Today the Lord lays on my heart to expound the scriptural answer to why Christ died. When I ask this question, I am not asking what motivated him — to which the answer is his love. I am asking about his purpose. Did he have an eternal purpose before him? Or was his death simply a response to his love for us, with no further end in view? We want the whole scriptural answer, not just part of it.
I also want to be clear about what today is not. Today is not the day for emotions. I am not going to try to draw tears by portraying the scene of the nails piercing his hands and feet. That I will leave to the Holy Spirit. The physical agony, moreover, is scarcely the main point. The Romans crucified people by the thousands — at the revolt of Spartacus the roads to Rome were lined with crosses. If the physical suffering of Jesus moves us, we should weep equally for all others who were crucified. As for the spiritual agony, I have no words to describe it, because I do not understand it. We are so insensitive to sin that we cannot fathom what it cost him spiritually. We can at least ask, however, what his eternal purpose was, and aspire to let that purpose be fulfilled in our lives.
I shall share four passages from the apostle Paul. The first is Titus 2:11–14, where Paul writes to his co-worker and disciple: "For the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sober, upright, and godly lives in this world, awaiting our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ — who gave himself for us to redeem us from all iniquity, and to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good works."
We must not stop after the words "who gave himself for us." That is to be unfaithful to the whole answer. And notice first that it says he gave himself — freely, gladly, voluntarily. He was no hapless victim shoved onto the cross. Some impressions from certain religious backgrounds suggest he had virtually nothing to say and was placed there against his will. That is not the case. He freely, of his own desire, laid down his life.
He gave himself to redeem us. The word "redeem" is the language of buying a slave out of captivity — paying the redemption price to set him free. The price here is Christ himself, his own blood, as 1 Peter 1:18–19 confirms: we were redeemed not with silver and gold but with the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish. He redeemed us from all iniquity — the word in the original is "lawlessness." Sin, as 1 John 3:4 tells us, is essentially lawlessness, the rejection of God's kingship and rule over our lives. Before we knew Christ we lived as a law unto ourselves, couldn't care less what God said or what the Bible said. Jesus died to redeem us from that entire way of life, not merely from a state of legal guilt.
And then — crucially — Paul continues: he gave himself "to purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good works." We think of salvation as though Christ saved us simply for our own sake. But that is not the scriptural answer. He died to purify for himself a people. The word purify means literally to make clean — clean from all the filth and mud of sin. And he did this because he wanted a people for himself, his very own possession.
As Jesus was dying on that cross Friday afternoon, he could see beyond the present agony, as the writer to the Hebrews says in Hebrews 12:2: "For the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame." What joy was set before him? It was not the joy of the crucifixion. It was what lay beyond — a harvest of righteousness rising out of his death, a new people purified from sin, beautiful with the beauty of holiness. A people shining in this dark world as a lily in snow-white purity, showing forth fragrance and glory. That was worth dying for.
The expression "a people of his own" comes straight from the Old Testament. The Greek word periousios, which occurs only once in the New Testament but many times in the Greek Old Testament, is used in Deuteronomy 7:6: "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession out of all the peoples on the face of the earth." And why did he choose them? Not because they were more numerous or impressive — they were the fewest and most insignificant of all peoples. God always delights in choosing the insignificant, the nobodies, so that everyone can see it is God and not man who is behind the whole thing.
Deuteronomy 7:8 continues: "But it is because the Lord loves you, and is keeping the oath which he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you." The same word "redeemed" appears here as in Titus. He redeemed Israel to make them a people of his own — and now the church takes up that role, as Israel failed to do its job. God chose Israel not for its own sake, but to be a light to the Gentiles, to accomplish something in this world. And he chose us for the same reason: a people zealous for good works.
Why does he want us to be zealous for good works? How else will we shine for him? The Lord Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount: "Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." That is why Jesus died — not merely to get people into heaven, but to produce a new society, a new redeemed community that shines for his glory in a dark world, so that others, seeing that light, may be drawn to it and find eternal life.
Is the church that light today? I hardly dare use the word "church" as it stands, because the church does not conjure up such pictures anymore. I am not proud of the church when I see squabbling and small-mindedness and Christians trampling on one another. Christ died to produce something beautiful — and we must labour, through the Spirit of God, to produce that new society for which he gave his life.
# The Purpose of Christ's Death (Part B) — Romans 14:9, 2 Corinthians 5:15, 1 Thessalonians 5:10: Lord of the Living and the Dead
The second passage is Romans 14:9: "For to this end Christ died and lived again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living." That is not the explanation you expected, is it? Not that he might be Saviour — notice the word. That he might be Lord. Whether we live or whether we die, whether we are among the living or among the dead, Christ is Lord. Paul speaks in Romans of three things that used to be lord in our lives before Christ set us free: death, sin, and the law. And because we broke the law, we came under the lordship of sin, and the lordship of death. We were slaves — every one of us is waiting to die, sentenced to death, just as surely as a man sitting in death row. That is the bleakness of our condition left to ourselves.
