Why Jesus Died – (21) To Reconcile Us to God and (22) To Bring Us To God

The 2 reasons for Jesus’ death are so appropriate for a number of our readers at this blog. Many of us attend the same church and need to be reminded today of God’s work on the cross and what it accomplishes. John Piper’s The Passion of Jesus Christ helps us much here.

21. To reconcile us to God (Rom 5:10) – Reconciliation is not just about bringing us back to God but about bringing God back to man. We need to be reconciled because of our sinful defiance; God needs to be reconciled because He sees us as objects of His wrath. When we are born into this world, we are God’s enemies and hostile to God (Rom 8:7). That is where Jesus steps in. His cross-works makes us objects of His mercy. His suffering in our place brings about reconciliation.

22. To bring us to God (Eph 2:13; I Pet 3:18) – Redemption is not just about liberating us from bondage to sin but bringing us back to God. Thus, salvation is about about embracing God and not just about escaping hell. Piper writes, “Then he sent Christ to suffer ‘that he might bring us to God.’ This means he sent Christ to bring us to the deepest, longest joy a human can have. Hear then the invitation: Turn from ‘the fleeting pleasures of sin’ (Heb 11:25) and come to ‘pleasures forevermore.’ Come to Christ” (Pg. 63).