Why did someone (Jesus) have to die?  It seems like a rather harsh way of dealing with the problem…  But is it actually the approach we agree is best…

Summary:
In many things of this world, behavior is only changed when there are strong consequences for bad behavior.  Tickets for bad driving, suspensions from school, health issues from bad lifestyles, financial troubles from overspending, etc.  In the 6-year-old word picture, the parents allowed painful consequences in order to change character.

God gave us free will and we have mostly been using it to serve “self”.  The result is a world greatly divided.  God is setting up eternity in Heaven where relationships will be much more wholesome because only people will be there that have learned that focus on “self” is hollow in the long run.

With consequences which God imposed on His own Son, He made it clear that we must “die to self” if we want to find something better.

A little more:

• Reminder that God is building an eternal place that is far better than here.  That will be because those going there will have learned to trust God who is more wise and loving than us.  Therefore, Heaven will be full of wholesome relationships – that is part of what makes it Heaven.  If we brought our messes into Heaven, it would no longer be Heaven, just more of what we have here.
• When we look around this world, we see constant turmoil and strife.  In James 4, God makes it clear that the source of our quarrels is our focus on seeking “self”.  God needed to make it clear that we need to die to “self”.  This world is a lesson time when we battle “serving self” vs “serving others”.
• We usually do not take something serious unless there are serious consequences for misbehavior.  God is showing how important it is to making Heaven a much better place by emphasizing the need to “die” to “self”.  But it doesn’t require our actual physical death.  Many people just want some rules and rituals to follow, not actually dying to self, so God had to make the importance clear.
• God asks us to “die to self”.  Hopefully we are mature enough to see helping others as far more fulfilling than “serving self” in the long run.  When we see the benefits play out in Heaven, it will all make perfect sense.  We will then fully grasp that God really is more loving and wise than we understand.
• Note that God knew before the world was created that we would need to be redeemed.  He knew that giving us free will would lead to most of us seeking self over others and the strife that would cause.  It was part of the plan that His son Jesus would be that redeemer.  Remember that there were animals that died in our place in the Old Covenant and Jesus did so for us in the New Covenant.
• The cross was an extremely painful spiritual, emotional and physical experience for Jesus.  The need for Jesus’ redemptive death was not a surprise.  It was prophesied and was part of God’s plan before He created the world.  But Jesus was willing to do it knowing He would rise from the dead and redeem us.  He chose to sacrifice His exalted place in Heaven to come to this earth to redeem us.  Note that the physical experience Jesus went through was very gruesome and painful, but it was not nearly as harsh as taking on the spiritual consequences of our sin.  We don’t understand that yet, but we will once we understand how much better Heaven is than here.
• Baptism is a picture of dying to self and starting a new life trusting God.  Dipping into the water symbolizes burying (dying to) our focus on “self” and coming back up out of water symbolizes taking on a new life trusting God.

Taking serious the need to “die” from focus on “self” is what will make Heaven so much better than here.

Read FAQ “Can I know that I am going to Heaven?”
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Bible verses:

• James 4:1  What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? 
• Romans 5:7-8  For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die.  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 
• John 3:3  Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”