Chapter 2 - Why Did Christ Die?

Why did Christ die? What are the reasons Scripture gives for his crucifixion?

This week we look at these reasons, and we find that they are both human and divine. He was given up, and he gave himself up; he died at the hands of sinful men, and he died according to the perfect plan and foreknowledge of his Father.

At bottom, as Stott states in the chapter, we must say, "I did it--my sins put him there." Thanks be to God, we can also say, "He did it--his love took him there."

Chapter 1 - The Centrality of the Cross

[In contemplating Christ's cross]...Our sins put him there. We can stand before it only with a bowed head and a broken spirit. And there we remain until the Lord Jesus speaks to our hearts his word of pardon and acceptance, and we, gripped by his love and full of thanksgiving, go out into the world to live our lives in his service. (pg. 18)

The central message of the Christian Faith is the crucifixion of Christ. We are all, without exception, sinners in need of forgiveness. There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. And there is no name under heaven by which we must be saved other than the name of Christ Jesus.

Only God incarnate could provide the means for guilty sinners to be reconciled to himself. At the cross, we marvel at the wonderful and horrible, the wrathful and merciful, the free and the costly beyond price. And we will marvel into eternity, as we praise God for Christ and the cross.