One reason Jesus came to die: To achieve his own resurrection from the dead

One reason Jesus died that John Piper writes about in his book "Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die":

To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead

our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep,

by the blood of the eternal covenant,

equip you with everything good that you may do his will.
Hebrews 13:20–21

The death of Christ did not merely precede his resurrection—it was the price that obtained it. That’s why Hebrews 13:20 says that God brought him from the dead “by the blood of the eternal covenant.”

The “blood of the … covenant” is the blood of Jesus. As he said, “This is my blood of the covenant” (Matthew 26:28). When the Bible speaks of the blood of Jesus, it refers to his death. No salvation would be accomplished by the mere bleeding of Jesus. His bleeding to death is what makes his blood-shedding crucial.

Now what is the relationship between this shedding of Jesus’ blood and the resurrection? The Bible says he was raised not just after the blood-shedding, but by it. This means that what the death of Christ accomplished was so full and so perfect that the resurrection was the reward and vindication of Christ’s achievement in death.

The wrath of God was satisfied with the suffering and death of Jesus. The holy curse against sin was fully absorbed. The obedience of Christ was completed to the fullest measure. The price of forgiveness was totally paid. The righteousness of God was completely vindicated. All that was left to accomplish was the public declaration of God’s endorsement. This he gave by raising Jesus from the dead.

When the Bible says, “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins” (1 Corinthians 15:17), the point is not that the resurrection is the price paid for our sins. The point is that the resurrection proves that the death of Jesus is an all-sufficient price. If Jesus did not rise from the dead, then his death was a failure, God did not vindicate his sin-bearing achievement, and we are still in our sins.

But in fact “Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father” (Romans 6:4). The success of his suffering and death was vindicated. And if we put our trust in Christ, we are not still in our sins. For “by the blood of the eternal covenant,” the Great Shepherd has been raised and lives forever.

Here are the contents of the book, which may be purchased here or read online:

Fifty Reasons Why Christ Suffered and Died:
1 To Absorb the Wrath of God
2 To Please His Heavenly Father
3 To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected
4 To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead
5 To Show the Wealth of God’s Love and Grace for Sinners
6 To Show His Own Love for Us
7 To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law Against Us
8 To Become a Ransom for Many
9 For the Forgiveness of Our Sins
10 To Provide the Basis for Our Justification
11 To Complete the Obedience That Becomes Our Righteousness
12 To Take Away Our Condemnation
13 To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals as the Basis of Salvation
14 To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful
15 To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect
16 To Give Us a Clear Conscience
17 To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good for Us
18 To Heal Us from Moral and Physical Sickness
19 To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him
20 To Deliver Us from the Present Evil Age
21 To Reconcile Us to God
22 To Bring Us to God
23 So That We Might Belong to Him
24 To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place
25 To Become for Us the Place Where We Meet God
26 To Bring the Old Testament Priesthood to an End and Become the Eternal High Priest
27 To Become a Sympathetic and Helpful Priest
28 To Free Us from the Futility of Our Ancestry
29 To Free Us from the Slavery of Sin
30 That We Might Die to Sin and Live to Righteousness
31 So That We Would Die to the Law and Bear Fruit for God
32 To Enable Us to Live for Christ and Not Ourselves
33 To Make His Cross the Ground of All Our Boasting
34 To Enable Us to Live by Faith in Him
35 To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning
36 To Create a People Passionate for Good Works
37 To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness and Costly Love
38 To Create a Band of Crucified Followers
39 To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death
40 So That We Would Be with Him Immediately After Death
41 To Secure Our Resurrection from the Dead
42 To Disarm the Rulers and Authorities
43 To Unleash the Power of God in the Gospel
44 To Destroy the Hostility Between Races
45 To Ransom People from Every Tribe and Language and People and Nation
46 To Gather All His Sheep from Around the World
47 To Rescue Us from Final Judgment
48 To Gain His Joy and Ours
49 So That He Would Be Crowned with Glory and Honor
50 To Show That the Worst Evil Is Meant by God for Good