Do You Know Why I as a Christian Believe in Christ?

Why did Jesus have to die?

I want to write my own answer to that to see how clear it is to me.

If your children have an issue with the teaching if the church and prophets please avoid evil speaking.

This was the first time I would explain the “why” of Christianity to someone very unfamiliar with it and highly intelligent. I couldn’t simply say, “I follow Jesus Christ because He willingly suffered and died for my sins.” She might wonder, “Did Jesus have to die? Couldn’t God simply forgive and cleanse us of our sins if we asked Him to?”

How would you have responded in a few minutes? How would you explain this to a friend? Children and youth: would you please ask your parents or a leader later on, “Why did Jesus have to die?” And, brothers and sisters, I have a confession to make: despite all I thought I knew about Church doctrine, history, policy, and so on, the answer to this central question to our faith did not come so easily.

My answer: Our loving Heavenly Father made a plan for the redemption of his children so that they could return to live with him after mortality. Central to that plan was that a Savior would come to Earth and set an example as well as pay the price for the sins of mankind to make that redemption possible on condition that we accept His sacrifice. Jesus Christ was the Savior in that plan and he has set the example for us to emulate and has paid the price for our sins. Individual agency was a central component in that plan and so our ability to receive the full benefit of His sacrifice is predicated on us choosing to follow Him. While it is fair to wonder if the plan could have been designed in some different way in any given regard all I know is that this was the plan. I don’t claim to know whether any other plan could have been used.