What Jesus achieved through his death for us

The lesson today consists mainly of quotations from the Bible. You will find many passages concerning the death of Jesus on the cross. These passages will give you different perspectives on why Jesus had to die and what he actually achieved by his death. Take time to meditate on what Jesus did for you as you read the quotations from the Scripture.

Why did Jesus die on the cross?

a. Jesus Christ died for us

You see, just at the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. (Rom.5:6)

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us. (Rom.5:8)

b. Jesus Christ died to bring us to God

For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit. (1 Pet.3:18)

c. Jesus Christ died for our sins

For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures. (I Cor.15:3)

…Having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. (Col. 2:14)

But now he has appeared once and for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Heb. 9:26)

But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Heb. 10:12)

“It is finished”. (John 19:30)

d. Jesus Christ died our death

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. (2 Cor.5:21)

For the wages of sin is death. (Rom. 6:23)

The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Is. 53:6)

I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father. (John 10:17-18)

Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:46)

What did Jesus achieve through his substitutionary death?

a. He made atonement for our sin and took upon himself the punishment we should have had.

Jesus took upon himself God’s wrath against us because of sin so that we could have peace with God.

God presented him (Jesus Christ) as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice. (Rom. 3:25)
But if anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence - Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 2:1-2)

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)

b. He redeemed us, ransomed us from the power of sin and the curse of the law, so that we could live a new life in freedom and righteousness.

«For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.» (Mark 10.45)

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Eph. 1:7)

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”(Gal. 3:13)

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Pet. 1:18-19)

Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good. (Tit. 2:14)

c. He has made us righteous before God.

He has taken our guilt upon himself so that we are now acquitted of all accusations against us. We are no longer under condemnation. We stand righteous before God in Jesus Christ - as if we have never sinned. We are forgiven and acquitted!

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2. Cor 5:21)

(All) are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ. (Rom. 3:24)

Also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness - for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification. (Rom. 4:24-25)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Rom. 8:1)

(We) know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified. (Gal. 2:16)

d. He atoned for our sin and reconciled us to God.

He put an end to the enmity between man and God. He created peace and made it possible for man to come into close fellowship with God. No longer does anyone need to be alienated from or cut off from God. He made it possible for us to live in peace, harmony and fellowship with God’s people.

For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! (Rom. 5:10)

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 5:1)

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. (Eph. 2:13-16)

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross. (Col. 1:19-20)

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself through Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. (2 Cor.5:18-20)