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Why did Jesus die? Our immediate response is that He died for our sins. That is true, but it is not the whole truth. Jesus did not only die for us, He died for God. Christ died to appease God’s wrath, demonstrate God’s righteousness, and satisfy God’s justice.
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Why Did Jesus Die?
Romans 3:25-26
Why did Jesus die? You say, “Oh, that’s easy. Jesus died for our sins.” We are very familiar with the idea that Jesus died for us. But did you know that Jesus also died for God? It is gloriously true that Jesus died for us. We read of that in this very letter to the Romans. In Romans 5:6 Paul writes, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” Again in Romans 5:8 we read, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Again in 8:32 we find these words, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all.” Thank God that Christ died for the ungodly, sinners, and us all! However, if our understanding of the purpose of Christ’s death stopped at that point, we would remain woefully ignorant. There was an even higher and greater purpose in the Cross than our salvation. The Cross was also designed for God’s glory.
When God sent Jesus Christ to atone for sin, He sent Him on a mission to glorify Him. That’s why Jesus says in John 12:27-28, “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” You see, that’s what the Cross was all about – Jesus glorifying God’s great name.
Our problem is that we see all of Scripture through man-centered glasses. We tend to see our conversion as incorporating Christ to our life. But if we saw our conversion through God-centered glasses we would see it as God incorporating us into His eternal plan and purpose. We tend to try to use God for our own ends – the forgiveness of our sins and deliverance from eternal hell. If the truth were known, God is really using all of creation for His ends – to glorify His name in all the universe to all His creatures. It’s a great thing when we finally see that conversion is not adding God to my agenda, but God adding us to His agenda. When we view our salvation as God meeting our needs, we think of God as being subservient to us. He exists to meet my needs. Rather, the truth is that all of creation exists to glorify His holy name. When we make our personal salvation the focus, we take the focus from God and put it on ourselves in His place. That’s like taking the sun from the center of the solar system, and making the sun revolve around the earth!
Imagine you are on a ship headed for Hawaii. You can’t wait! You’ve always wanted to vacation in Hawaii, and you are finally on your way. However, your yacht encounters a huge storm, the yacht sinks to the bottom, and all on board drown. All, that is, except for you, as you float on the surface of the great sea with only your life jacket to keep you alive. You float on the surface of the water for 48 hours, and know it is only a matter of time until you die of thirst, sharks, or drowning. You can do nothing to save yourself. You are doomed. And then, wonder of wonders, a ship appears in the distance, amazingly someone on board spots you bobbing up and down in the waters, and hauls you out of the water onto the ship, and you are saved! Of course you should be ecstatic that your life has been spared, and you are until you find out that the ship is a commercial fishing ship heading for Japan! Now, if you think that the ship’s main purpose was to save you, you would have every right to tell the Captain that he must sail you to Hawaii and drop you off for your vacation. However, the ship’s main purpose was not to save you, but to go to Japan. Likewise, God’s great Plan and Purpose in the Cross of Jesus Christ was to glorify Himself, and along the way He graciously rescued multitudes of perishing sinners. But let’s never make the mistake of thinking that our personal salvation was the one and only reason Christ came. No, the Cross of Christ was of far greater magnitude. From a God-centered perspective we understand that the Cross was designed to magnify God’s worth throughout His creation.
So, Pastor Brian, are you telling me that God doesn’t love me, and that Christ didn’t die to save me?! No, absolutely not. God does love you, and Jesus did die to save you. What I am saying is that was not His only, and or most important objective in the death of His only begotten Son.
This morning we are going to be examining the Cross of Christ from a God-centered perspective. How did the Cross benefit God? Our text answers that question in 3 ways:
- The Cross Appeased God’s Wrath
- The Cross Demonstrated God’s Righteousness
- The Cross Satisfied God’s Justice
1. Jesus Died To Appease God’s Wrath:
What Is The Most Important Word In the Universe?
