Did Jesus die for the sins of the world?

Let me tell you a story. About two thousand and some odd years ago, a man unlike any other died a horribly painful death as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. This man was Jesus Christ, the Son of God. You see, here's the thing. Everyone on the world is guilty of something serious enough to separate them from God. That thing is sin. God did not want the people of the world to be separated from Him so He sent His Son to pay the debt for the sins of the world. That is the story of salvation. One perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world.

Here's the other thing. Jesus didn't die for the sins of the world. He died for the sins of the individual. He died for your sins just as He died for my sins. My point is this. Jesus did not do a cost-benefit analysis at the foot of the cross to decide whether or not the shedding of His blood would save enough people to be worth the sacrifice. He could have, mind you. He very well could have looked into the future at every person who would potentially accept His gift of salvation and determined at that point, if the number of souls saved from eternal damnation would ultimately be worth the pain and humiliation of His death on cross. But he didn't. In fact, I have recently become convinced that if you or I were the only person left on this earth to save, and no one else would ever accept the love Jesus offered them, He would have gone through all that anyways. Just for you. Just for me.

In case you have a problem with this, allow me another paragraph or two to walk you through my reasoning.

God has been watching out for the individual since he created Adam. When the world became so wicked that God decided to flood it, He noticed one man who still worshiped him. He reached out to Noah and gave him a way to save himself and his family. Noah built an ark using plans directly from God. This ark was something that had never been built before. I would say it was the Titanic of its day except that there had never been a boat of any kind built before the ark and it was designed by God, so it actually was unsinkable. God knew that Noah's descendents would eventually develop such a superiority complex that they would attempt the construction of a tower that they intended to reach heaven. The result of their efforts was basically, the need for the Rosetta Stone. God saved Noah anyways.

When Sodom and Gomorrah reach the height of their depravity, God decided it was time for them to go. Fire and Brimstone was the fate that awaited them. Abraham, on having heard Gods plan for these wicked cities, plead with God for the life of his nephew, Lot. God still carried out his plans for Sodom and Gomorrah, but He created an escape for Lot and his family. He sent a couple angels directly to Lots door. These angels told Lot and his family to leave the city and they did. This family of individuals left the city and reached safety in the caves with the exception of Lots wife. God knew that Lot's daughters would eventually get their father drunk and commit incest with him for fear of having no offspring. The results of these acts were Moab and Ben-ammi. Moab was the father of the Moabites. This group of people was more or less at constant odds with the Israelites. The nation spawned by the Ben-ammi wasn't much better. Their relationships were so strained that the Israelites chose to go into the wilderness after escaping slavery in Egypt rather than go through the land of the Moabites or the Ammonites. God very well could have listened to Abraham's pleas for his nephews life and said, “Look, Abraham. I could save Lot. But if I do, two nations will be born that will cause trouble for Your descendents for centuries. I've done a cost-benefit analysis of the situation and it's really better in the long run if I allow Lot to perish with the rest of the city.” Instead, he saved Lot and his family anyways. He also used the Moabites in the lineage of Jesus through Ruth.

All throughout history, God has directly intervened in the lives of individuals. He saved these people before they had a chance to earn His help and despite their sinful natures. Many of these people went on to be used greatly by God. Consider David, Peter, and Paul. Some went on to disappoint. Consider Saul of the Old Testament who, despite repeatedly being given opportunity after opportunity to repent, died an enemy of God. Consider also Judas Iscariot. He spent three and a half years walking with Jesus and ended up betraying his Lord to the Romans and Jewish leaders.

My point is this. Jesus, being the Son of God, died that horrible death on that cross all those years ago, because God is interested in saving you.