Whom Did Christ Die For - Us or God? Part 1

If you were asked this question: Did Jesus die for you or for God, how could you answer it? Most would say that Jesus died for me? But the very thought of Jesus dying for God is mysterious at best.

A big reason why we might trip up on this is because we often in our secular mindset begin with us rather than with God. What I mean by the secular mindset is not necessarily a mindset that rules God out or denies in principle that the Bible is true. It’s a mindset that begins with man as the basic given reality in the universe. All of its thinking starts with the assumption that man has basic rights and basic needs and basic expectations. Then the secular mind moves out from this center and interprets the world, with man and his rights and needs as the measure of all things.

What the secular mindset sees as problems are seen as problems because of how things fit or don’t fit with man being at the center -- his rights and needs and expectations. And what this mindset sees as successes are seen as successes because they fit with man and his rights and needs and expectations.

This is the mindset we were born with and that our secular society reinforces virtually every hour of the day in our lives. The apostle Paul calls this mindset “the mind that is set on the flesh” (Romans 8:6–7), and says that it is the way the “natural person” thinks (1 Corinthians 2:14). It is so much a part of us that we hardly even know it’s there. We just take it for granted — until it collides with another mindset; namely, the one in the Bible.

We should avoid starting with man as the center at all cost when it comes to the death of Christ on the cross. Here is a bible passage I want to point out. Look carefully at it.

“Whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25–26)

Now notice the phrase, “to show God’s righteousness” (v. 25). Notice in verse 26: “It (the death of Christ) was to show God’s righteousness at the present time.”

You see, the biblical mindset does not begin with man as the center of the universe, but with God. The Lord is the basic given reality in the universe. He was there before we were in existence — or before anything was in existence. He is simply the most absolute reality there is. Therefore, this biblical mindset starts with the assumption that God is the center of reality. All thinking starts with the assumption that God has basic rights as the Creator of all things. He has goals that fit with his nature and perfect character. Then the biblical mindset moves out from this center and interprets the world, with God and his rights and goals as the measure of all things.

Having said this, it is no wonder Paul said that the death of Christ was first and foremost “to show God’s righteousness.” Or in other words, Jesus’ death on the cross was to show that He first and foremost died for God, not for us.

End of Part 1