The Lord died to gain possession of us — that is how he became our Lord, our owner. The word "Lord" means owner. First Corinthians 6:19–20: "You are not your own. You have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body." If he bought you with his blood, you belong to him. You do not belong to yourself anymore. And Paul puts before us a situation that is irreconcilable: either you belong to yourself and you are not saved, or you belong to Christ and so you are saved. You cannot belong to yourself and still be saved. The proof that you belong to him is that you live for him day by day. If today you live for yourself, do your own thing, you might as well set aside any idea of salvation, because you have not yet understood what he died for.
Is the lordship of Christ grievous? A child lives under the lordship of its parents. Does a child grieve at this, if it is a good father and mother? Not at all. The lordship is its security and its joy. Without that lordship, the child would soon be starving in the gutter. Similarly, I rejoice in being under the lordship of Christ because he is the one who loves me as no one else can. His lordship is not burdensome. But the lordship of sin and death is very grievous indeed.
The third passage is 2 Corinthians 5:14–15: "For the love of Christ controls us, because we are convinced that one has died for all, therefore all have died. And he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised." Why did Jesus die for you? He died so that you would no longer live for yourself. Before you lived for yourself; now you do not live for yourself anymore. Before you did whatever you liked; now you do whatever he likes you to do. Maybe you liked to lose your temper — but now you cannot afford that luxury, because he does not like it. He wants you to be beautiful, so you will be beautiful for his sake. He died for that. Can you grasp why he died?
This is why I have constantly spoken about total commitment. Total commitment means nothing other than living for Jesus moment by moment, day by day. It does not mean you have to be a preacher. You can live for his glory as a mother, as a housewife, as a student in university. A preacher glorifies God once or twice a week for one hour. The most important thing is the day-by-day, minute-by-minute living. Think of John Wesley — he became the great preacher he was because of his mother's influence, not his father's, though his father was a preacher. His mother glorified God in his eyes day after day in the home. Or think of living in an apartment with others who watch you. The way to glorify God is not to stand up and preach at them through the meal, but to say, "Would you like another bowl of rice?" — caring for them. That is glorifying God. Glorifying God is whatever you do that causes someone to say, "How lovely is God's work in this person's life."
What do we see in the church today? Too often unconcern, selfishness, insistence on one's own way. Sometimes the way parents discipline children frightens me — the child sees no glory of God in it, only raw power. The responsibility of a parent is terrifying. You see me once a week in church with my tie on and teeth brushed. But your child watches you at home day in and day out — in the morning before you comb your hair, when you are irritable, when you are inconsiderate. That is when the child sees what you really are. No pretense, no show business, the real thing. If Ealing, my daughter, came and told you that her daddy has a bad temper, I might as well close my Bible and get out of here. There would be nothing left for me to preach.
The fourth passage is 1 Thessalonians 5:10: "Whether we wake or sleep, we live with him." Notice the progression. Romans 14 said we belong to him whether we live or die. Second Corinthians 5 said we no longer live for ourselves but for him. Now 1 Thessalonians takes it a step further: we live not just for him but with him. You can work for a boss without living with that person. But to live with someone means fellowship, communion. Jesus died so that we might commune with him. That is what prayer is — not the mumbling of a formal prayer, but living with Jesus as a way of life. Not just when you kneel for five minutes, but all through the day, actively participating in accomplishing something for his glory, always standing on his side.
And so then, why did Jesus die? Do not just say he died to save me. Do not just say he died because he loved me — that is his motive, not his purpose. His eternal purpose was to purify for himself a people of his own who live for him because they belong to him, who live for his glory moment by moment and day by day. Because they so live for his glory, other people are drawn to the light and find eternal life. They are attracted into a new way of life — a life that builds a new community, edifying one another, caring for each other's welfare, showing forth love and righteousness. That is a wonderful vision.
As Jesus hung upon the cross and his life slowly ebbed away, I am sure it was the joy of that vision that sustained him through to the end. For the joy set before him, he endured the cross. May it be that we grant him much joy today — not by shedding a few tears for his death, but by going forth and saying: Lord, for this you died. You have made me your own. You bought me with your blood. By your grace I shall live for your glory, living in such a way that when you consider the cross and all you suffered, you will see of the travail of your soul and rejoice. Let us be quiet before God in prayer.