Why on earth did Jesus Come? (Part 1) Introduction So it’s Christmas time again. Though it is a great time of the year, consisting of family time, presents and (most importantly) food we have decided to release something to help us get back to basics. As Christians, what is Christmas really about? What should it remind us of? Well, as most of us know, Christmas is fundamentally about the birth of Christ. However, this meaning has been lost over the last few decades. In this post, we will give 8 reasons for why Christ came and hope you see how they impact humanity. The scriptures included also need to be read in context and though there are a lot of them, we hope that reading them will draw you closer to Christ and ultimately to the true meaning of Christmas. Jesus came to bring salvation “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” - John 3:16 John 3:16 is probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible. Many of us who have grown up in church have known and recited it for years. However, like any verse in the Bible, it is not there for us just to have head knowledge of it, but heart knowledge. The main reason Christ came to earth was to save people. Why do we need salvation? In our natural state, we are enemies with God (Romans 5:10). When the angel speaks to Mary about Christ, she is instructed to call him Jesus because “he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Jesus is the mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5). He came to earth to fulfil that work of mediation in the flesh. Other Verses: Psalm 118:21; Isaiah 56:1; Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Matthew 20:25 – 28; Luke 1:68 -69; Luke 1:77; Luke 9:56; John 3:36; John 10:9; John 14:6; Acts 16:31; Romans 10:9 – 10; 1 John 4:14; 1 John 5:12 Jesus came to bring deliverance from sin “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” – Matthew 1:21 As stated above, Jesus Christ came to bring salvation to the world. That begs the question of what we need salvation from. We need salvation from sin, which is the breaking of God’s law (1 John 3:4). The Bible lets us know that we have all done this in some way or the other (Romans 3:23). For the benefit of those who may question this, the Bible speaks to that objection in no uncertain terms. Ecclesiastes 7:20 reinforces the fact that there is nobody on earth that is truly good. Now of course this has consequences for us before a holy God, as those who break his law deserve to be punished. Thankfully, Jesus Christ came to earth and lived a perfect, sinless life (1 John 3:5 – 10), paying for our debt before God. In his earthly life, he spent time with sinners, showing them the way of salvation. In fact, Jesus said that he
came for those who were “sick” and in need of a physician. His main mission was to save sinners, and not those who were righteous (Matthew 9:12 – 13). Through His coming, we who do not deserve mercy have now received it. We read of this in Paul’s testimony in 1 Timothy 1:15, where he says “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” Other Verses: Matthew 11:19; Matthew 18:11 – 14; Luke 19:10; 1 John 1:9; 1 John 4:10; Jesus came as the light of the world When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." – John 8:12 The world was full of darkness - men couldn’t see between what is good and evil but through Christ’s birth, God brought light to the world and that light brought sight to those who believed in Him. This sight we have gained through Christ is the spiritual sight that enables us to distinguish between what is good and evil. Acts 26:18 shows us that through this light we have come to know the father, received forgiveness, being sanctified by faith and also being set free from sin and the power of Satan. In him there was light and through Him we have been made light of this world. John Piper comments on what it means that Christ is the light: Jesus' being "the light of the world" means the world has no other light than him. If there is going to be a light for the world, it will be Jesus. It is Jesus or darkness. There is no third alternative. No other light. It means, therefore, that all the world, and everyone in it needs, Jesus as their light. It means that the world was made for this light. This is not a foreign light. This is the light of the owner of the world. When this light comes, it not only makes sin plain as foreign and ugly, but it also makes everything good in the world shine with its full and true beauty. This world was made to be illumined by this light. This light of Christ is native to the world. And finally Jesus being "the light of the world" means that that one day this world will be filled with this light as the waters cover the sea, and all darkness, and all the works of darkness, and all the sons of darkness will be cast out. That's why Jesus called hell "outer darkness" (Matthew 8:12; 22:13; 25:30). In that day, all will be light. Jesus, the radiance of the Father, will fill the world, and everything will be beautiful with the light of Christ. Jesus came to bring hope “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” – 1 Peter 1:3 The birth of Christ brought hope to mankind. Through that hope we have received grace to be saved (Romans 8:24), to be part of the inheritance of God and to be blessed by God. Hope is
