sin results in death? What if God, overflowing with unselfish love, stooped down and died the death that each of us would experience due to our own choices?

He did.

Jesus, the mighty God, died the death of a sinner. Isaiah 9:6. Jesus “gave Himself for our sins” and “died for the ungodly.” Galatians 1:4, Romans 5:6. He “knew no sin” and yet He was made “to be sin for us.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6.

Jesus, God’s dearly loved Son, was sacrificed so we could clearly see that “the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” Ezekiel 18:4. Jesus demonstrated that the end of sin is death. Proverbs 14:12. At the cross Jesus revealed that Satan “is a liar.” John 8:44. The sacrifice of God reveals that He did not lie when saying “thou shalt surely die.”

What of Satan’s insinuation that God kills the sinner? Since Jesus died the death of the sinner, what was His experience? What is Jesus testimony about this awful death?

“My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” Matthew 27:46.

Jesus made it clear the death of sin is a separation from God. Jesus did not cry out “My God, why are You killing Me?” God did not lash out at Jesus with fury, for He says “fury is not in Me.” Isaiah 27:4. It is man that says “we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted”, but Jesus says “why have You forsaken Me?” Isaiah 53:4. By the testimony of Jesus we can see that God has no part in the death of the sinner. The cross confirms the word of God - “your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face. Thou hast destroyed thyself.” Isaiah 59:2, Hosea 13:9.

It is a common view to see the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as a sacrifice to God. This view does not fit with God’s character seen in Jesus. It is not God Who needs a change of heart. It is not God that changed because of sin. Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8. It is not God Who misunderstood man. We need the change of heart. We have misunderstood God. We are the ones who need convincing, we are the ones who need to be won back.

“Sacrifice and offering Thou didst not desire...burnt offering and sin offering hast Thou not required.” Psalm 40:6.

Let us be clear - Jesus was sacrificed, the Sanctuary and it’s bloody offerings were ordained by God, but these things were not for God’s sake! These were not needed to appease His anger, nor to convince Him to be merciful. All of this was to reach our hard, blind hearts. John 12:40, 2 Corinthians 4:4. We have believed Satan’s lies. We need convincing. It is us who need to be reconciled to God, not God to us.

“God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself.” 2 Corinthians 5:19.

It is us who need to be drawn back to God, not God drawn to us.

“And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32.

It was a sacrifice for God to give up His Son. It was a sacrifice for Jesus to die for us. Heaven has sacrificed for us. Why this great sacrifice?

“To open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in Me.” Acts 26:18.

The cross is God’s answer to Satan’s accusations. The crucifixion of Jesus reveals beyond a doubt that the soul that sins will die. It is not God striking out and killing the sinner, but the sinner being separated from God. Each of us can look to the cross and see that every single sin of ours results in death. Jesus, Who had no sin, was made sin for us. Every sin of every person was placed on Him so that none could say “my sin, my own way, does not lead to death.” When we see Him hanging on that cross we can see the death that results from our own sins.

Dear friend, look to the cross and see God’s self-sacrificing love. Look to the cross and see the death resulting from sin, the separation from God. Look and see for yourself whether God can be trusted. You have a choice. While you are still breathing you are free to choose - “Do I trust God?”

“Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands.” Isaiah 49:16.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him.“ Revelation 3:20.

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