In the first part of this book, we said that, because God is a different type of being, restoration back into positive relationship with him will be a different process to what we might expect. So far, we’ve mostly talked about who God is and the reality of sin. Although these topics don’t make sense of Jesus’ death without more explanation. If a man named Jesus died 2,000 years ago on a Roman cross, what could that achieve? How does the death of Jesus impact you and me?

Often the link missing between connecting Jesus’ death and ourselves is an understanding of God’s nature we’ve talked about. If God wants to (1) find a way for us to escape the consequences of sin, but (2) he’s also perfect and must punish us for sin, then what could be God’s solution to these opposing realities? The interesting thing is that, for God to save us from sin, he must find a way to satisfy his own justice without punishing us. This is why God makes Jesus a sacrifice for sins, which the next chapter will discuss.

Chapter Summary:

• Restoration back into a positive relationship with God will be a different process to what we might expect because God is a different being to us.

• God wants to (1) find a way for us to escape the consequences of sin, but he’s (2) also perfect and must punish us for sin. Because of these two truths, for God to rescue us from sin, he must find a way to satisfy his own requirements of justice without punishing us.