From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

Part 4 of a series. Read part 3.

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve... (1st Corinthians 15:3-6)

In our previous article we saw that there is no Gospel without the deity of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the Gospel because God became man and died for sinners. "Christ" - God Himself, the Second Person of the Trinity - "died for our sins." His deity is at the center of the Gospel. But not only is the person of Jesus Christ of the essence of the Gospel. His work to save sinners is also essential to the Gospel.

In this article we shall focus on this great fact of history - that Christ died.

This was not an accidental death, or an unplanned death. This is one of the focal points of Peter's great sermon on the Day of Pentecost:

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know - Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death... (Acts 2:22-23)

The death of God the Son was planned in the counsels of God from all eternity.

Ephesians chapter one tells us that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit entered into a great covenant of redemption in eternity past:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. . . In Him you also trusted, after you heard the Word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. (Ephesians 1:37, 13-14)

God the Father chose a people for Himself out of the mass of lost humanity. God the Father chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. God the Son agreed to come into the world and to purchase the salvation of sinners with His own blood on the cross. God the Holy Spirit agreed to apply that salvation by causing individuals to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. God the Holy Spirit now lives within every believer in Christ as the seal or down-payment of our ultimate redemption from sin and death.

The greatest fact in the entire universe is that God came and died in our place. God came and did what we could not do for ourselves. So great is His love for us that God was willing to come into this world in a body of flesh and die for us. In the epistle to the Philippians, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul exalts

Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. (Philippians 2:5-8)

Many - both theological conservatives and liberals - speculate about Jesus' "cause of death." They almost always fall into three traps. First, they tend to approach the question primarily through extra-Biblical sources. Second, even the most well-intentioned end up placing those sources in some degree of de facto authority over Scripture. Third, they tend to seek a naturalistic explanation, and to ignore or downplay the supernatural. (Many fall into the same three-fold trap in approaching the first eleven chapters of Genesis.)

These things the Christian must never do. The question we must ask is simply, "What does Scripture say?" We find that it tells us all we need to know. Before His death, Jesus repeatedly told His disciples of the coming event, and that it would involve His voluntarily laying down His life:

Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:17-18)

It was also clear to the disciples in retrospect that Jesus' crucifixion took place at a time appointed by God:

Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come. (John 7:30)

As the Father's appointed hour approached, Jesus told His disciples:

"Now My soul is 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." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again." Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him." Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." This He said, signifying by what death He would die. (John 12:27-33)

Jesus made it clear many times that the Jews and Romans had no power to crucify Him until it was given to them in the time and manner appointed before the foundation of the world:

Then Jesus said to the chief priests, captains of the temple, and the elders who had come to Him, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs? When I was with you daily in the temple, you did not try to seize Me. But this is your hour, and the power of darkness." (Luke 22:52-53)

But Jesus said to him, "Put your sword in its place, for all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels? How then could the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must happen thus?" (Matthew 26:52-54

Then Pilate said to Him, "Are You not speaking to me? Do You not know that I have power to crucify You, and power to release You?" Jesus answered, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above." (John 19:10-11)

Three passages describe the moment of Jesus' death, and the words used in the original language tell us a great deal:

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. (Matthew 27:50) [The Greek word translated "yielded up" is apheken, literally, "sent away" or "dismissed".]

And when Jesus had cried out with a loud voice, He said, "Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit. Having said this, He breathed His last. (Luke 23:46) [The Greek word translated "commit" is parathesomai, literally, "I commit to Your keeping".]

So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. (John 19:30) [The Greek word translated "gave up" is paradoken, literally, "delivered it into the keeping of another".]

Many false gospels teach that Christ died as an example of self-sacrifice or martyrdom, or for many other purposes that Scripture does not teach. The Word of God leaves no doubt as to the falsehood of such claims. Jesus died for one purpose: "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures." As we continue, we shall focus on this great truth which is likewise of the essence of the Gospel.

Next: Christ Died For One Reason

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