What is the most important book in all the world? The Bible. Which book of the Bible is the most important? The Book of Romans. Which chapter in Romans is the most important? Chapter three. Which paragraph in Romans 3 is the most important? Verses 21-26. Which verse in that paragraph is the most important? Verse 25. Which word in verse 25 is the most important? Propitiation. “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith.” That makes “propitiation” the most important word in the most important verse in the most important paragraph in the most important chapter in the most important document within the most important book in the universe! Even though you may have never even heard of the word “propitiation” before, it is a word that you need to get to know, and master, and love, and cherish.
What Is A Propitiation?
Now, what is a propitiation? It is a wrath averting sacrifice. It’s a sacrifice which appeases wrath. Let’s say you are stopped at a red light, and the guy in back of you is texting and so he doesn’t notice you are stopped, and plows right into the back of your car. You are absolutely furious, because this was your baby. It was brand new; you haven’t even had it a week. After the two of you pull off to the side of the road, this guy turns to you and says, “I’m so sorry! It was my fault. Here, let me make it up to you. Don’t call the insurance. I’ll take care of it. He pulls out a wad of $100 bills, and keeps throwing them down on the hood of your car. He says, “Will $1,000 dollars do it for you?” You reply, “You bet!” You know you can fix that little dent in the rear of your car for a few hundred dollars, and here he has given you a thousand dollars! All of a sudden, all of your anger has been appeased, and you are now satisfied and happy with the outcome of the situation. That bad driving texting man has propitiated you. His $1,000 has become the wrath averting sacrifice which has appeased your wrath.
What Is God’s Righteous Response To Sin?
Wrath! What does Paul teach about God’s righteous response to sin in the Book of Romans?
- 1:18 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
- 2:5 “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”
- 2:8 “but to those who are selfishly ambitious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, [there will be] wrath and indignation.
- 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” The preceding context tells us that His wrath is in response to our ungodliness (5:6), and our sin (5:8).
God hates sin! He abhors it! He is offended by it. To His absolutely holy nature, our sin is revolting, disgusting, and vile! Do you women enjoy finding cockroaches in your kitchen? If you are like my wife, you would probably rather have just about anything in your kitchen than a cockroach. They are utterly repulsive to you! Well, the distance between God and you is far greater than the distance between you and that cockroach! If you find that cockroach repulsive, how do you think God finds your sin?! God’s holiness is offended by your sin, and that’s why His wrath is set against it. Nahum 1:2 says, “A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; The LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, And He reserves wrath for His enemies.” In Nahum 1:6 the prophet proclaims, “Who can stand before His indignation? Who can endure the burning of His anger? His wrath is poured out like fire and the rocks are broken up by Him.” This is why a propitiation was needed. Our sin has violated our holy God. They have offended Him, and outraged Him. Unless a propitiation was made, His holy nature would force Him to pour out His righteous wrath upon us in hell.
How Is Christ’s Propitiation Made?
Our text tells us that this propitiation was “in His blood.” The propitiation of Jesus Christ was a bloody propitiation. There was no other way for God’s wrath to be appeased than the bloody sacrificial death of His own Son. Of course, God could have appeased His wrath by casting the entire human race into hell. God could have done that, and none of us could have charged Him with injustice. However, God didn’t want to do that. God is love. He is compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished (Ex. 34:6-7).
Why was blood required for a propitiation to be made? Well, what is the penalty for sin? Death. “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). “When sin is accomplished it brings forth death” (James 1:15). The soul who sins will die (Ezek. 18:4). In God’s justice, sin demands death. That’s what all of the Old Testament sacrifices were intended to teach the children of Israel. They were pictures of the truth that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:22).
Interestingly, the Greek word for “propitiation” in Romans 3:25 is exactly the same Greek word for “mercy seat” in Hebrews 9:5. So, what was the mercy seat? Well, to answer that question, I need to tell you about the Jewish way of worship in the Old Testament. God had commanded the Israelites to build a tabernacle by which they might approach Him. The tabernacle was a tent. This tent was divided into 2 compartments – the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies. In front of the Tabernacle, there was a bronze altar, and a bronze laver. The priests would offer animal sacrifices at the bronze altar, and then wash themselves in the bronze laver before entering the Holy Place. Inside the Holy Place were 3 articles of furniture – the Table of Showbread, the Golden Lampstand, and the Golden Altar of Incense. The priests entered the Holy Place daily. They would place a new loaf of bread on the Table, trim the golden lampstand, and make sure that there were burning coals in the golden altar of incense every day. However, no human being could proceed behind the veil into the Holy of Holies, except for the high priest, and he could only enter one day in the year – the Day of Atonement.
On that day there was an elaborate ritual the high priest went through in. He would take 2 goats. The first goat was called the scapegoat. The high priest would lay his hand on the head of this goat and confess all the sins of the people. In this way the sins of the people were symbolically transferred to the head of that live goat. Then the goat was led out into the wilderness and turned loose, never to return again. This symbolized the expiation of sin – that is the removing of sin. The 2nd goat was not so lucky. He was killed, and his blood was drained into a basin. The high priest would then take that basin of blood behind the veil into the Holy of Holies as he waved the golden altar of incense. In the Holy of Holies there was only 1 article of furniture – the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was a wooden box or chest overlaid with gold. Inside this box were deposited the laws that God had written on stone, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the manna. On top of this box was a golden lid called the mercy seat. Over the lid were 2 angels called cherubim with their wings spread toward one another. God had told Moses that it was there that He would meet with them. The high priest would sprinkle the blood of the slain goat on top of the mercy seat. Now, 364 days out of the year it was a judgment seat. You see, this Ark was God’s throne in the midst of His people. However, as He looked down on His Law which the children of Israel had broken again and again and again, His wrath would be kindled. However, on the Day of Atonement, that lid turned from being a judgment seat to a mercy seat. Why? What was the difference on this one day of the year? The blood of an innocent substitute was sprinkled on that slab of gold. The slain goat had absorbed God’s wrath against Israel’s sins. His justice was satisfied. God saw the blood rather than the broken Law.
So too, when Jesus Christ offered Himself up upon the cross, and shed His blood for our sin, He absorbed the atomic bomb of God’s wrath. The infinite fury of God’s holy wrath was hurled against His own Son. Because the wages of our sin was death, Jesus died. Jesus was the only man in history that earned eternal life by fulfilling the Law. God had said, “So you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, by which a man may live if he does them; I am the Lord” (Lev. 18:5). When the rich young ruler ran up to Jesus, knelt down, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” where did Jesus direct him? To the Law! If any man could ever keep God’s Law perfectly, he would earn eternal life. The only problem is that no man could ever do that! No one, that is, except for Jesus Christ. He is the only person in history who actually earned Life, and then He voluntarily gave it up for us. Since our sins earned the penalty of death, Jesus willingly laid His life down in death, to stand as our Substitute. His blood was the sacrifice which averted God’s wrath, once for all! Hallelujah, what a Savior!
2. Jesus Died To Demonstrate God’s Righteousness:
What Problem Did The Cross Solve?
This is explicitly stated twice in this passage, “This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time.” Notice those 2 phrases, “the sins previously committed” and “at the present time.” Paul is contrasting the Old Testament age with the New Testament age. He is saying that there has been a radical reversal under the gospel. In the Old Testament, God passed over sins in His forbearance, but in the gospel He punishes and pays for those sins.
Now, what was the problem that the Cross needed to solve? God seemed to be unrighteous, because for thousands of years before the Cross, He did not punish sin. Yes, there were a few manifestations of God’s punishment of sin, like the Flood, the fire that fell on Sodom and Gomorrah, and the opening up of the earth and the swallowing of the people in Korah’s rebellion. However, apart from these incidents, God’s righteousness against sin was not clearly demonstrated to His people. God’s creation could conclude that God was soft on sin, that He didn’t really care about sin at all, and was happy to just ignore it.
