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Originally posted by Jesus Pimp
Why would it matter that he died since God is omnipotent and cannot die. Just his human shell died and went back to his place in the sky to never come back. Jesus supposedly died for our sins but there is still sin in the world. Doesn't make any sense to me.
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That's not quite right. Firstly, as we say in the creeds, "He descended into hell". Exactly what that means is certainly open to dispute, but I've never heard anyone claim that Christ spent his three days dead in heaven. Secondly, we teach the
bodily resurrection of Christ. After Christ rose from the dead, he had (and has) a body. A human body. Thirdly, Christ's body wasn't, as you put it, a "human shell". He was really, truly, and fully human, just like he was really, truly, and fully God.*
So that leaves the question why his death matters. Christ died to atone for our sins. Why did he have to die? Because the wages of sin is death. Why are the wages of sin death? Because sin is, in its very essence, a turning of the back towards God, a rebellion against the person who is the source of our life. Bear in mind, again, that Christ really and truly died. He wasn't just faking it. How is it possibly that he died? Beats me. It happened, so it must be possible, but beyond that, I don't really have an answer.
Christ died to save us from our sins, yes, but it has never been claimed that this meant that there would no longer be sin in the world. It doesn't even mean that people who accept Christ's atonement won't sin anymore. It just means that our sins are forgiven, and we are no longer slaves to sin. An explanation of that would require someone who knows more theology than I.
*This has come up a few times: "Why believe Christ was fully God and fully man?" The Heidelberg Catechism gives a succinct summation of the argument, if you'll indulge a quick quote:
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Question 16. Why must he be very man, and also perfectly righteous?
Answer. Because the justice of God requires that the same human nature which hath sinned, should likewise make satisfaction for sin; and one, who is himself a sinner, cannot satisfy for others.
Question 17. Why must he in one person be also very God?
Answer. That he might, by the power of his Godhead sustain in his human nature, the burden of God's wrath; and might obtain for, and restore to us, righteousness and life.
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