Jesus was born for one specific reason, to take away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Apostle Paul noted in his letter to the Ephesians that Jesus’ mission was launched before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). Paul tells us:

In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:4-10)

God’s plan was launched in the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve committed the first sin. Speaking to the serpent that had enticed Eve to rebel against him, God said, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:14-15).

Jesus’ first encounter with Satan took place shortly after he was baptized and was identified as the Son of God (Matthew 3:17). Matthew’s gospel tells us, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread'” (Matthew 4:1-3). The Greek word that is translated tempter, peirazo (pi-rad’-zo) is derived from the word peran (per’-an), which comes from the word peiro (to “pierce“); through, i.e. across:- across, away, beyond, other side (G4008). The idea that temptation is something that causes us to cross over or go to the other side was first introduced in the Old Testament and was associated with the term Hebrew or Eberite (H5680). Abraham was the first person to be referred to as a Hebrew (Genesis 14:13). Joseph was also identified as a Hebrew when he was a slave in Egypt (Genesis 39:14, 17; 41:12). The word that Hebrew is derived from, ‘abar (aw-bar’) which means “to cross over” is used figuratively to signify “going beyond, overstepping a covenant or a command of God or man. Moses uses the word when charging the people with disobeying and overstepping the Lord’s commands (Numbers 14:41; Joshua 7:11, 15).

The Israelites’ journey through the wilderness included several transitions that required them to cross over or pass through territory that was forbidden to them. The Hebrew word ‘abar (H5674) appears ten times in Deuteronomy chapter two, Moses’ account of the wilderness years. Moses said:

“Then we turned and journeyed into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea, as the Lord told me. And for many days we traveled around Mount Seir. Then the Lord said to me, ‘You have been traveling around this mountain country long enough. Turn northward and command the people, “You are about to pass through (H5674) the territory of your brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir…So we went on (H5674), away from our brothers, the people of Esau, who live in Seir…So we went over (H5674) the brook Zered…until we crossed (H5674) the brook Zered…‘Today you are to cross (H5674) the border of Moab at Ar’…‘Rise up, set out on your journey and go over (H5674) the Valley of the Arnon.'” (Deuteronomy 2:1-24)

When the Israelites reached the border of the Promised Land, they were prevented from passing through (H5674) the land of Sihon the king of Heshbon (Deuteronomy 2:26-30) and so the LORD gave him and his land over to the Israelites and they defeated him and devoted all of his cities to destruction (Deuteronomy 2:33-34). Moses concluded his account with with the statement:

From Aroer, which is on the edge of the Valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, as far as Gilead, there was not a city too high for us. The Lord our God gave all into our hands. Only to the land of the sons of Ammon you did not draw near, that is, to all the banks of the river Jabbok and the cities of the hill country, whatever the Lord our God had forbidden us. (Deuteronomy 2:36-37)

The Hebrew word that is translated forbidden in Deuteronomy 2:37, tsavah (tsaw-vaw’) has to do with God’s sovereignty over his creation. “The word means to give an order or to command, to direct someone; it indicates commands given to people in various situations. The Lord commanded Adam and Eve to eat from certain trees but to refrain from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Genesis 2:16; 3:17)” (H6680). Therefore, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, it was considered to be a sin or you might say rebellion against God’s sovereign authority.

Jesus told his disciples that it was his duty to go to Jerusalem and suffer and die there. Matthew tells us that after Peter made his profession that Jesus was the Christ (Matthew 16:16), “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ But he turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man'” (Matthew 16:21-23). Jesus’ single-minded focus on dying for the sin of the world was the result of a divine appointment that made his death on the cross unavoidable (G1163). Jesus recognized Peter’s interference as a direct assault from Satan and immediately rebuked him with the command “Get behind me Satan!” (Matthew 16:23). The Greek word that is translated hindrance, skandalon (skan’-dal-on) means “the trigger of a trap on which the bait is placed, and which, when touched by the animal, springs and causes it to close causing entrapment” (G4625). The Greek word skandalizo (skan-dal-id’-zo), is where the english word scandalize comes from (G4624). skandalizo is derived from the word skandalon and was used by Jesus when he warned his disciples, “You will all fall away because of me this night. For it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered'” (Matthew 26:31, emphasis mine).

In his High Priestly Prayer, shortly before his death, Jesus said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed” (John 17:1-5). Jesus indicated that he had already accomplished the work that he had been given to do even before he died on the cross. The work that he was referring to was reconciling man and God. Paul talked about this work in his letter to the Ephesians. Paul said:

Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands—remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. (Ephesians 2:11-16)

The Greek word that Paul used that is translated reconcile, apokatallasso (ap-ok-at-al-las’-so) means “to reconcile fully…to change from one state of feeling to another” (G604). The change that Jesus was able to accomplish through his death on the cross was a change in God’s relationship to mankind. God’s hostility toward people because of the sins they’ve committed against him was changed to a state of peace.