a portion or part of faith. Faith and hope, in my mind, are overlapping realities: hope is faith in the future tense. Therefore the hope we have in Christ has helped us to build on our faith in God. A house cannot be built without laying the bricks or blocks from foundation level. In the same way faith in God cannot be built without hope in Christ. With this hope mankind is assured of a better future, this is because through Christ our purpose is known and our identity is found (2 Timothy 1:9); who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. Through this hope we have in Christ we have gained the boldness to proclaim the gospel (the word of God) to the nations. Paul tells us that in 2 Corinthians 3:12: “Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” Romans 15:13 shows us that the hope we have in Him has brought us joy and peace in this life and also through that overflowing hope we have received power from the Holy Spirit. This power we have received from the Holy Spirit enables us to preach the gospel to the nations, and aid us in living as Christ did on this earth. This hope we have in Christ is not an uncertain desire but it is a confident expectation. Christ came to usher in a period of grace The birth of Christ made it possible for mankind to receive and enjoy the Grace of God. “But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many!” – Romans 5:15 The disobedience of Adam and Eve brought sin into this world and death unto men, but because God loved mankind he sent his son to pay the price of our sins. Through what his son did on the cross for our sake we have received the overflowing grace by which we were chosen, called, brought to faith, sanctified, justified, and will be glorified by. “Sin will not keep you from the Grace of God but the Grace of God will keep you from sin” This grace has been made sufficient for us, which the apostle Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians 12:9; “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. This scripture makes me to understand that the Grace we have received through Christ is sufficient or more than enough to solve our deficiency. Therefore you must know that where there is sufficiency, there is no deficiency. Nehemiah 9:21 speaks of Israel and says that as they were in the desert for 40 years, they never lacked a thing. The reason why they never lacked anything on the desert for the 40 years was because God’s Grace was sufficient for them and also able to sustain them for the 40 years. God’s Grace supplies spiritual power when we are weak; this same Grace matures us through suffering. No matter what you are going through just know that His Grace is sufficient for you. This overflowing grace is sufficient and sustainable. Jesus came to reveal God fully “ No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.” – John 1:18 Hebrews 1:1-2 would be a good reference here as well. This point is the one I feel has been neglected and abused by most people. If Christ was not God in the flesh, then Christianity is a false religion. John 1:1-18 provides the clearest
evidence that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. Nobody who reads the bible can ever say that the scriptures do not claim that Jesus was God. A main argument I have heard is that there is no way that God could become a created being. However, amongst many other reasons that could be given, people neglect the fact that God is capable of doing anything. Jesus himself says that if we have seen him, we have seen the one who sent him (John 12:45). Therefore, he must be the express image of God, as we are told in Colossians 1:15. Jesus became flesh, and dwelt among humanity, and brought grace and truth to us through his appearing. Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God the Father, and the exact imprint of his nature. Prior to his coming, the world was in darkness. However, when he came, he brought light unto the world, which shines even till this day. Other Verses: John 1:1; John 14:9; 1 Corinthians 10:1 – 4; 2 Corinthians 4:4; Philippians 2:5 – 12; Hebrews 1:1 – 3 Jesus came to fulfil prophecy “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning me.” – Luke 24:44 In Matthew 5:17 – 20, Jesus Christ answers a question that many people would have been tempted to ask as a result of the things that he said and did. He said that he did not come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them. In other words, he came to satisfy the law of God on our behalf. As we have seen before, none of us on our own can fulfil the law of God. In fact, the bible lets us know that the law is a “schoolmaster” to bring us to Jesus. Before he came, we were kept under the law, but now that he has come, we are set free by believing in Christ. His law is now not a burden (1 John 5:3), and we are able to obey him fully because of his grace upon us. Attempting to obey God’s law on our own (as nobody can truly) cannot make us right with God. Only faith in Christ can. God through his wisdom sent Christ to earth to fulfil the law on our behalf, as he is the end of the law for everyone that believes (Romans 10:4). Except Christ had atoned for our sins, satisfying the law, we would stand guilty before God of the whole. As he has satisfied all the law, there is now no condemnation for those who believe in him. The Old Testament is full of prophecies, many of which would still be unfulfilled to this day if Christ did not come to earth. Many prophets in the Old Testament referred to the coming of Jesus, and through his birth and life he continually fulfilled those prophecies: -
The Virgin Birth (Matthew 1:23) – Isaiah 7:14 Birth in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:6) – Micah 5:2 Herod Killing the children in search of Christ (Matthew 2:18) – Jeremiah 31:15 John the Baptist proclaiming Christ (Matthew 3:2) – Isaiah 40:3 God’s chosen servant (Matthew 12:18 – 21) – Isaiah 42:1 – 4 His speaking in parables (Matthew 13:35) – Psalm 78:2 His arrival on a donkey to Jerusalem (Matthew 21:5) – Zechariah 9:9
Other Verses: Galatians 3:23 – 25
That’s the end of part 1 guys. Hope you were blessed by this post. You are welcome to leave comments and suggestions for future posts below, and also to share with others. We intentionally did not refer much to why Christ died as we felt the reasons for his actual coming were more important to the season we are in. Part 2 will be done around Easter time, detailing reasons why Christ died for us.
Have a great Christmas and God bless,
Ope and Emmanuel.