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Who did Christ die for? Most of us would answer that question the same way. We’d say, He died for me, or He died to forgive my sins. But not so fast, my friend. That may not be the right answer. Or at least, it may not be the deepest answer. There may be something bigger going on here than most of us have ever really stopped to think about. I invite us to take a closer look.

Think about this. As Jesus entered into His Passion, just after Judas left the table, He said, Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him (John 13:31). At that exact moment, when the cross was set into motion, Jesus did not first describe what was about to happen in terms of our salvation, but in terms of glory. That alone should cause us to pause and reconsider what we think we understand about the cross.

This begs the question: What was really happening on the cross? Jesus had already told us, I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the One who sent me (John 6:38). The cross was not simply an act of suffering. It was the complete fulfillment of the Father’s will. It was the Son offering Himself in perfect obedience, holding nothing back, giving everything in love.

And in that total self-gift, the Father was glorified.

Jesus makes this even clearer in His prayer: Father, the hour has come. Glorify Your Son so that Your Son may glorify You… I glorified You on earth by accomplishing the work that You gave me to do (John 17:1,4). The work He came to accomplish was the cross, and the purpose of that work was the glory of God. That is not a side point. That is the foundation.

Now we need to be careful here, because this is where we can misunderstand. This does not mean that He did not die for us. Of course He did. Scripture is clear about that. But it does mean that our salvation is not the ultimate end. It is the fruit of something greater.

He died for the glory of God.

And in glorifying the Father, He saved us.

Think about how this shifts our perspective. We tend to make everything about us, even our faith. We focus on our struggles, our progress, our failures, and our victories. And while God deeply cares about every one of those things, the story has always been bigger than us. It has always been about Him, and when we lose sight of that, even our spiritual lives can become inward and exhausting.

Let me explain. When everything centers on us, we begin to measure and evaluate constantly. We ask how we are doing, whether we are improving, whether we are failing. But when our lives become centered on the glory of God, something changes. Our lives are no longer a project to manage, they become an offering to give.

Even our struggles begin to take on new meaning. St. Paul writes, In my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ for the sake of His body (Colossians 1:24). Not because anything is missing from Christ’s sacrifice, but because we are invited to participate in it. When united to Christ, even our suffering can become something that glorifies God.

For anyone on a recovery journey, trying to overcome compulsions and addictive behaviors, this can change everything. The goal is not simply to get better; the goal is to allow God to be glorified in us. Every temptation resisted, every honest confession, every step taken in the light becomes more than personal progress. It becomes an offering that brings glory to God.

But the truth is, this message is for everyone. It is not just for people in recovery. Every one of us carries struggles, weaknesses, and areas where we fall short. And when we begin to see those not just as problems to fix, but as places where God can be glorified, everything begins to shift.

Then our lives are no longer centered on us. They are caught up in something eternal. And in that shift, we begin to experience a deeper kind of freedom, because we are no longer carrying the weight of trying to fix ourselves, we are learning to offer ourselves.

So maybe we need to rethink the answer. Who did Christ die for? He died for the glory of the Father, and in that glory, He died for us. When we begin to live with that understanding, everything starts to change.

Heavenly Father, help me to lift my eyes beyond myself and to see that my life is meant to glorify You. Teach me to offer my struggles, my weaknesses, and even my failures to You. Unite my life to the cross of Your Son so that everything I experience can become something that brings You glory. And in that, allow me to find the healing, freedom, and peace that only You can give. Amen.

Have you checked out my new book, Living Out the Lord’s Supper? To find out what readers everywhere are talking about, click here.

AMDG

AMDG is a Latin abbreviation for “Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam,” which means “For the Greater Glory of God.”

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Brian Pusateri

Brian is a Christian author and speaker. Brian, a lifelong Catholic, felt his life was forever changed when God spoke to his heart while attending an eight day silent Christian retreat in November of 2011. Soon after that retreat Brian founded 4th Day Letters and Broken Door Ministries. With the God inspired message of mercy and unconditional love that was placed on his heart during that retreat, Brian has been impacting others all over the country and around the world with his weekly letters, his talks, and his all day Christian retreats. In June of 2014, Brian’s life was again impacted in a very dramatic way when his eyesight suddenly became permanently impaired. The initial diagnosis was Multiple Scleroses (MS) but in December of 2019 the diagnosis was corrected to MOG antibody disease, a rare neurological disease. This health challenge has only served to draw Brian closer to God and bolster the importance of this timely yet ageless message.

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