I agree, His purpose was to pay the debt we could not for our sins. Thereby, creating ‘the church’, the body of believers in Christ.
Ephesians 5:25-27 - Think on this!
25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
“....gave Himself for it......” GAVE Himself FOR IT, the church.
He does this for the Church, the Bride of Christ - specifically all individuals who entrusted themselves to His Gracious gift by faith. He died for them collectively and they will be glorified.
The Father will eventually present the Bride to the Son, after sanctifying them and glorifying them completely. It is individuals that are sanctified and glorified - making the entire Bride without blemish. Ephesians uses the word Church (”gathering”) collectively to represent all those who are saved. Collectively, the Church will be spotless at the end of the age.
[I would add that the main point of this passage grammatically deals with the command for husbands to love their wives. Christ’s relationship to His Church is a subpoint to support the main point by elaborating how husbands are to love their wives.]
This is different than the way you are framing this verse. We will have to disagree on this point. I do not think we are far apart.
best to you,
ampu
While you’re thinking on that, try thinking on this...
Eph 5:22-24 - “Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”
And...
Ephesians 5:33 - “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.”
For some reason, my wife doesn’t want me to love her as I love myself. She wants me to love her as she loves herself. That’s a huge difference but it is never taught.
The feminization of the Church has brought the whole ‘name it and claim it’ and ‘beam me up’ theology in because the Church is trying to define how Christ will ‘love’ her rather than accept the same suffering and persecution that Christ accepted. Doesn’t work in an earthly marriage and doesn’t work in a heavenly one either.