"Why Did Jesus Die?" Rethinking this question is challenging since the answer seems so obvious to anyone steeped in the accepted Evangelical theology. One way to step outside is to frame the question differently, "If Adam and Eve had not 'disobeyed' would Jesus have come and died for human redemption?"
Yes? No? Maybe?
In my old story, I might have answered negatively since it was all about responding to sin - no sin, no need to die. Now, I would have known better for some technical theological reasons but practically speaking that was the answer. The death of Jesus was a response to the crisis and Jesus was Plan B or maybe Plan C [Adam/Eve = Plan A ; Israel = Plan B; Jesus = Plan C] After the failure of Plan A and B, God was going to make sure Plan C would not fail; after all, someone had to be punished!
Yet, there is a theme in the New Testament that the Incarnation [including his life, death and resurrection] was planned before creation [Rev. 13:8; Eph 1, etc.]. That is, the Incarnation and death of Jesus was not a response to the failure of Adam and Eve, but an expression of something else much bigger and reflective of the whole purpose of creation.
In fact, now believe that the purpose in creation was to invite all of it to join in Trinitarian life. It was all an expression of divine love and that the Incarnation was the key to inviting all creation to share in the dynamic of the Trinity. Kruger says this:
The death of Christ is part of a seamless movement that began in eternity with the Father, Son and Spirit and reached fulfillment with the exaltation of the human race in the ascension of Jesus .... If we are to understand why Jesus dies, what happened in his death and what it means for us today, we have to go back to eternity, to the astonishing decision of the Father, Son and Spirit to include us in their circle of shared life. For the reality that drives the coming of Jesus Christ and pushes him to the cross is the restless and determined passion of the Father to have us as His beloved children. The First thing to be said about the death of Jesus Christ is that he died because God the Father almighty loves us with an implacable and undaunted and everlasting love, a love that absolutely refuses to allow us to perish." (P. 15 )
Now, that's a story with a difference that makes sense to me.
Dr. Paul
