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Christianity teaches that Jesus was crucified in order that ours sins be forgiven, and without this sacrifice then atonement could not be attained. Why did Jesus have to die for our sins in order for us to be forgiven?

Romans 3:25(NIV) "God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith..."

Imagine this. Jesus and a man are in an elevator. The man presses the button for the first floor, which is the floor of death. Jesus presses the second button for the second floor, which is the floor of salvation. When both of them reach the floor of death, the man steps out and rabid wolves emerge heading to devour him. Jesus runs off in place of the man and grabs the attention of the rabid wolves so that the man can escape to the elevator and continue to the second floor. Jesus is ravaged by the rabid wolves and the man is saved.

The issue I take with this, is that Jesus did not have to put himself in place of the man. Jesus after all is the one who created the rabid wolves, he is the one who created the elevator. Through his power he could have made the elevator skip a floor, so why did he voluntarily need to enter his creation and die in the man's stead? Sure, the man is saved one way or another, but it could be achieved without sacrifice, so why is Jesus' sacrifice in itself needed?

curiousdannii
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  • There are lots of different theories of the atonement, each of which would give a substantial but distinct answer to this question. Can you please chose a particular theory of the atonement, or (less ideally) a denomination whose views you are after? – curiousdannii Aug 22 '20 at 13:42
  • I think your question has been answered already - https://christianity.stackexchange.com/questions/32990/what-are-the-general-positions-of-different-traditions-on-the-question-did-jesu – Matt Gutting Aug 22 '20 at 13:48
  • Thanks MattGutting, I agree, this should be closed as a duplicate of that question. That question could certainly do with more in-depth answers however! @RandomUser Do feel free to ask a follow up question about a specific theory however. – curiousdannii Aug 22 '20 at 13:49
  • It is customary for friends and family to share meals together. Since Jews were nomadic shepherds, this usually meant meat products prepared from slaughtered animals. This is then symbolically extended to Temple sacrifices, wherein God and mankind (represented by the priests) can, in a certain sense, share in the flesh of the sacrificial victim, as a gesture of restoring lost friendship. Isaiah then metaphorically compares the innocents slain in wars and persecutions to these sacrifices, because not all Jews were sinful, but most were, and, because of them, the whole nation suffered. –  Aug 22 '20 at 20:21

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