Weena wrote:
Then wouldn't the right thing to do would be to sin as to not let his death be in vain?
In fact, wouldn't the right thing to do would be to sin as much as possible to make his death even more worthwhile?
It has been a long, long time since I studied this subject in depth, much less at all, so bear with me as I prepare to get many, many things wrong.
The answer to your question, actually, is no.
There's a lot of "old magick" (for lack of a better term) to the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Christ was born to a virgin, which left him free from the taint of Original Sin. I am not sure how this part works, or can't remember, since the Original Sin was disobedience and had nothing to do with sex, but I digress. Having been sired to a virgin by God, Christ was also a part of the Divine, by which I mean God himself. Don't ask me how that part works either, it's the whole Trinity thing that no one can really explain properly when asked.
So, starting out, we have a sinless divine being. According to Scripture, Christ, most likely because he was divine, lived without sin, maintaining his barrier against the taint of sin that touched humanity.
Sin, very basically, is an offense against the Creator that carries with it consequences and repercussions, some worldly, some spiritual, some a little of both. When you say that "Christ died for our sins," I don't think you give a lot of thoughts to what that means. What it means is that Christ takes on (or took on) the spiritual burden of those consequences.
There are two views on this that I have heard. One is that the all spiritual suffering that would ever be caused by those who believed was experienced by Christ during his agonizing death. The other is that Christ bears the burden as it accumulates and will be absolved of the burden during the End of Days. Either way, your sin adds to the suffering of the Savior, and is why you should strive to live your life in the image of Christ.
So basically:
Man screws up (Original Sin).
God does a /facepalm.
God knocks up a virgin without deflowering her.
Divine sinless child is born.
Divine child lives sinless life, despite even supernatural temptation.
Divine child is given over to be tormented and killed/sacrificed to take on the burden of man's sin, which only he can bear because of his sinless divine nature.
Weena wrote:
But then, did he really sacrifice anything in the first case? I mean, he went to heaven, which is paradise.
The sacrifice, as I have outlined, was torment and bearing the burden of sin. Since Christ is/was/will forever be blameless/sinless by right of his divine nature and behavior, he has earned the respite of paradise, something no human born of Original Sin could do.
Weena wrote:
Which then, would that not mean Jesus went to paradise for our sins?
o then, we would have been lead on that he sacrificed for our sins, but he actually went to paradise.
Lying is a sin.
Did Jesus then sin for our sins?
If I have explained this correctly, you will be completely and totally confused but realize that this assertion is wrong. Don't let it bother you, the vast majority of Christians have no idea what all goes into the Resurrection, either.
Your Pal,
Jubber