You say, “But what about the animal sacrifices the children of Israel offered to the Lord. Don’t they show that God hates sin and demands payment for it?” No, not really. You see it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Heb. 10:4). The blood of bulls and goats could illustrate the putting away of sins, but they could not effect the putting away of sins. The animal sacrifices of the Old Testament never paid for sin. They were merely symbolic pictures of the coming Perfect Sacrifice, Jesus Christ, who would actually pay for sins. When you think about it, how could the killing of an animal pay for the sins of a human being? The simple answer is, “It can’t!”
The problem is that God was saving multitudes of people in the Old Testament — Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, David and multitudes from the children of Israel. Any person who believed God was credited with righteousness. However, no actual payment for sin had been made. How could God be righteous, and allow guilty sinners into heaven? For example, David committed adultery with Bathsheeba and then plotted to have her husband killed in battle so that his sin would never be found out. When David repented and confessed his sin, the prophet Nathan said, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die” (2 Sam. 12:13). Now, wait a minute! How can God take away David’s sin in a righteous way? David sinned against the Lord and despised His word. If God just decides to grant mercy and sweep his sins under the rug, God is not acting righteously! That would have been the case, but God did not just sweep David’s sin under the rug. God poured out His wrath upon David’s sin at the cross, and there demonstrated His righteousness toward sin.
Not only that, how could God be righteous, and not immediately destroy ungodly sinners from the face of the earth? If God were to act in pure justice, all human beings would be utterly destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth. However, for thousands of years sinners were not immediately punished. So, how can God be a God of righteousness? That was the issue that needed to be clarified. God needed to vindicate His righteousness and clear His name before all His creation, so that all would understand that God is righteous and holy and true, even though He did not immediately punish sinners, and even though he saved multitudes of people before any payment of sin was made. God’s righteousness is at stake.
What is God Ultimately Committed To?
God is committed to demonstrating His attributes, which is to reveal His glory. It’s one thing for God to possess certain attributes, and another for God to demonstrate those attributes. According to Scripture, God is very concerned that His attributes are demonstrated to His creation. Let’s look at just the book of Romans and see this truth.
- Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
- Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.'”
- Romans 9:22 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?”
In these verses we find God demonstrating His righteousness, love, power, and wrath. You see, for God, the greatest good is not the salvation of sinners. It is the glorifying of His Name. Before the Cross can be for our sake, it must be for God’s sake. Since God is the only Being perfect in all His attributes and ways, there can be nothing greater He can do than to proclaim, demonstrate, and exalt Himself before all His creation. In fact, if God was not absolutely committed to His own glory above all things, He would cease to be God. He would end up glorifying something else above Himself, which is idolatry. This would mean that our righteous and holy God would become unrighteous and unholy and idolatrous. You and I are not the center of God’s universe. God is the center of God’s universe.
And when you and I center our lives around anything other than God Almighty, we commit idolatry. A lot of folks commit idolatry without even knowing they are doing it. They say, “God, I’ll let You sit up in heaven. I’ll let you pretend You are God. I’ll even bow my head and say a few prayers to You, and give you lip-service as long as You don’t act like God, and try to tell me what to do. But don’t You dare get into my space!” In other words, “God, if You’ll just not act like God, I’ll let You be God!” Well, that’s mighty good of you! You’ll let God be God, as long as He doesn’t offend you, and as long as He lets you do what you want to do. Well folks, it just doesn’t work that way. What we have done in that case is commit idolatry by worshiping ourselves and our own will! God is absolutely committed to demonstrating His glory in all His universe, and the sooner we agree with Him and get on His team and do that with Him, the better off we’ll be! So, not only did the sacrifice of Christ appease God’s wrath, but it also demonstrated God’s righteousness.
3. Jesus Died To Satisfy God’s Justice:
What Problem Did God Have To Solve To Justify Sinners?
