Why did blood have to be shed?

People often ask me “Why did God have to sacrifice Jesus on the cross?” Or “Why did the Lord’s blood have to be shed?”  The concept of blood sacrifice seems harsh, bizarre, primitive, even gross. Not only that, but people ask me, “Couldn’t the Almighty God have dealt with our unrighteousness in a ‘nicer’ manner?”Scripture says: “ God sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin. Having faith in him sets us in the clear.  God decided on this course of action in full view of the public — to set the world in the clear with himself through the sacrifice of Jesus.”  (Rom.3:25 Msg). The Word also says, “For God . . . reconciled to himself all things. . ..  by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”  (Col.1:19-20)Thank you, Heavenly Father, for doing this.But why did you decide on shedding blood on the cross as your means of redemption?Dear One, innocent blood had to be shed for the guilty. My law demanded that you had to be held accountable for your sins.  A punishment had to be paid to make things right.  That price for your becoming “at-one” (atonement) with me is the shedding of innocent blood.  My son, Jesus the Lamb of God, had to be slaughtered as a ransom for your sins.”Reader, as I thought about this, an explanation came to my mind from Genesis 3. In Paradise, before the serpent entered the scene, Adam and Eve had been at peace, fruitful and content.  Then that evil critter tempted them to question God.   “Did God really say that?”  Eve, giving into the temptation, considered that question — “Is this really the way God wants it done?”  She declared herself smarter than her Creator and she ate the apple.  At that point in time, Adam and Eve lost their heavenly peace, their blessed connection with God.  They discovered their nakedness.  Mortified, they scurried around looking for big fig leaves to cover their shame.But our Heavenly Father, loving them and saddened in His heart that man’s relationship with Him was broken, stepped in and repaired the problem.  He took care of our nakedness and shame by making garments of animal skins to clothe Adam and Eve, and us. (Ge. 3:21). Blood was shed to take away that shame. From the creation of the world and the time of our rebellion, the Lamb of God was set in place to be slain.Throughout scripture, blood is equated with the “the seat of life.” From the moment of conception, it is blood that flows through us giving us life.   It is blood that stops pumping through us at the moment of death. Blood is symbolic of life.  God’s choice — to shed the blood of an innocent animal in order to cover the guilt of mankind — has been in place since the beginning of time.  The Father ordained that his Son, the perfect Lamb of God, be sacrificed unto death so that we may live.  For thousands of years this practice of an atonement lamb has been a central part in God’s redemptive economy.   When Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, lay down on the cross and allowed the soldiers to pierce him with nails, his precious blood flowed.  The slaughter of Jesus crushed the head of the Devil. (Gen. 3: 15) ending the curse of sin and death, the final act of redemption.