Whom Did Christ Die For - Us or God? Part 2

“Did Jesus die for God or for us?” is the question we’re asking in this series.

In Part 1, we said that the place we need to begin is to have a biblical mindset that starts with God and not a secular mindset that begins with man.

What the biblical mindset sees as basic problems in the universe are usually not the same problems that the secular mindset sees.

The reason for this is that what makes a problem is not, first, that something doesn’t fit the rights and needs of man, but that it doesn’t fit the rights and goals of God. If you start with man and his rights and wants, rather than starting with the God and his rights and goals, the problems you see in the universe will be very different.

Is the basic issue of the universe how to preserve man’s rights and solve his problems (i.e. the right of self-determination, and the problem of suffering)? Or is the basic issue of the universe how an infinitely worthy God in complete freedom can display the full range of his perfections — what Paul calls “the riches of his glory” (Romans 9:23) — his holiness and power and wisdom and justice and wrath and goodness and truth and grace, or in other words, the totality of His presence?

How you answer that question will profoundly affect the way you understand the central event of human history — the death of Jesus. Did Jesus die for God or for us?

In Part 1, I showed the passage in Romans 3:25-26: “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."

Because we are so inundated by the secular mindset, the very thought of Jesus dying for God seems unnatural, let alone, cherished.

So let’s do this: Let’s go beneath the issue of justification, reconciliation and forgiveness and go right to the bottom or foundation of it all -- to the innermost meaning of the cross.

Now as we do, this is what you need to be looking for as you read again the passage from Romans 3:25-26. There is a huge problem in the universe that needs solving. How we solve it will be based on whether we use the secular mindset or the biblical one. It is a problem that must be solved by God Himself. And God does so with the death of His Son.

God put [Christ] 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. (Romans 3:25)

According to the above passage, God gave up His Son (sent him to die) in order to demonstrate His righteousness (or justice).

Okay, so the problem that needed solving was that God, for some reason, seemed to be unrighteous, and wanted to vindicate himself and clear his name. That is the basic problem in the universe. God’s righteousness is at stake. His name or reputation or honor must be vindicated. Before the cross can be for our sake, it must be for God’s sake.

Let me say it again, “Before the cross of Christ can be for our sake (i.e. before it benefits us), it must be for God’s benefit. You say, “If that’s the case, Pastor Rich, then you are making God’s needs more important than man’s needs.” Exactly!

So what was the reason God needed vindication? Look at the last phrase in verse 25: “because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

Now what does that mean? It means for centuries, God was passing over the sins of people who repented. For centuries God was long-suffering toward sinners. For centuries God was doing what it is stated in Psalm 103:10: “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities.” He has been passing over thousands of sins. He has been forgiving them and letting them go and not punishing them.

That is a major problem. How so? Where in the world is His justice? Where is His righteous indignation? Since God is a righteous judge, how can He just pass over the sins of sinners and not wipe them all out and send each one to hell as they deserve?

Remember the story of Nathan the prophet confronting king David about his sin with Bathsheba and the killing of her husband?

Nathan said to David, “Why have you despised the word of the Lord?” (2 Samuel 12:9). David feels the rebuke of Nathan, and in 2 Samuel 12:13 he says, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

Then Nathan makes this startling response: “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.” Just like that! Adultery and murder are “passed over.” It is almost incredible. Our sense of justice screams out, “No! You can’t just let it go like that. He deserves to die or be imprisoned for life!” But Nathan does not say that. He says, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die.”

What was true of David was also true of countless others in the Bible. And while you’re at it -- add your name to the list of people to whom God has forgiven. How can this be? Where is the justice of God?

So, going back to the problem in the universe, God’s righteousness is being questioned. His lack of justice is being called to account, or as Paul said in Romans 3:25, “because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.”

So why is that a problem? Is it seen and felt as a problem by the secular mindset — that God is kind to sinners? How many people outside the scope of biblical influence wrestle with the problem that a holy and righteous God doesn’t seem to punish the wicked and the evil they commit? How can God be so lenient to sinners?

How many Christians wrestle with the fact that their own forgiveness is a threat to the righteousness of God?

So our secular mindset starts with our rights and wants -- “How can God be like this?” The issue starts then with us and our need for an answer. But the biblical mindset starts the issue with God and His right to uphold and display the infinite worth of his righteousness and glory.

End of Part 2