I’ve long struggled to understand the purpose of Christ dying on the cross, i.e. the logic of Christianity and of its Atonement Theory, but I think I’ve reached a milestone. Read what I wrote and tell me if anything is wrong or heretical:
Sacrificial system explained: It’s a simple transaction for good(s) rendered. God is like anything else in life: you want, you pay. (Spoiler for Jews: The price of God is God.)
Now, God being God, He doesn’t need anything from you. Even so, why should HIS lack of need exempt YOU from having to pay? It shouldn’t. Ask yourself: Just because God already has God, does that make it fair that you would automatically get God for free also? Obviously not! You can and should still pay, even if God gains nothing from the “transaction,” it’s only fair. So that’s where the sacrificial system comes in. A sacrifice to YHWH is merely a price paid for services rendered.
Now, why is Jesus a suitable payment? Because God is worth an infinite amount! God could have transformed the entire world into the perfect paradise if only we had permitted Him. He brought with him the potential for a recovered Eden and infinitely more, if only we would have just chosen it. Therefore, losing God on the cross wasn’t just God’s loss, it was OUR loss. We ALL paid the ultimate price. And because of this, because we did all pay that ultimate price (all those who believe, that is), in return the Lord says: Very well, you have paid. You may enter.