WHY DID JESUS COME TO EARTH? (3)
We continue our studies on why Jesus came to earth. The more we understand about his mission of love, exemplified by his dying on the cross to save mankind and give us the hope of eternal life, the more we can love, serve, and honor him for paying the price for our salvation. Without Jesus we have no hope. Without Jesus we would never understand love. Without Jesus . . . .
In previous articles we saw that Jesus came to do the will of the Father (John 6:38), to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15), to bring light to a dark world (John 12:46), to be made like his people (Hebrews 2:14-17), to bear witness to the truth (John 18:27), to destroy the devil and his works (Hebrews 2:14), to give eternal life (John 6:51), to receive worship (Matthew 2:1-2), to bring great joy (Luke 2:10), and to demonstrate true humility (Philippians 2:5-8). If we truly understand and grasp what the Father, Son and Spirit have done, we would live better lives. We would not want to disgrace the Godhead by our lives. Look at what God has done for us.
What else may we learn from Jesus’ coming?
He came to preach the gospel to the poor. In Luke 4:18-21 Luke records that Jesus came to . . . Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Jesus quotes from Isaiah 61:1-2 as he startles the crowd by saying, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” What an audacious claim! But it was true, nonetheless. Jesus came to preach to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives lost in sin, to help the blind recover their sight.
He came to give man hope. One man wrote, “People are a mess, and when you try to help people in a mess you will get in a mess. But thank God, he saw the mess we were in, and sent His Son to come and get in the mess, so as to save us from the mess.” Sin is messy, and all have sinned (Romans 3:10, 23). Without Jesus there is no hope! Without Jesus there would be no gospel, no good news of salvation. Jesus wants us to share in his work of redemption by sharing the gospel with others. Who do you know that needs to hear the gospel? What will you and I do to help them to know God’s love and saving grace?
Why is this so vital? Jesus also came to bring judgment on the world. In John 9:39-41 John wrote, “Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.” Jesus’ antagonists were the Pharisees. They followed him, not to learn from him, but to try to catch Him in error so as to dismiss him and his mission.
Sadly, there are many in the world today that are spiritually blind. Man has tried to make God’s word fit their preconceived notions and ideas. Like the Pharisees of old, many think that their way is right; and all others are wrong. This is idolatry. The Pharisees were not acceptable to God – they were devoutly religious, sticklers for their opinions, and hypocritical in serving the Lord. To be sure that we are pleasing to God, and not like the Pharisees and others, we must grow to be like His Son.
To save them and us, we see another reason why Jesus came to earth – To give His life a ransom for many.” “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:45). If we follow Jesus we must have His heart – to care about others enough to point them to Jesus so he can save them from their sins. Paul wrote this in Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.”
In Titus 2:13-14 Paul states that God’s grace has appeared, bringing salvation for all, and “training us to renounce the things of the world, so we can live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.”(ESV)
Are you waiting eagerly for the Lord’ return? Do you look forward to His appearing? Can we even begin to imagine what that will be like? Do you rejoice in his redemption? Have you availed yourself of the purification he offers through His blood? His blood redeemed you, bought you back. Notice the idea of now being His possession – why? Because he bought and paid for us!
We are worth something to God, Jesus and the Spirit. The Godhead thought we were dying for. Do I live a worthy life because of what He did for me?
More next week
Tommy
