In several threads I've seen here it's been said that Jesus sacrificed his life so that those who "believed in him" would gain salvation.
That a person will gain salvation is not in question, but rather the claim that Jesus, the Son of god, sacrificed, his life.
Sacrifice
verb
1. to willingly give up something one would otherwise rather keep.
verb
1. to willingly give up something one would otherwise rather keep.
"In terms of Jesus' sacrifice, anyone familiar with the Bible will first think of His sacrificial death at Calvary to atone for the sins of mankind. His crucifixion was indeed the greatest act of sacrifice in the history of the world, a perfect demonstration of His own teaching in John 15:13,"
source
Looking at the pre-existence of Jesus some say, ". . . from all eternity the Son has been enjoying the love and glory that he shares with God the Father."
source
which is as good a claim as any. Then god sent his Son down to earth where he was incarnated as Jesus in main to die for man's sins. After that was accomplished the Son returned to god where he now sits on his right hand. As sort of an analogy, it's like an American going to France for a year where he expends his energy working for the the government, and then returns to the USA to resume his life. Essentially no change in the guy from before he went to France to after he came back.
As a form of god Jesus certainly had to know what he would be doing on earth, including orchestrating events so as to be crucified. So, my question is, where is the sacrifice Jesus was supposed to have made? Everything went as he wanted them to go: swimmingly.
So, is this about it, Jesus's death was no "greatest act of sacrifice in the history of the world," or even any sacrifice at all, OR have I missed something here?
.