by John Piper.
This book is right up my alley. Back in my early blogging days I did a series of posts on the reasons for Christ’s death given to us in scripture. In a final summary post, I wrote this:
We have looked at only the explicit purpose statements [for Christ’s death] …. Any result of Christ’s death listed in scripture, however, is also an intended purpose of Christ’s death, and an important purpose of Christ’s death. God has the power and wisdom to do things so that only exactly what He wishes is accomplished—so that there are no unintended or tertiary results from anything God does.
What John Piper has done in this book is do all the extra work that I didn’t do when I looked at the purposes of Christ’s death. He’s taken fifty of the results of Christ’s death and listed them for us as fifty reasons why Jesus came to die.
Each of the fifty reasons is allotted two pages of text. First, supporting scripture is given and then there are several paragraphs of explanation. This makes the book especially suited for devotional reading, two or three reasons at a time. Anything more than that might be too much, as there is so much reflect on in each little section.
You’d think by now I’d know all there is to know about the purposes of Christ’s death, but there were several in this book I’d never thought about before. For instance, one of the reasons Piper gives for Jesus coming to die is “to give marriage its deepest meaning.” This is, of course, based in Ephesians 5. Our marriages were designed to picture Christ’s relationship with his people, and Christ’s suffering shows husbands (especially) how they should love their wives. And if Christ’s death is an example of how we ought to love our spouses, then that’s an important part of God’s design for it.
I’d call Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die an introductory level book—there’s nothing difficult in it—and yet I’d say almost everyone will learn a thing of two from it. And who among us doesn’t need a reminder of the infinite wisdom of God in the cross of Christ?
Here are several ways this book could be used:
It would make—dare I say it?—an excellent bathroom reader.
I’m going to use it as a universal gift book. There’s nothing intimidating about it, the sections are short, and the information invaluable. Everyone needs to know what’s in this book. I plan to order a few extra copies to have on hand whenever I need one to give away. And, believe it or not, Monergism Books has it for only $5.99. (They also give you a full list of the fifty reasons right there on the page you get if you click on that link.)
I recommend it for tucking in your purse to read while you’re waiting in the supermarket check-out lines (or anywhere else for that matter.) That’s how I read much of my copy. It sure beats the gossip magazines that I’ve been known to read while I wait.*
It would be a very appropriate book to give to anyone who asks you about the meaning of the cross, something that I’ve had happen to me a couple of time so far this year. I gave a short answer—that’s all I could do in an everyday conversation—but the whole multi-faceted answer is so much more glorious, and I wish I’d been able to say, “Here’s a book you can have that explains it in much more depth.”
It would be suitable for a small group to use for study.
*Not to mention how oh-so-right it is to be redeeming the time spent waiting to redeem your groceries (and maybe your coupons) by reading about the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.