What does the whole thing mean though?
I will try to answer your question in the spirit I believe it is being asked in. So what does it all mean...Jesus dying for our sins?
Firstly, do you think you're perfect? Have you done bad things in your life? I believe that everyone knows that they have failed to live a perfect life, that we've all fallen short at one time or another. And equally I think everyone knows that they will make mistakes again in the future. Here's my confession...I know I have fallen short, that I've done things that are contrary to the will of God. I also know that in the future I will fall short of perfection.
If you don't know what sins are, you can start by reading the 10 commandments. Even someone who's never read them though, I believe they still know that these things are wrong....lying, cheating, stealing, lust, murder etc.
Christians believe that all of humanity has falled short of God's perfection. So the question becomes....How can we reconcile ourselves to a perfect God when we are not perfect? How can God allow us into his Holy Presence when we are so far away from Him?
In the Old Testament, under the old covenant human beings had to go through all manner of rituals and sacrifices to atone for the sins committed...lambs, goats, doves, their blood would be spilled to make atonement for what had been done wrong.
With Jesus we have a new covenant. Because Jesus went willingly to the cross our sins are forgiven....its a gift, one that not one of us is worthy of. But God so loves us that he sent His only begotten Son to die for us so that should not taste death, but we're not forced to accept this gift....its a choice.
It might seem simple, but if you read 1 Corrinthans Paul teaches us that the Gospel (the good news) was designed to be foolishness to those of us who are proud. "For the message of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
Its nothing that we do, its a free gift....but humilty is something that runs counter to the culture most of us live in.