The cross will seem like an overreaction as long as man is big and God is small. The essence of sin is not harm done to man, but indignities done to God. Was the cross overkill for sin? It’s a question from a listener named Lisa. “Dear Pastor John, thank you for your diligence and taking the time to help people all over the world work through difficult questions! I have one. Why do we need a Savior in the first place? I consider myself to be a good person and when I look around at most people, I would say the same about them. I know I am not perfect, and I cannot hold God’s law perfectly, but I don’t consider my thoughts and actions to be so terrible that they need to be punished by death. Should I really need to die because I disobeyed my parents as a child or told a lie? I have a difficult time seeing myself and those close to me as being wicked and utterly depraved. “There is certainly great evil in the world, such as war, rape, murder, racism, oppression, etc. But the majority of the world doesn’t need God to see these things as evil or to make a positive change. I certainly don’t see how someone innocent, dying a horrible death, somehow makes my wrongs right in the sight of God. Can you help me make sense of this seemingly twisted justice and come to understand why I need Jesus?” Read or listen to this interview at our website: https://www.desiringgod.org/interviews/are-hell-and-the-cross-overkill-for-sin Find other recent and popular Ask Pastor John episodes: https://www.desiringgod.org/ask-pastor-john