Why did Jesus die?
A beloved friend of mine who through our various conversations heard that I was seeking more depth in my prayer life gifted me “The Valley of Vision,” a collection of Puritan prayers edited by Arthur Bennet. I came across a beautiful prayer “Love Lustres at Calvary.”
A part of it reads: “There grace removes my burdens and heaps them on thy Son,
made a transgressor, a curse, and sin for me;
There the sword of thy justice smote the man, thy fellow;
There thy infinite attributes were magnified,
And infinite atonement was made; There infinite punishment was due,
And infinite punishment endured.”
There are many reasons why Jesus died including to conquer evil and to establish the new covenant (Hebrews 9:15). But two crucial reasons flow out from this prayer. Why did Jesus die? To deal with our sins and to reveal God’s character.
Jesus died to deal with our sins
“The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29).
A clear teaching in the Scriptures is that Jesus died to deal with our sins. God created the universe and man perfect. But when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, as a righteous judge, He had to punish them. Death is God’s consequence for sin. “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). As Adam and Eve were the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin, its consequence of death, and the inclination to sin was passed to all of their descendants, us (Romans 5:12).
Since Adam’s sin, every human being has been guilty of breaking God’s law and falling short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Sin is a debt that we are utterly incapable of paying. It is rebellion against God (Romans 5:10) and ultimately because of sin everyone deserves death – eternal separation from God in hell.
Jesus had to die because the promise required an innocent death. God promised He would send a Saviour to defeat the serpent (Genesis 3:15). To reconcile mankind again to Himself. Throughout the Old Testament, we see that sin could only be atoned by a pure, vicarious sacrifice, offered by the Priest – Jesus fulfils the reality of that (Hebrews 9:22).
Christ is the Great High Priest who sacrifices Himself as the final, perfect sacrifice for atonement. This historical act defines our very existence, fully satisfying all the requirements of God’s justice and earns the righteousness required for the salvation of God’s people.
Jesus died to reveal God’s character
Romans 5:8 “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
“Love lustres at Calvary.” It radiates. Its brightness beams and at the Cross we see the climactic proof of God’s love and justice. Christ’s death shows us that God indeed does love us. There’s no greater love than this and no matter what we experience in this world we can be assured that God gave His only son that we who believe in Him won’t perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). We’ll be with Him, eternally.
Jesus also died to demonstrate the justice of God. God is just and unchangeably so. He doesn’t overlook our sins, but deals with them. Forgiving us through Christ’s sacrifice and meeting the demands of God’s holy wrath. He is just and the justifier of those who have faith in Him (Romans 3:26).
The prayer ends: “Go forth, O conquering God, and show me the cross, mighty to subdue, comfort and save.” My hope for myself and others is that the longer we walk in our Christian journey, the more we’d really comprehend the importance of Jesus’ death on the Cross and live eternally changed by it.
