This is Why Jesus Came

Note: This article continues a theme begun yesterday…

While writing a fictional story for a local newspaper, though I knew what I wanted to say, I wanted to review the theological underpinnings for some of the dialog. This was found at ecclesia.org and you’re encouraged to click the title below to read this at source. Note: The language has been updated by using some of the many current translations available.

15 Reasons Why Jesus Came

1. Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
   

   1 Timothy 1:15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” This saying is true, and it can be trusted. I was the worst sinner of all! (CEV)
   

2. Jesus Christ came into the world to call sinners to repentance.
   

   Mark 2:17, When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.” (NLT)
   

3. Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost.
   

   Luke 19:10, For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost. (ESV)
   

4. Jesus came into the world to demonstrate the true purpose of life and give Himself a ransom.
   

   Matthew 20:28, Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. (NASB)
   

5. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a King and bear witness to the truth.
   

   John 18:37, So Pilate asked him, “Are you a king, then?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. I was born and came into the world for this one purpose, to speak about the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to me. (GNT)
   

6. Jesus Christ came into the world to do the Will of His Father.
   

   John 6:38, For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (NKJV)
   

7. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a Light in the world.
   

   John 12:46, I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark. (NLT)
   

8. Jesus Christ came into the world that men might have the Abundant Life.
   

   John 10:10b, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (KJV)

9. Jesus Christ came into the world to Judge the world.
   

   John 9:39, Then Jesus told him, “I entered this world to render judgment—to give sight to the blind and to show those who think they see that they are blind.” (NLT)
   

10. Jesus Christ came into the world to Proclaim or preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God.
    

    Mark 1:38, Jesus replied, “Let us go somewhere else–to the nearby villages–so I can preach there also. That is why I have come.” (NIV)
    

11. Jesus Christ came into the world to die on the cross.
    

    John 12:27, Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ’Father, save Me from this hour’? No, it is for this purpose that I have come to this hour. (Berean Study Bible)
    

12. Jesus Christ came into the world to fulfill the law.
    

    Matthew 5:17, Do not think that I have come to overturn or do away with the law or the words of our prophets. To the contrary: I have not come to overturn them but to fulfill them. (The Voice)
    

13. Jesus Christ came into the world to be a Divider of men.
    

    Matthew 10:34, 35, Don’t assume that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.  For I came to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (CSB)
    

    (Christ makes it necessary to choose between relatives and the truth. This choice often causes division.)

14. Jesus Christ came into the world as a demonstration of God’s Love.
    

    1 John 4:10, This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (NIV)
    

15. Jesus Christ came into the world because the Father sent Him.
    

    John 20:21, I give you the gift of peace. In the same way the Father sent Me, I am now sending you. (The Voice)

a. The Father SENT Jesus to be the Propitiation (atonement) for our sins.

1 John 4:10, >This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God. (The Message)

b. The Father SENT Jesus and gave Jesus as the Saviour of the world.

John 3:16-18,  For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in himwill never perish but experience everlasting life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge and condemn the world, but to be its Savior and rescue it! So now there is no longer any condemnation for those who believe in him, but the unbeliever already lives under condemnation because they do not believe in the name of God’s beloved Son.(Passion Translation)

c. The Father SENT Jesus to bless us by turning us from our iniquities.

Acts 3:26, God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.” (ESV)

d. The Father SENT His Son to redeem us from the curse of the law.

Galatians 4:4-5, But when the fullness of time came, God sent out His Son, born of a woman and born under law—to free those under law, so we might receive adoption as sons. (Tree of Life – TLV)

e. God SENT His Son to make possible a new power in the hearts of men, a power to enable him to fulfill the righteousness of the law.

Romans 8:3,4, For what the Law could not do [that is, overcome sin and remove its penalty, its power] being weakened by the flesh [man’s nature without the Holy Spirit], God did: He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man as an offering for sin. And He condemned sin in the flesh [subdued it and overcame it in the person of His own Son], so that the [righteous and just] requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not live our lives in the ways of the flesh [guided by worldliness and our sinful nature], but [live our lives] in the ways of the Spirit [guided by His power] (Amplified Bible)

---

As this is publishing on Christmas Eve, I want to wish all of Christianity 201’s readers a blessed and meaningful celebration of incarnation.

Why Jesus Came

It’s never too early for believers to start focusing on the celebration of Christ’s birth. While theologically, Easter is the centerpiece of the Christian faith, Christmas is when the world at large acknowledges — on some level — the birth of Christ.

There are key scripture passages associated with this time of year that answer the questions as to how Christ came into the world. The incarnation is key to Christian belief, so we need to define that. There are verses that explain where Christ came into the world. There are verses that explain who was around when Christ came into the world. But we need to get past what I call the “Linus” versus — the verses that Linus in the Peanuts television special quotes from memory to Charlie Brown — and think about why Christ came into the world.

^{NIV Hebrews 1:1} In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.

If you’re on Twitter, you know what’s meant by the phrase Direct Messaging. After years of speaking through the prophets, God decides it is time to send a DM, not only to his followers, but to all humankind.

John 6 gives us more details:

³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Verses 33 and 38-39 are key: Jesus comes to give life, and to see the salvation (although the word isn’t used here) of His children on the last day.

In addition to bread, the gospel of John is filled with other images. such as light:

^{John 3:46} I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

The Apostle Peter talks about how angels longed to see the day when salvation would be offered in a new way:

³ …It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, ⁴ and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. ⁵ And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

⁸ You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. ⁹ The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. ¹¹ They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.

¹² They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

As Jesus calls his first disciples, he ushers in this new way, an intersection of the heavenly realm and the earthly realm

^{Mark 1:15} “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

and urges his disciples this is the message they are to proclaim:

⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ^8b … Freely you have received; freely give.

Announcing the kingdom also is mentioned at the outset of Christ’s ministry, in his inaugural sermon:

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, ¹⁷ and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
¹⁹     to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

²⁰ Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. ²¹ He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

These verses should begin our thinking as to why Jesus came, but trying to encapsulate everything in a short article is like trying to define the gospel in ten words or less. So multifaceted was — and is — the ministry of Jesus Christ that our words cannot contain the whole of it.

 

Liturgy for a New Year

If you click over to Thinking Out Loud, you’ll see that I’ve begun the new year with a strong recommendation to check out a new liturgical resource, the book Common Prayer by Shane Claiborne et al.    If the word “liturgical” scares you, this is exactly the book you might want to consider.   Take a minute to review my comments there first.

After today I’ll go back to sourcing devotional material from a variety of sources, but here is an outline of the Common Prayer prescribed reading for tomorrow, Sunday, January 2nd:

(sections in blue are repeated by the group if used in a group setting.)

Basil of Caesarea (330 – 379)

Basil was born in modern-day Turkey. His grandfather was martyred, and his brother, Gregory of Nyssa, became a very influential bishop. In an age marked by doctrinal battles within the church, Basil was a tireless defender of orthodoxy. He is known as an early developer of Christian monasticism, and an incredible preacher and writer. Among his many writings are some of the church’s earliest prayers. Basil first left the world to join the monastery, but eventually brought the monastery to the world through the city of Basiliad, also called “The New City.” This was a giant community of monastic men and women working with doctors and other lay-people to provide food, clothing, shelter, and medical assistance to the poor of Caesarea. He later went on to become a priest and a bishop, but he always kept his vision of a monastic life not cut off from the world but embracing the pain and sorrow
of the world.

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us bow down and bend the knee (pause) let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Song “Steal Away to -Jesus”

Lord, help us believe (pause) that we might see you come.

Psalm 14:1 – 4

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” : All are corrupt and commit abominable acts; there is none who does any good.

The Lord looks down from heaven upon us all (pause) to see if there is any who is wise, if there is one who seeks after God.

Every one has proved faithless; all alike have turned bad (pause) there is none who does good; no, not one.

Have they no knowledge, all those evildoers (pause) who eat up my -people like bread and do not call upon the Lord?

Lord, help us believe (pause) that we might see you come.

Genesis 28:10 – 22

¹⁰ Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. ¹¹ When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. ¹² He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³ There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. ¹⁴ Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. ¹⁵ I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”¹⁶ When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” ¹⁷ He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

¹⁸ Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. ¹⁹ He called that place Bethel, though the city used to be called Luz.

²⁰ Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear ²¹ so that I return safely to my father’s household, then the LORD will be my God ²² and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God’s house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth.”

John 6:41 – 47

⁴¹ At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life.

Lord, help us believe (pause) that we might see you come.

Basil of Caesarea wrote, “When someone steals a person’s clothes, we call him a thief. Should we not give the same name to one who could clothe the naked and does not? The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat hanging unused in your closet belongs to those who need it; the shoes rotting in your closet to the one who has no shoes. The money which you hoard up belongs to the poor.”

Prayers for Others

Our Father (repeat The Lord’s Prayer)

Lord, you are always weaving the things of heaven with the things of earth. You dwell among us, above us, and within us. Make us expectant of angels tarrying to do your work. Form us into eager messengers, ready to speak peace in broken communities. Amen.

May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you (pause) wherever he may send you;

may he guide you through the wilderness (pause) protect you through the storm;

may he bring you home rejoicing (pause) at the wonders he has shown you;

may he bring you home rejoicing (pause) once again into our doors.

You may also follow along at commonprayer.net