37 Why Jesus Came to Die. To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness and Costly Love
This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. . . . For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:19-21 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Hebrews 12:3-4 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5-8
Imitation is not salvation. But salvation brings imitation. Christ is not given to us first as model, but as Savior. In the experience of the believer, first comes the pardon of Christ, then the pattern of Christ. In the experience of Christ himself, they happen together: The same suffering that pardons our sins provides our pattern of love. In fact, only when we experience the pardon of Christ can he become a pattern for us. This sounds wrong because his sufferings are unique. They cannot be imitated. No one but the Son of God can suffer "for us" the way Christ did. He bore our sins in a way that no one else could. He was a substitute sufferer. We can never duplicate this. It was once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous. Divine, vicarious suffering for sinners is inimitable. However, this unique suffering, after pardoning and justifying sinners, transforms them into people who act like Jesus-not like him in pardoning, but like him in loving. Like him in suffering to do good to others. Like him in not returning evil for evil. Like him in lowliness and meekness. Like him in patient endurance. Like him in servanthood. Jesus suffered for us uniquely, that we might suffer with him in the cause of love. Christ's apostle, Paul, said that his ambition was first to share in Christ's righteousness by faith, and then to share in his sufferings in ministry. "[May I] be found in [Christ], not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ . . . that I may . . . share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death" (Philippians 3:9-10). Justification precedes and makes possible imitation. Christ's suffering for justification makes possible our suffering for proclamation. Our suffering for others does not remove the wrath of God. It shows the value of having the wrath of God removed by the suffering of Christ. It points people to him. When the Bible calls us to "endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:10), it means that our imitation of Christ points people to him who alone can save. Our suffering is crucial, but Christ's alone saves. Therefore, let us imitate his love, but not take his place.38 Why Jesus Came to Die. To Create a Band of Crucified Followers
If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. Luke 9:23 Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38
Christ died to create comrades on the Calvary road. Calvary is the name of the hill where he was crucified. He knew that the path of his life would take him there eventually. In fact, "he set his face" to go there (Luke 9:51). Nothing would hinder his mission to die. He knew where and when it had to happen. When someone warned him, on the way to Jerusalem, that he was in danger from King Herod, he scorned the idea that Herod could short-circuit God's plan. "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I finish my course'" (Luke 13:32). All was proceeding according to plan. And when the end finally came and the mob arrested him the night before he died, he said to them, "All this has taken place that the Scriptures of the prophets might be fulfilled" (Matthew 26:56). In a sense, the Calvary road is where everyone meets Jesus. It's true that he has already walked the road, and died, and risen, and now reigns in heaven until he comes again. But when Christ meets a person today, it is always on the Calvary road-on the way to the cross. Every time he meets someone on the Calvary road he says, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). When Christ went to the cross, his aim was to call a great band of believers after him. The reason for this is not that Jesus must die again today, but that we must. When he bids us take up our cross, he means come and die. The cross was a place of horrible execution. It would have been unthinkable in Jesus' day to wear a cross as a piece of jewelry. It would have been like wearing a miniature electric chair or lynching rope. His words must have had a terrifying effect: "Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me" (Matthew 10:38). So today the words are sobering. They mean at least that when I follow Jesus as my Savior and Lord, the old self-determining, self-absorbed me must be crucified. I must every day reckon myself dead to sin and alive to God. This is the path of life: "Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus" (Romans 6:11). But camaraderie on the Calvary road means more. It means that Jesus died so that we would be willing to bear his reproach. "Jesus . . . suffered outside the gate. . . . Therefore let us go to him outside the camp and bear the reproach he endured" (Hebrews 13:12-13). But not just reproach. If necessary, martyrdom. The Bible pictures some of Christ's followers this way: "They have conquered [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death" (Revelation 12:11). So the Lamb of God shed his blood that we might defeat the devil by trusting his blood and shedding ours. Jesus calls us onto the Calvary road. It is a hard and good life. Come.39 Why Jesus Came to Die. To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death
Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. Hebrews 2:14-15
