Jesus Came to Die
10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die
John Piper
1. To destroy hostility between races.
The suspicion, prejudice, and
demeaning attitudes between Jews and non-Jews in Bible times were as serious as
the racial, ethnic, and national hostilities today.
Yet Jesus “has broken down . . . the dividing
wall of hostility . . . making peace . . . through the cross” (Ephesians 2:14–16).
God sent His Son into the world as
the only means of saving sinners and reconciling races.
2. To give marriage its deepest meaning.
God’s design was never for marriages
to be miserable, yet many are.
That’s what sin does . . . it makes
us treat each other badly. Jesus died to change that. He knew that His
suffering would make the deepest meaning of marriage plain.
That’s why the Bible says, “Husbands, love your wives, as
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25).
God’s design for marriage is for a
husband to love his wife the way Christ loves His people, and for the wife to
respond the way Christ’s people should. This kind of love is possible because
Christ died for both husband and wife.
3. To absorb the wrath of God.
God’s law demanded, “You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
But we have all loved other things
more. This is what sin is—dishonoring God by preferring other things over Him,
and acting on those preferences.
The seriousness of an
insult rises with the dignity of the one insulted. Since our sin is against the
Ruler of the Universe, “the
wages of [our] sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Not to punish it would be unjust. So
God sent His own Son, Jesus, to divert sin’s punishment from us to Himself.
God “loved us and sent his Son to be the
propitiation”—the wrath-absorbing substitute - “for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
4. So that we would escape the curse of the law.
There was no escape from the curse
of God’s law. It was just; we were guilty.
There was only one way to
be free: someone must pay the penalty. “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for
us” (Galatians 3:13).
The law’s demands have been
fulfilled by Christ’s perfect law-keeping, its penalty fully paid by His death.
5. To reconcile us to God.
The reconciliation that needs to
happen between man and God goes both ways.
He took the steps we
could not take to remove His own judgment by sending Jesus to suffer in our
place: “While we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son” (Romans 5:10).
Reconciliation from our side is
simply to receive what God has already done, the way we receive an infinitely
valuable gift
6. To show God’s love for sinners.
The measure of God’s
love is shown by the degree of His sacrifice in saving us from the penalty of
our sins: “He gave his only Son” (John 3:16).
The measure of His love
increases still more when we consider the degree of our unworthiness. “God shows his love for us in that
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Our debt is so great, only a divine
sacrifice could pay it.
7. To show
Jesus’ own love for us.
The death of Christ is
also the supreme expression that He “loved
me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).
It is my sin that cuts me off from
God. All I can do is plead for mercy.
I see Christ suffering
and dying “to give his life as a
ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
And I ask, am I among
the “many”? And I hear the answer,
“Whoever believes in him
should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
Jesus paid the highest price
possible to give me—personally—the greatest gift possible.
8. To take
away our condemnation.
The great conclusion to
the suffering and death of Christ is this: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
To be “in Christ” means to be in
relationship with Him by faith.
Christ becomes our punishment (which
we don’t have to bear) and our worth before God (which we cannot earn).
Since our sin is against
the Ruler of the Universe, “the
wages of [our] sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
Not to punish it would be unjust. So
God sent His own Son, Jesus, to divert sin’s punishment from us to Himself.
God “loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation”—the wrath-absorbing
substitute—“for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
9. To bring us to God.
“Gospel” means “good news,” and
it all ends in one thing: God Himself.
The gospel is the good news that at the cost of His Son’s life, God has done everything necessary to captivate us with what will make us eternally and ever-increasingly happy—namely, Himself.
“Christ . . . suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous,
that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).
10. To give
eternal life to all who believe on Him.
Jesus made it plain that
rejecting the eternal life He offered would result in the misery of eternity in
hell: “Whoever does not
believe is condemned already. . . . The wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:18, 36).
But for those who trust
Christ, the best is yet to come. “No
eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined what God has
prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9).
We will see the
all-satisfying glory of God. “This
is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom
you have sent” (John 17:3).
For all these reasons and more,
Christ suffered and died.
Why would you not embrace Him as
your Savior from sin and judgment, and live with God eternally?
God the Father chose to send
Jesus to the cross to show His love and the seriousness of our sin.
Jesus accepted to take our punishment, to
save all who would believe.
Why not receive God's gift of salvation and become His
child?
Open your heart and say this prayer:
“Father
God, I confess I am a sinner and my sins have separated me from You.
I am truly
sorry. I now want to turn away from my past sinful life and live
a new life pleasing to You.
Please
forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again.
I believe that
Your Son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is
alive, and hears my prayer.
I invite
Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this
day forward. Thank You that according to Your Word, I am now born again.
Please
send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of
my life. I promise to study Your Word - the Bible.
Use me for
Your glory.
In Jesus'
Name I pray. Amen.”
"WHOSOEVER
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,"
(Romans
10:13).
https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/07/10-reasons-jesus-came-to-die/
https://www.crossway.org/blog/2016/07/10-reasons-jesus-came-to-die/
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“And can it be
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lyrics
And
can it be that I should gainAn int’rest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
’Tis
mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love Divine!
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
He
left His Father’s throne above,So free, so infinite His grace;
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
’Tis mercy all, immense and free;
For, O my God, it found out me.
Long
my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
No condemnation
now I dread;Jesus, and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness Divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
This post is adapted from 10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die,
a short-form tract based on the best-selling book, Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came
to Die by John Piper.
John
Piper (DTheol,
University of Munich) is the founder and teacher of desiringGod.org and the
chancellor of Bethlehem College & Seminary. He served for 33 years as the
senior pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and is the
author of more than 50 books, including Don’t Waste Your
Life, This Momentary
Marriage, Bloodlines, and Does God Desire
All to Be Saved?
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