YouTube: The Million Dollar Question; Does God Require Sacrifice?
One of the most popular summaries of the Christian message comes from John 3:16:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
This passage raises two important questions concerning the nature of God. Is the love of God conditional? Did God require the sacrifice of His only Son?
According to John, one must believe Jesus died for our sins to gain eternal life. The implication is that whoever does not believe in him will perish and will not have eternal life.
Then we’re told that God “gave his only Son”. We understand this to mean that God gave his Son to be put to death as a sacrifice for our sins. How can such a human sacrifice be a requirement with a God who loves the world? The unconditional love of God would be better expressed in this way:
For God so loved the world that he ensured none would perish but all would have eternal life.
This is certainly more in keeping with the lesson of the prodigal son. The father so loved his son that he welcomed him home, no questions asked, no conditions imposed.
We cringe when we read of cultures that practiced human sacrifice to appease the gods. However, as Christians, we’ve become so accustomed to Jesus as a human sacrifice that we have somehow disconnected pagan barbarism from Christian theology. The principle, however, is the same. A life is given to change the behavior and attitude of God.
From a spiritual perspective, one of the most important issues we must sort out is our understanding of God. A God that requires sacrificial appeasement cannot be considered a God of unconditional love.