Purposes of Christ's Death: John 3:16-17

Last week’s post examining the purpose statements for the death of Christ given in scripture was supposed to be the last, the one with the purpose statement that summed up all the other purpose statements. But I discovered that in my reposting of the old posts, I’d skipped three that I wanted to include. Here is one of them, late and out of order.

What might be the most familiar verse in the Bible contains a purpose statement for the death of Christ. So does the verse that follows it.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-17 ESV)

The purpose statement in the verse 16 is obvious: “that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God sent his son into the world so that all who believe on him will have eternal life instead of the condemnation due them because of of their sin. This is the way God loved the world: He provided a way, through the death of His own son, for anyone who believes to be given eternal life instead of the eternal judgment to which they are already sentenced. (see verse 18).

Verse 17 gives us two statements about the purpose of Christ’s death. First it tells us something that was not God’s purpose in sending his son. Christ didn’t come to condemn the world, at least not in this first advent, when he came to die. 

He came, rather, for the purpose of saving the world. He accomplished this by providing the means for all believers—not only Jews, but Gentiles, too—to have eternal life rather than condemnation. 

God intended for Christ’s death to provide a way for everyone who believes in Him to have eternal life instead of eternal judgment, and this way, for him to save the world.

Purposes of Christ's Death: Ephesians 1:7-10; Colossians 1:19-20

This is another updated and reposted piece from an old series of posts examining the purpose statement that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. 

I saved these two texts for last, and there’s a reason for that. Here’s the text from Ephesians:

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, [8] which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight [9] making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ [10] as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. (Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV)

Did you see the purpose statement at the end? The plan was

…to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth

I’d call this a summary statement of all scripture’s purpose statements concerning the death of Christ. God intended for Christ’s death to restore everything that was lost in the fall. All the nasty results of the presence of sin in creation are returned to perfect order through the work of Christ on the cross.

The verses from Colossians 1 say something similar.

For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, [20] and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. (Colossians 1:19-20 ESV) things

Whenever you see the word pleased used in relation to God doing something, it’s a statement of purpose. It refers to what God wanted to accomplish. God purposed for his fullness to dwell in Christ, and through Christ’s work to reconcile all things to himself.

And that’s what God did. The peace that is accomplished through the sacrificial death of Christ brings the reconciliation of all things to God.

All was lost for us through Adam’s disobedience, and all is recovered — and then some — through Christ. Condemnation came through Adam, but justification comes through Christ. Death for us all came through Adam, but life comes through Christ. Adam’s disobedience makes us sinners, but Christ’s obedience makes us righteous. (Romans 5) 

Christ’s death is the start of a whole new creation. First, there’s the new creation within the lives of those who are united with Christ, so that every effect of sin in them will eventually be banished. In Christ’s death they are reconciled to God, adopted as sons and daughers, and restored to the inheritance lost in the fall. 

A new kind of humanity is born. It’s a nation where every person is a priest with the same direct access to the Father that Adam had before he disobeyed. It’s a nation where everyone is a king waiting to be restored to the perfect dominion over creation that Adam had before the curse.

The animosity between people groups that resulted from the fall will be done away with through Christ’s reconciling work. Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, rich and poor, are brought together into this one new humanity consisting of the redeemed from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. 

But there’s more. The “all things” summed up in Christ reaches beyond the human sphere. In his death, Christ “disarmed the rulers and authorities”, and “made a public display of them, having triumphed over them….” (Colossians 2). The forces of evil that hold creation captive to the corruption that came with the fall have lost the war because of Christ’s death on the cross. The forces of the dark side are put in their place, stripped of all power. These “things in heaven” are restored through Christ’s death. 

And creation, now groaning, struggling, and longing to be made whole again, will get its wish for restoration when the sons and daughters of God are glorified (Romans 8). There will be no more death and decay, famine or natural disasters, diseases of the body and mind. There will be no more dog eat dog in the animal world. All will made right; all will be restored. 

All things reconciled in Christ means no more cancer, no more mental illness, no more disabilities, no more bodies that grow old and infirm, no more chickweed and dandelions in the veggie garden. All the chickweed I pulled this last summer has already lost the battle; it just doesn’t know it yet. Cancer cells will become history through the death and resurrection of Christ. I will no longer chase my coyote-bait cat back into the safety of the house, because coyote and kitty will lie down together when creation is made whole again. 

Christ is taking it all back. The fullness of time began with Christ’s death, and the fullness will be realized completely when those united with him come into their glory as children of God. Their glory becomes the glory of all of creation, and this exalts the one who died in order to unite all things. 

The renewed, summed up, gathered together, made right creation will look like this: There will be an exalted Christ, given 

the name that is above every name,  so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11 ESV) 

The overarching purpose of Christ’s death is to make everything absolutely right again.

Purposes of Christ's Death: 1 Peter 2:24

This is another updated and reposted piece from an old series of posts examining the purpose statement that scripture gives us regarding the death of Christ. 

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. (1 Peter 2:24 ESV)

The purpose statement in this verse is “that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Christ’s death was designed to cause a change of behaviour in those to whom it is applied. 

Christ took our sin upon himself when he died on the cross (a clear reference to the substitutional nature of his death), and this makes a new way of life a reality for us. From the ESV study notes for this verse: 

Jesus’ death should lead to a profound change in the lives of believers, so that they now sever all ties with evil (die to sin) and devote themselves to living in a holy manner (live to righteousness).

Because Jesus died in our place, sin no longer has power over us and so we begin to live righteously. Another scriptural way to express this is to say that those who die with Christ — or those for whom Christ died — rise with him to new life, a life in the Spirit (see Romans 6:1-10). 

Some people use this verse to prove that Christ’s death brings us physical healing, but I don’t think that’s the kind of healing Peter had in mind. “By whose wounds you have been healed” is sandwiched between two statements about spiritual change — living to righteousness, and returning ‘to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” The healing refered to is not physical, but spiritual.1 It is freedom from sin’s power resulting in a new righteous way of life, and this inner healing that works righteous behavior is one of the planned consequences of Christ’s death.

Another purpose of Christ’s death is to cause those united with him to stop sinning and live righteously.

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1Although this verse does not refer to physical healing, Christ’s death does result in physical healing for those united with him. This will happen in the future when they are glorified.