What Jesus did is wipe the slate clean. He took sin upon himself and it died with him on a cross. The alternative is that we suffer for our own sins.
God doesn't do magic. The universe is subject to laws and he works within the laws he created. He can't just "let it go". If he did, he wouldn't be a master, he'd just be a pushover. The 'gift' part is that he decided to get rid of the sin himself, instead of making humans pay for what they had done.
Jesus' mission was an act of justice. Consider justice this way: a murderer is truly sorry for what he did. Do we let him go, or do we make him pay the price for his crimes?
God doesn't do magic. The universe is subject to laws and he works within the laws he created. He can't just "let it go". If he did, he wouldn't be a master, he'd just be a pushover. The 'gift' part is that he decided to get rid of the sin himself, instead of making humans pay for what they had done.
Jesus' mission was an act of justice. Consider justice this way: a murderer is truly sorry for what he did. Do we let him go, or do we make him pay the price for his crimes?