Coming to grips with the death the Jesus paid for us

As Easter draws near, we fellow Christ follow have to remember what Christ went through on the cross to pay the death penalty for our sins.  I take for granted this amazing gift God has given us through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus died as and was punished as an innocent man.  We are not innocent but sinful creatures that Jesus died on the cross for.  In Mark 15:15-37, describes how the only charge against Jesus was that he was the King of the Jews and he was even mocked for this in verses 17-18.  A sign was even hung on his head that said this in Mark 15:26. All he was guilty of was being who he said he was the Son of God and King of the Jews.
Jesus was our sinless sacrifice for our sins.  Isaiah describes how he was beaten and broken for our sake in 53:4-6.  1 Peter 1:18-19 describes how he was to be an acceptable and spotless sacrifice for our sins.  God sent his son, in his justice and mercy to take on the wrath of God to restore us to him.  This is known as propitiation.
He was also a sinless man, a form of God in human flesh.  He was an image of the invisible God; Colossians 1:15-16; God incarnate; Hebrews 1:1-3 and John 1:14.  Humans in their sinful nature crucified him to the cross.  This was to accomplish God's plan that day, Romans 5:1-6.  God used the death of his Son to restore us back to relationship with him.  Romans 5:8 says,"But God demonstrated his own for for love in this while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."  His atoning work on the cross, restored our sinful and broken relationship back to the Father.
I have been doing an paper on atonement and studying it in systematic theology this semester.  It has helped me realize the depth of my depravity from God.  By looking at the various theories of atonement and doing a research paper on one, I am able to see how much Christ has atoned us our sins through his work on the cross.  Atonement means at-one-ment.  This means Jesus died for our sins once and for all.
Easter should be a time of rejoicing in our Savior.  At times, we as Christians go through the motions on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.  As believers in Christ, we need to deeply experience and remember his death on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday remember what God has done in our life by sending his Son for us and how our life has been changed through him.  I hope your life is changed by this blog today.