According to our text, He had to be just and the justifier of the sinner. I can understand how God can justify the sinner, and I can understand how God can be just, but I can’t understand how God can be both at the same time. If God lets a sinner go free, He’s not just. If He’s just, He can’t let the sinner go free. It’s as though God’s attributes are at war with one another. God’s love and grace desired to forgive and accept sinners. God’s righteousness and justice demanded the sinner’s punishment. John tells us in 1 John 1:5 that God is light. In 1 John 4:8 he tells us that God is love. Because God is light, He must punish sin to the fullest extent. Because God is love He desires to show mercy to sinners. This is the great problem. God must find a way to forgive, justify, and accept guilty sinners without doing violence to His own nature.
The cross is the answer to His dilemma. Because our debt of sin was actually paid by Another, the law was satisfied. All the claims of the law were satisfied. Justice was accomplished for our sins in the death of Jesus Christ. In fact, I’ll take it one step further. There is greater justice in Christ’s death, than there ever will be in Hell. God’s justice will be served to all men – either at the Cross or in Hell. However, there is greater justice at the Cross than in Hell. Why do I say that? Because the sinner pays for his sin in Hell, and it is never completely paid off. He keeps on suffering for all eternity. At the cross, our sins were paid in full for all time! They are paid off. The work was accomplished. It is finished!
Because of the Cross, God is free to justify guilty sinners legally! He isn’t just sweeping our sins under the rug, because He loves us. He is exacting the penalty of our sins on Jesus to the fullest degree imaginable. Now that the debt has been paid, God can accept us, forgive us, justify us, and adopt us according to strict justice, even though we are deserving of eternal damnation! That is the glory of the cross of Jesus Christ! This, right here, is the heart and soul of the gospel!
Jesus traded places with you! You should have been the one to die on that cross. God regarded Jesus as if He were you, so that He could regard you as if you were Jesus. There is a double imputation going on. God imputes our sin to Christ. Then He imputes Christ’s righteousness to us. The death of Christ wipes out our sin, and the life of Christ adds to us His very own righteousness.
There is an old story of pioneers who were making their way across the midwestern states in covered wagons drawn by oxen, and progress was necessarily slow. One day they were horrified to note a long line of smoke in the west, stretching for miles across the prairie, and soon it was evident that the dried grass was burning fiercely and coming toward them rapidly. It soon became apparent that it was impossible for them to escape. Only one man seemed to know what must be done. He gave the command to set fire to the grass behind them. Then when a space was burned over, the whole company moved back upon it. As the flames roared on toward them from the west, a little girl cried out in terror, “Are you sure we shall not all be burned up?” The leader replied, “My child, the flames cannot reach us here, for we are standing where the fire has already been!” What a picture of the believer, who is safe in Christ! The fires of God’s wrath have burned themselves out on Him, and all who are in Christ are safe forever, for they are now standing where the fire has already been.
Are you standing where the fire of God’s righteous fury has already been? You say, “Brian, how do I do that? How do I stand where the fire has already been?” What does our text say? It is a “propitiation in His blood through faith.” The way you get where the fire has already been is through faith. The moment you trust Christ to save you rather than trusting in yourself, you are in Christ. His propitiation averts God’s wrath from you! His cross appeases God’s wrath toward you! And now is His wrath appeased, but His righteousness is demonstrated, and His justice is satisfied. Sinner, find your refuge in Jesus. Flee to Him to find shelter from the awful wrath of God. “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand.” If you stand in your own righteousness there is nothing but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Trust Him today, and you are safe forever!
Believers in Christ, I have 2 words for you. First, never step off of the place where the fire has already been! Never, ever, begin to trust in anything other than the perfect life, the bloody death, and the mighty resurrection of Jesus Christ! Live and die trusting Him. Second, follow the example of your Lord. Jesus lived for God. Jesus died for God. The glory of God was the center of Jesus’ universe. Is it yours? Do you hate sin like He does? Do you love righteousness like He does? Is His will your delight, like it was for Him? Just like Christ, it is our business to live for Him who died and rose again on our behalf. Consider how you spend your money. Consider how you spend your time? Consider where your affections lie. Consider what is truly important to you. Pray that it might be your consuming passion to bring Him glory with your time, your gifts, your money, and your heart’s affections!
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