The brutal death that Jesus suffered would seem to have had the opposite effect. John tells us:

Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!” When the chief priests and the officers saw him, they cried out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him, for I find no guilt in him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has made himself the Son of God.” (John 19:1-7)

According to the Jews, Jesus “made himself the Son of God” (John 19:7). The Greek word that is translated made, poieo (poy-eh’-o) refers to “external acts as manifested in the production of something tangible, corporeal, obvious to the senses.” Figuratively poieo is “spoken of a state or condition, or of things intangible and incorporeal, and generally of such things as are produced by an inward act of the mind or will” (G4160). The Jews accusation that he made himself the Son of God may have been intended to imply that Jesus was merely acting like God and that he was not who he claimed to be, but there is ample evidence to suggest that the Jews believed Jesus was the Son of God and wanted to get rid of him because of that fact. One of Jesus’ parables in particular, the parable of the wicked tenants, revealed the religious leaders’ motive for killing him. Jesus said:

Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my beloved son; perhaps they will respect him.’ But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’ And they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenants and give the vineyard to others.” When they heard this, they said, “Surely not!” But he looked directly at them and said, “What then is this that is written:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone’?

Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

The scribes and the chief priests sought to lay hands on him at that very hour, for they perceived that he had told this parable against them, but they feared the people. So they watched him and sent spies, who pretended to be sincere, that they might catch him in something he said, so as to deliver him up to the authority and jurisdiction of the governor. (Luke 20:13-20)

In spite of the treachery that was used against him, Jesus was not a victim of his circumstances. When Pilate asked him, “Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you” (John 19:10), Jesus responded, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11).

Jesus described himself as the good shepherd and said, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” (John 10:11). Jesus went on to say, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father” (John 10:16-18). The charge that Jesus referred to was an authoritative prescription and was equivalent to the precepts of the Mosaic Law. Jesus was not only required to lay down his life, but also to take it up again; therefore, Jesus’ resurrection was necessary for his act of redemption to be complete.

John’s account of Jesus’ death on the cross states, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst.’ A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:28-30). Jesus’ declaration, “It is finished” just before he gave up his spirit, indicated that there was nothing more that he needed to do at that point in time. The Greek word that is translated finished, teleo (tel-eh’-o) means “to end” (G5055) and is derived from the word telos (tel’-os) which means “the point aimed at as a limit” (G5056). The point aimed at or goal that Jesus was working toward was the redemption of mankind. What had been going on up until then, was Jesus making payment for our redemption, paying the penalty for our sins. It says in Matthew 20:28, that Jesus came not to be served, “but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” The Greek word that is translated ransom, lutron (loo’-tron) means “a redemption price (figurative, atonement)” the “‘loosing-money,’ i.e. price paid for redeeming captives” is used “metaphorically for the ransom paid by Christ for the delivering of men from the bondage of sin and death” (G3083).

Paul’s letter to the Romans explained is detail the process of redemption that Jesus completed. Paul said:

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

According to Paul, believers are justified by grace (Romans 3:24). The Greek word that is translated justified, dikaioo (dik-ah-yo’-o) means “as a matter of right or justice: to absolve, acquit, clear from any charge or imputation…spoken especially of the justification bestowed by God on men through Christ, in which he is said to regard and treat them as righteous, i.e. to absolve from the consequences of sin and admit to the enjoyment of the divine favor (Romans 3:26, 30; 4:5; 8:30, 33; Galatians 3:8)” (G1344). The mechanism of our justification is God’s grace, “the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude…Also spoken of the grace which God exercises toward us, the unmerited favor which he shows in saving us from sin” (G5485).

Paul described Jesus as being a propitiation by his blood (Romans 3:25). Propitiation is associated with the mercy seat, “the lid or cover of the Ark of the Covenant, where the high priest would make propitiation once a year by sprinkling blood upon the mercy seat (Exodus 25:17-22; Leviticus 16:11-15)” (G2435). Propitiation is what makes it possible for God to forgive our sins. The Greek word hilaskomai (hil-as-kom-ahee) means “to reconcile to oneself, to be propitious, gracious” (G2433). Paul explained that our belief in Jesus is what tips the scales of justice in our favor. Paul stated:

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

“Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:5-8)

Paul’s explanation of justification by faith concluded with the statement, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1). The Greek word that is translated peace in this verse, eirene (i-rah’-nay) is being used metaphorically to represent “peace of mind, tranquility, arising from reconciliation with God and a sense of divine favor” (G1515). From that standpoint, peace with God means that we have nothing to worry about, we are good to go.