Why did God have to choose death as the final punishment for sin?

 I got a call last night asking this question:

"Why did God have to choose death as the final punishment for sin?"

I love getting these questions. As God has called me to disciple others, I get random phone calls, text messages, emails, and face-to-face questions about God, the Bible, and all things related. I have gotten questions about dinosaurs in the Bible, (yes, they are there). I have gotten questions about marriage, divorce, God's wrath, and the story of Christmas. I have gotten questions about the Pope, Catholicism, denominationalism, baptism, and the evil that surrounds us. I love them all. I don't love them because I know everything and want to share. That is nowhere near the truth. I am searching for answers too! I love these questions because those inquiries tell me people are searching and seeking. It always reminds me of these words from Jesus:

"Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened." (Matthew 7:7,8)

The questions come with such responsibility. I never want to give the wrong information. I NEVER want to lead someone astray and share something that is not Biblical. I often pray, quickly, that God will feed me with the correct response. Last night was such an occurrence. So this morning, I have been searching and seeking myself.

So why did God choose death as the final punishment for sin?

If we look back at the Garden of Eden, it would seem Adam and Eve's sin was so minor. How could they deserve death for eating from a tree? God was so intentional about the instructions he gave. 

"You may freely eat the fruit of every tree  in the garden -- except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die." (Genesis 2:16)

They didn't face punishment because they ate some fruit. They faced death because they disobeyed God and wanted to be like him. 

Did they die after they disobeyed God? No! Many people have a problem with this. They think God should have killed them on the spot! So what were the consequences of their disobedience? First, once they disobeyed, they separated themselves from God by trying to hide. Then as punishment, God put them out of the garden. There were other consequences to, but immediate physical death wasn't one of them. Yes, they eventually died a physical death. But, there is also a spiritual death, and that death is the real problem.

There are so many things that can be discussed about the results of sin. Yet, in my mind, the ultimate consequence of sin is separation from God. Although we all fear physical death, or at least many are not looking forward to that. It is far worse to be separated from the love of God for all eternity. To me, that is real death. 

When we choose sin, we choose to separate ourselves from God. We make a decision that we know better than God. God has given us the ideal way to live life, but we have said, "No. I want to do it my way!" We want to have random sex, we want to worship money, we want to define marriage our own way, and we want to steal, kill, and destroy for our own gain. We choose to be separated from God. Death is eternal separation from God. It is a choice we will all make. 

Remember when Jesus gave the greatest commandments? It wasn't a list of 613 laws. He said we are to love God and love people. The greatest sin we can commit is not choosing God.

In the end, God is giving us what we want. When we die in our sins, we are choosing permanent separation from God. So, in effect death isn't the result of our actions, it is the result of our choice to reject and disobey God, to live separate from him. 

"God is just: He will pay back trouble to those who trouble you and give relief to you who are troubled, and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out of from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed." (2 Thessalonians 1:6-10, emphasis added)

If we choose sin, we will be shut out of the presence of the Lord. Our physical death is only a part of the problem. In the book of Revelation, it talks about our second death. That is the ultimate tipping point, the moment when we enter into eternity or are sent to the lake of fire. To gain eternal life, we must choose God, through his Son Jesus Christ, right now. We won't have an opportunity after our physical death to change our minds. The choice is either choose Jesus or live a life separated from God, death. God will give us what we want. He longs for us to choose him and is giving everyone that choice. What will you choose?