Why Did He Do It?

Jesus said, "God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16) Did you ever wonder why? Why did He give His only Son? Why did God grant the gift of salvation?

We aren't left to guess. Scripture gives us the answer. But before we look at that, you might be tempted to say you know. Paul Baloche and Lenny LeBlanc wrote a popular song -- "Above All" -- about how Jesus took the fall and "thought of me above all." It is certainly a warm and pleasant thought, but is it biblical? Did Christ save me for my sake?

It is certainly entirely possible for God to have more than one reason to do something, and I'm sure that He does, but I think we often miss the primary reason that is listed. According to the Bible, God "made us a alive together with Christ" (Eph 2:5) when we were dead in sin (Eph 2:1, 5) "so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus." (Eph 2:7) That's not vague. That's not hard to figure out. It's quite explicit. Paul here lists a couple of other reasons -- His rich mercy and His great love -- so we know there is more, but I think we generally miss that first, stated reason. God's intent in saving us was to demonstrate the riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There is, I think, one other clarification that we should notice. If I were to ask the question, "Who saved us?" most of us would answer, "Jesus Christ." This passage says something different. This passage says that God made us alive together with Christ. Like that passage at the beginning where God gave His only Son. We tend to think that the Son saved us. And it is true. We were saved by His blood. But the gift of salvation that we are given comes through Christ from God who saves us. That is, the God whom we hated (Rom 8:7) and whose righteous wrath we have earned sent His Son so that He could save us from His righteous wrath.

God had more than one reason to save us. He is rich in mercy and great in love and has immeasurable grace. But at the core of it all, God intends His own glory to be displayed. Always. That's why He does anything.