Why did Jesus die?

Every Christian thinks that Jesus died to cleanse them of their sins. Which, of course, is true. And very important.

However, today I was reading a book called The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee and I found out another reason why Jesus died.

In John 12:24, Jesus said, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit." The context of this verse shows that Jesus was actually talking about himself as the grain of wheat. He had to die so that his life could be released and reproduced in the many grains of wheat, which are the believers (us!).

This aspect of Jesus' death is typified by Adam being put to sleep in Genesis 2. In the Bible, sleep is a temporary death (Psalm 13:3, John 11:11-14). Similarly, Jesus' death was a temporary death, because after three days he was resurrected! Sin does not enter the Bible until Genesis 3, so we know Adam was not put to sleep to deal with sin. Rather, Adam was put to sleep to reproduce himself! A bone taken out of his side became Eve, his counterpart. Similarly, Jesus' death was for his reproduction into many grains. All the believers have the life of Christ, and together, we form the church, which is his bride and counterpart! (Ephesians 5:22-32).

You can read more about this awesome book from some of fellow bloggers' posts here and here.