As a child, it was always shocking to hear that God would kill God’s own child to save the world. It didn't make sense to me that God didn't just forgive the world‘s sin without requiring a blood sacrifice, after-all God is omnipotent and could do whatever God wants. Well God didn’t require Jesus to die, humanity did. Let me explain.
The Bible book of Genesis tells the story of God entering into a covenant with Abraham. The book of Exodus mentions God entering a covenant, sealed with blood, with the descendants of Israel at Mount Sinai. The covenant with Abraham was apart of God’s consideration for entering the covenant with the descendants of Israel.
A covenant sealed with blood remains binding until the death of one of the parties to the covenant. Until that occurs the parties have the right to enforce the provisions of the covenant. In order to terminate the covenant between God and the descendants of Israel either God would have to die or all of the descendants of Israel. “For where there is a covenant, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.” - Hebrews 9:16 NASB2020
God decided to terminate the covenant because the descendants of Israel had a difficult time abiding by it. God decided to establish a new covenant with easier terms, but first the old covenant had to be terminated. God decided that God would be the party to die to make the termination possible.
How does an immortal God die? Well an immortal God can not die, but God can legally assign God’s contract obligations and rights to a worthy heir. That is what God did. God assigned God’s rights to the covenant to God’s son, Jesus Christ.
“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom He also made the world. And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,” - Hebrews 1:1-3 NASB2020
It was humanity, more specifically the descendants of Israel, who have the right to demand God enforce the covenant or die to terminate it. Which is why Jesus waited to publicly declare that he is the son of God before Caiaphas, the high priest and mediator of the old covenant. This is also why the opportunity to make the choice between Jesus or Barabbas was provided to the people. It had to be their choice as the ones authorized to enforce their rights as heirs of Israel to the covenant.
“It is finished” was Jesus’s last words in John 19:30. As far as God is concerned, Jesus’s death terminated the first covenant fulfilling God’s obligation to enforce it. However, by denying the divinity of Jesus Christ the other parties to the old covenant are essentially refusing the termination and are choosing to remained bound by the requirements of the old covenant. They are unknowingly forcing God to continue to enforce the terms of the old covenant against them that God knows they are incapable of doing.
“For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes. …But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; - Romans 10:3-4, 8-9 NASB2020
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