50 Reasons Christ Died

Steve Hudson

A number of years ago John Piper wrote “Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died” (The Passion of Christ [Wheaton: Crossway, 2004]; PDF).

Christ Suffered and Died . . . 

  1. To Absorb the Wrath of God (Rom. 3:25; Gal 3:13; 1 Jn. 4:10)
  2. To Please His Heavenly Father (Isa. 53:10; Eph. 5:2)
  3. To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected (Heb. 2:10; 5:8)
  4. To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead (Heb. 13:20-21)
  5. To Show the Wealth of God’s Love and Grace for Sinners (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:7-8; Eph. 1:7)
  6. To Show His Own Love for Us (Gal. 2:20; Eph. 5:2, 25)
  7. To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us (Col. 2:13)
  8. To Become a Ransom for Many (Mk. 10:45)
  9. For the Forgiveness of Our Sins (Matt. 26:28; Eph. 1:7)
  10. To Provide the Basis for Our Justification (Rom. 3:24, 28; 5:9)
  11. To Complete the Obedience That Becomes Our Righteousness (Rom. 5:19; 2 Cor. 5:21; Phil. 2:8; 3:9)
  12. To Take Away Our Condemnation (Rom. 8:34)
  13. To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals as the Basis 0£ Salvation (Gal. 5:11; 6:12)
  14. To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful (Jer. 32:40; Mk. 14:24)
  15. To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect (1 Cor. 5:7; Col. 1:22; Heb. 10:14)
  16. To Give Us A Clear Conscience (Heb. 9:14)
  17. To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good for Us (Rom. 8:32)
  18. To Heal Us from Moral and Physical Sickness (Isa. 53:5; Matt. 8:16-17)
  19. To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him (Jn. 3:16)
  20. To Deliver Us from the Present Evil Age (Gal. 1:4)
  21. To Reconcile Us to God (Rom. 5:10)
  22. To Bring Us to God (Eph. 2:13; 1 Pet. 3:18)
  23. So That We Might Belong to Him (Act 20:28; Rom. 7:4; 1 Cor. 6:19-20)
  24. To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place (Heb. 10:19)
  25. To Become for Us the Place Where We Meet God (Jn. 2:19-21)
  26. To Bring the Old Testament Priesthood to an End and Become the Eternal High Priest (Heb. 7:23-27; 9:24-26; 10:11-12)
  27. To Become a Sympathetic and Helpful Priest (Heb. 4:15-16)
  28. To Free Us from the Futility of Our Ancestry (1 Pet. 1:18-19)
  29. To Free Us from the Slavery of Sin (Heb. 13:12; Rev. 1:5-6)
  30. That We Might Die to Sin and live to Righteousness (1 Pet. 2:24)
  31. So That We Would Die to the Law and Bear Fruit for God (Rom. 7:4)
  32. To Enable Us to Live for Christ and Not Ourselves (2 Cor. 5:15)
  33. To Make His Cross the Ground of All Our Boasting (Gal. 6:14)
  34. To Enable Us to Live by Faith in Him (Gal. 2:20)
  35. To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning (Eph. 5:25)
  36. To Create a People Passionate for Good Works (Tit. 2:14)
  37. To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness and Costly Love (Phil. 2:5-8; Heb. 12:3-4; 1 Pet. 2:19-21)
  38. To Create a Band of Crucified Followers (Matt. 10:38; Lk. 9:23)
  39. To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death (Heb. 2:14-15)
  40. So That We Would Be with Him Immediately After Death (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 2:21-23; 1 Thess. 5:10)
  41. To Secure Our Resurrection from the Dead (Rom. 6:5; 8:11; 2 Tim. 2:11)
  42. To Disarm the Rulers and Authorities (Col. 2:14-15; 1 Jn. 3:8)
  43. To Unleash the Power of God in the Gospel (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 1:18)
  44. To Destroy the Hostility Between Races (Eph. 2:14-16)
  45. To Ransom People from Every Tribe and Language and People and Nation (Rev. 5:9)
  46. To Gather All His Sheep £rom Around the World (Jn. 10:16; 11:51-52)
  47. To Rescue Us from Final Judgment (Heb. 9:28)
  48. To Gain His Joy and Ours (Heb. 12:2)
  49. So That He Would Be Crowned with Glory and Honor (Phil. 2:7-9; Heb. 2:9; Rev. 5:12)
  50. To Show That the Worst Evil Is Meant by God for Good (Acts 4:27-28)

HT Greg Strand