Jesus called Satan a murderer. "He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth . . . he is a liar and the father of lies" (John 8:44). But his main interest is not killing. It is damning. In fact, he much prefers that his followers have long and happy lives-to mock suffering saints and hide the horrors of hell. His power to damn human beings lies not in himself, but in the sins that he inspires and the lies that he tells. The only thing that damns anybody is unforgiven sin. Hexes, enchantments, voodoo, séances, curses, black magic, apparitions, voices-none of these casts a person into hell. They are the bells and whistles of the devil. The one lethal weapon he has is the power to deceive us. His chief lie is that self-exaltation is more to be desired than Christexaltation, and sin preferable to righteousness. If that weapon could be taken out of his hand, he would no longer have the power of eternal death. That is what Christ came to do-take that weapon out of Satan's hand. To do this, Christ took our sins on himself and suffered for them. When that happened, they could be used no more by the devil to destroy us. Taunt us? Yes. Mock us? Yes. But damn us? No. Christ bore the curse in our place. Try as he will, Satan cannot destroy us. The wrath of God is removed. His mercy is our shield. And Satan cannot succeed against us. To accomplish this deliverance, Christ had to take on a human nature, because without it, he could not experience death. Only the death of the Son of God could destroy the one who had the power of death. Hence the Bible says, "Since . . . the children share in flesh and blood [=had a human nature], he himself likewise partook of the same things [=took on a human nature], that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil" (Hebrews 2:14). When Christ died for sins, he took from the devil his one lethal weapon: unforgiven sin. Freedom from fear was the aim of Christ in doing this. By dying he delivered "all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery" (Hebrews 2:14). The fear of death enslaves. It makes us timid and dull. Jesus died to set us free. When the fear of death is destroyed by an act of self-sacrificing love, the bondage to boring, bigheaded self-preservation is broken. We are freed to love like Christ, even at the cost of our lives. The devil may kill our body, but he can no longer kill our soul. It is safe in Christ. And even our mortal body will be raised someday: "He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you" (Romans 8:11). We are the freest of all people. And the Bible is unmistakable in what this freedom is for: "You were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another" (Galatians 5:13).40 Why Jesus Came to Die. So That We Would Be with Him Immediately After Death
[He] died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 1 Thessalonians 5:10 To live is Christ, and to die is gain. . . . I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. Philippians 1:21, 23 We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8
The Bible does not view our bodies as bad. Christianity is not like some ancient Greek religions that treated the body as a burden to be gladly shed. No, death is an enemy. When our bodies die, we lose something precious. Christ is not against the body, but for the body. The Bible is clear on this: "The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body" (1 Corinthians 6:13). This is a wonderful statement: The Lord is for the body! But we must not go so far as to say that without the body we can have no life and consciousness. The Bible does not teach this. Christ died not only to redeem the body, but also to bind the soul so closely to himself that, even without the body, we are with him. This is a huge comfort in life and death, and Christ died so that we would enjoy this hope. On the one hand the Bible talks about losing the body in death as a kind of nakedness for the soul: "While we are still in this tent [=the body], we groan . . . not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed" (2 Corinthians 5:4). In other words, we would rather move straight from here to the resurrection body with no in-between time when our bodies are in the grave. That's what those will experience who are alive when Christ returns from heaven. But on the other hand, the Bible celebrates the in-between time, when our souls are in heaven and our bodies are in the grave. This is not the final glory, but it is glorious. We read, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). "Gain"! Yes, loss of the body for a season. In a sense, "unclothed." But more than anything else, "gain"! Why? Because death for the Christian will mean coming home to Christ. As the apostle Paul says: "My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better" (Philippians 1:23). "Far better"! Not yet in every way the best. That will come when the body is raised in health and glory. But still "far better." We will be with Christ in a way that is more intimate, more "at home." So the early Christians said, "We would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord" (2 Corinthians 5:8). Those of us who believe in Christ do not go out of existence when we die. We do not go into a kind of "soul sleep." We go to be with Christ. We are "at home." It is "far better." It is "gain." This is one of the great reasons Christ suffered. "[He] died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him" (1 Thessalonians 5:10). Sleep-like, the body lies there in the grave. But we live with Christ in heaven. This is not our final hope. Someday the body will be raised. But short of that, to be with Christ is precious beyond words.