The Mystery of the Cross: Why Jesus Had to Die

For four years, I wrestled with one question. What the Holy Spirit began revealing to me has forever changed how I understand the cross.

As someone who has been a believer in Christ for as long as I can remember, I have always wrestled with one question that has been silently looming in my heart.

This question gradually became louder over the last four years. And in recent months, by His mercy and lovingkindness, He began answering it.

Yes, this message is four years in the making — and even now as I write, there is still so much more to unpack. But by the grace of God, I am being released to share this, almost with a sense of urgency because of the times we are living in.

This is going to be a long read, but it will change your life if you can stop everything and truly pay attention. I urge you to pray before you begin.

I typically use ChatGPT to clean up my writings, but based on how important this message is, I feel restricted by the Holy Spirit from passing this through the lens of AI.

The Question

The one key question that has been looming in my heart for as long as I can remember is:

Why did Jesus have to die?

If you've been in church long enough, you know the church-given answer — He died to take away our sins (John 3:16). But this always leads to my next questions:

• Since He is God, why was the death of His Son the only way to take away our sins?
• Why did Jesus have to die on a tree — on the cross, such a horrific death?
• Why did He have to come as man?
• Why couldn't God, being God, just remove sin from mankind since He loves us so much, without going through the path of death on the cross?
• Why?

Even as I write this, these questions feel heavy — because in truth, these are the same questions you have been secretly asking yourself, even as a believer in Christ.

His Response

Everything that happens on earth is based on spiritual principles. We, as believers in Christ, are grossly limited by our lack of understanding of them.

Why did Jesus have to die?

Spiritual Principle 1 — Every sin is cleansed only by the shedding of blood.

Jesus Christ had to die because without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin.

"And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission." — Hebrews 9:22 NKJV

The life of a man is in his blood. And the cost of sin is death.

"For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." — Leviticus 17:11 NKJV

Sin imputes death into the blood of the one who sins, which gives the enemy legal rights to that person. The blood of Jesus, when freely accepted, replaces my death-stained blood with the Life-filled blood of Christ. And with this, the enemy no longer has legal rights to me.

Why did Jesus have to die on a tree?

Spiritual Principle 2 — Cursed is any man who hangs on a tree.

"If a man has committed a sin deserving of death, and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree… for he who is hanged is accursed of God." — Deuteronomy 21:22–23 NKJV

The principle is this: if a man sins and is put to death on a tree, that man is under a curse. But the hidden side of that same principle is that if a man does not sin — if he is innocent — and he is put to death and hung on a tree, he immediately breaks the curse of sin.

Christ Jesus became a curse by dying on a tree, but since He never sinned (His blood never had the stain of death on it), the curse could not legally remain on Him permanently. He was an innocent, sinless man who died the death of a sinner in the worst way possible — hung on a tree, which in the spiritual realm signifies becoming a curse.

By dying on the cross while never sinning, Christ Jesus, my Lord, shook the power of hell — He displaced the powers of darkness that had held mankind bound since Adam sinned.

Why did Jesus have to die as a man?

Spiritual Principle 3 — Everything in the spiritual realm is operated by legal rights and access.

Jesus Christ our Lord needed legal access to go into the grave as a dead man, in order to free other dead men who had been kept bound in Hades because of sin's hold on mankind.

"For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison." — 1 Peter 3:18–19 NKJV

Hades is the realm of the dead, and without dying as a man, Christ Jesus did not have legal access to go there. However, the grave could not legally hold Him — because Jesus Christ never sinned. His presence in Hades as a sinless man shook the power of hell and the grave.

Why Do We Need Eternal Life?

John 3:16 states, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." So why eternal life?

We need eternal life because we were originally created with the eternal life of God in us from the beginning. This is what we lost at the fall, when Adam sinned.

The eternal life of God in us is what allows us full access to commune with God continuously, intimately, and freely.

Without it, we cannot approach God. Only He can approach us — and even then but for a moment, and not intimately as He originally designed. Why? Because our God is Holy. It is only with His Life in us that we can be declared as holy.

Remember: the life of a man is in his blood. Jesus Christ gave His eternal, Life-filled blood to replace our death-stained blood. A spiritual blood transfusion occurs the moment we accept His gift of Life. He Himself, His Life, was the gift.

Without His Life, We Cannot Know God

In Scripture, "knowing" always speaks of a deep, intimate relationship between two people — not head knowledge. The eternal life of God in us is what allows us access to know God intimately, without having to go through anything or anyone. The veil is now torn.

"Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split." — Matthew 27:51 NKJV

"Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." — 2 Corinthians 3:16 NKJV

Why Was This Truth Hidden Through the Ages?

It was hidden because if the enemy — satan and his hosts of darkness — knew God's intention to save mankind through the death of Jesus Christ, they would never have crucified our Lord and Savior.

Let me be very clear: satan knows Scripture, maybe more than many believers. He knew the prophecies of a coming Savior. What he did not know was that our salvation would be received through the death of Jesus Christ.

"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." — 1 Corinthians 2:7–8 NKJV

The mystery of God's will has always been hidden in plain sight. It takes the Spirit of God for what is hidden in plain sight to be revealed.

"It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." — Proverbs 25:2 NKJV

An Invitation

Today, there is still so much more that the Spirit of God desires to reveal to us, His children — who are now filled with His Life. But He is actively searching out those who earnestly seek to know Him intimately and to know His ways. These are the ones whose eyes will be opened to the truth of who we really are in Christ, and to the depth of what was accomplished for us on the cross.

As I said at the beginning, there is still so much more to unpack — but for now, I feel led to stop here.

Please reach out if you read this to the end and have any questions or comments. I would love to answer your questions and hear your thoughts.

With love,
Ejiro