Three Reasons Jesus Came to Die

Austin Blunt

There are many reasons Jesus came to die. Each reason sheds light on some aspect of God’s plan for His glory and our salvation. Here, we’ll highlight three of those reasons. 

Jesus died to forgive us of our sin. 

Sin is our biggest problem. Behind our every flaw and failure is the direct or indirect influence of sin. Romans 3:23 tells us that sin is anything we do that falls short of God’s standard — and we’ve all sinned. Consequently, we carry the weight of guilt and shame for our disobedience. 

How can we get out of the hole dug by our disobedience? Thankfully, Jesus died for us even while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). His death on the cross means complete forgiveness is on offer. Through Jesus’ death, God made it possible to exchange all our sin for all the righteousness of Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:21). 

Jesus died to demonstrate the justice and extravagant love of God. 

Truly, the depths of God’s love for us can only be understood compared to the judgment we deserve. In the hours just before His death, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42). The Bible tells us that this cup symbolizes God’s justified anger against sin, or wrath, that would be poured out on those who have disobeyed God (Jeremiah 25). Because God is just, He cannot allow sin to go unpunished. While many view God as vindictive or hateful, imagine our response if a human judge let off those rightfully proven guilty. How much more unjust would it be for God to allow sin to go unchecked? It’s not that God is hateful or vindictive. It’s that God is just. 

But here’s where love comes running in. God understands that we cannot fix this problem ourselves. So He sends Jesus to die in our place. God’s Son — the perfect expression of who God is — took our place and experienced the full measure of God’s justice. In providing His own Son as the sacrifice for sin, God demonstrates an incomprehensible love toward us. It is this extravagant love the Apostle John had in mind when he wrote, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” 

Jesus’ died so that we might have eternal life.

Romans 6:23 makes it plain, “The wages of sin is death.” Death has been a key aspect of the human experience since sin entered the world. Death comes, not as part of God’s original design, but like an uninvited party crasher. Things were not supposed to be this way — but, through human disobedience, death entered the world. 

"In providing His own Son as the sacrifice for sin, God demonstrates an incomprehensible love toward us."

Romans 6:23 goes on to say, “But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” How does God give us eternal life? On the cross, Jesus experienced the ultimate separation from God and the agony of hell so we wouldn’t have to. His death was more than just a substitution — Jesus’ death destroyed death itself. Three days later, the effectiveness of Jesus’ death on the cross was proved through His resurrection. Our hope is that those that have been united with Christ in His death will also be united to Christ in His resurrection. In other words, for the Christian, our physical death is not the end. We will experience resurrection!

In His final hours, Jesus commanded the Disciples to regularly remember His death. Through the Lord’s Supper, we reflect on all that Jesus accomplished through His death. What an incredible picture of salvation we have in the Lord’s Supper! Jesus has provided everything, but in order to benefit, we must take it. We must receive His forgiveness and love into our life by confessing Jesus as Lord of all. When we bring Jesus into the center of our lives, we are saved. The real question today is this: Have you believed and received Jesus as Lord of your life? His death demands that we make a decision. Praise God that through the death of Jesus Christ, we have life!