Grace Extending

Easter_jesus_on_the_cross-6

 

 

 

 

 

This Passion Month, we are pleased to post excerpts from John Piper's excellent book, "The Passion of Jesus Christ: Fifty Reasons He Came to Die" (get a free digital copy of the book here). Our prayer is that as you ask, "Why the Cross?" and consider what Jesus accomplished, that it will stir your heart to marvel and worship in light of God's redemption. May God use these thoughts to prepare our hearts, as we look forward to a global remembrance and celebration on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

 

Why the Cross? Some reasons to meditate on...

 

 

To Show the Wealth of God's Love and Grace for Sinners

 

I have heard it said, “God didn’t die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.” This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren’t bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay it. There is only one explanation for God’s sacrifice for us. It is not us. It is “the riches of his grace” (Ephesians 1:7). It is all free. It is not a response to our worth. It is the overflow of his infinite worth. In fact, that is what divine love is in the end: a passion to enthrall undeserving sinners, at great cost, with what will make us supremely happy forever, namely, his infinite beauty.”

 

To Show His Own Love for Us

 

The death of Christ is not only the demonstration of God’s love (John 3:16), it is also the supreme expression of Christ’s own love for all who receive it as their treasure. The early witnesses who suffered most for being Christians were captured by this fact: Christ “loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20). They took the self-giving act of Christ’s sacrifice very personally. They said, “He loved me. He gave himself for me.” Surely this is the way we should understand the sufferings and death of Christ. They have to do with me. They are about Christ’s love for me personally. It is my sin that cuts me off from God, not sin in general. It is my hard-heartedness and spiritual numbness that demean the worth of Christ. I am lost and perishing. When it comes to salvation, I have forfeited all claim on justice. All I can do is plead for mercy.”

 

To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness and Costly Love

 

Imitation is not salvation. But salvation brings imitation. Christ is not given to us first as model, but as Savior. In the experience of the believer, first comes the pardon of Christ, then the pattern of Christ. In the experience of Christ himself, they happen together: The same suffering that pardons our sins provides our pattern of love. In fact, only when we experience the pardon of Christ can he become a pattern for us. This sounds wrong because his sufferings are unique. They cannot be imitated. No one but the Son of God can suffer “for us” the way Christ did. He bore our sins in a way that no one else could. He was a substitute sufferer. We can never duplicate this. It was once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous. Divine, vicarious suffering for sinners is inimitable.”

 

Write a Comment

Leave this field untouched:
SPAM protection (do not modify):

Leave this field untouched: