Luke 2:11
Why Did Jesus Come?
2000 plus years ago, the angels of God broke the silence of the night with an
announcement that changed the world-a Savior, Christ the Lord, had come. I am
reasonably certain that all of you know that the birth of that Child is the reason
we celebrate Christmas-so I will not challenge your attention by elaborating
on it this evening
Instead, I want to ask and answer an important question, "Why Did Jesus Come?"
The fact that He came, in my opinion, is beyond question. Not only do we have
the Bible to prove Jesus’ coming, but history itself bears witness—so much so,
that for hundreds of years, we have referred to time itself by BC-BEFORE CHRIST
and AD-Greek for IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD.
But the question remains, "Why Did Jesus Come?" Let me give you some answers to
that question.
I. Jesus came to prove some things.
A. Jesus came to prove that God exists.
1. This is interesting to me because the people in Jesus’ day did not
any proof.
a. People today would call them superstitious, and they probably
were; but they still had enough sense to know there was a God.
b. What they lacked was knowledge about who God was.
2. No, this proof was not for that generation.
a. It was for this one.
b. We are the ones who doubt the existence of God.
3. However, Jesus’ coming proves His existence.
a. There are at least five ways that I can think of that Jesus’
coming proves God’s existence.
(1) the virgin birth,
(2) the angelic messengers,
(3) the miracles Jesus performed,
(4) the resurrection from the dead
(5) fulfilled prophecy
b. The one I think is the most profound is fulfilled prophecy.
(1) The reason I say that is because people do not believe the
Bible will reject the first four as all being in the
Bible.
(2) However, even history corroborates the prophecies
fulfilled.
c. Here are some prophecies that relate to the life of Christ.
(1) The Bible foretold the virgin birth.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin
shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
(2) The Bible foretold where Jesus would be born.
Micah 5:2 But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in
Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
(3) The Bible foretold the massacre of the infants.
Jeremiah 31:15 Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and
bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her
children, because they were not.
(4) The Bible even foretold when Jesus would be born.
Daniel 9:25 Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall
be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again,
and the wall, even in troublous times.
d. However, we don’t have to stop there. There are prophecies all
through the Bible that prove the existence of God.
B. Jesus came to prove that God cares.
1. People have always had a distorted image of God.
a. Instead of seeing God’s mercy, they see only God’s justice.
b. Instead of giving credit for God’s help, they blame God for
what sin and Satan have done. Sadly,
(1) For every bad things that comes into your life, I promise
you God is bringing in a dozen good things.
(2) The closer an individual walks to Satan and the more he
walks in sin, the more bad things he/she is bringing
upon HIMSELF!
2. This misconception was seen when Jesus’ own disciples saw a man
who was born blind and ask Jesus, "Who did sin, this man or his
parents, that he was born blind?" \\#John 9:2\\
3. Jesus came to clear up our misunderstanding.
a. Consider, even those who doubt that Jesus is God still believe
that Jesus was a good, caring man.
b. They believe that because of the miracles He did and the peace
He tried to bring to His fellowman.
c. However, remember what Jesus told Philip.
John 14:9 "…he that hath seen me hath seen the Father…."
(1) Jesus was telling Philip that the goodness we saw in Him
is the same goodness that is in the Father.
(2) As Jesus loves and cares for the people, so God loves the
people.
4. You need to understand that God loves you tremendously and is
working hard to show you that love.
a. Yes, God is just and as a holy Judge, He has pronounced the
death penalty on you because of your sin.
b. However, after doing so, God turned around and offered to pay
the penalty.
(1) Even before you were born, He donned on flesh so that He
could pay that penalty.
(2) He then paid it.
(3) He left behind the church and the Bible with the complete
message so that you could read it for yourself.
(4) He made two holidays every year with the hope you would
hear the good news of what He has done for you.
5. If you choose to reject that message, that is up to you, but one
thing is for certain—Jesus’ coming proves that God cares about
you, maybe even more than you care about yourself.
C. Jesus came to prove that God will help you.
1. Again, look at Jesus and you see God.
a. He came. He healed. He gave His life for many who will never
accept Him.
b. Everything that you see Jesus doing, that is God working to
help people.
2. Now, I know what some people are going to say.
a. God has never helped me. God has done a miracle for me.
b. You are so wrong.
(1) Every day you have lived, God is the One who gave you
life, breathe, and strength.
(2) Every job you ever worked, God made it possible.
(3) Every bite you have ever eaten, God provided it.
(4) Every person whoever loved you, God gave them to you.
c. Oh, but that isn’t good enough, is it?
(1) What you want is to win the lottery.
(2) Or maybe to be thin and pretty.
(3) Or maybe to find cute, sexy, and willing.
d. In other words, if God doesn’t help you with your lusts, you
just aren’t going to accept His help.
3. Wake up!
a. God is not going to help you with your lusts. Those things
would only take you further into misery.
b. God has given you things which are far more needed and
valuable!
(1) God has given a Savior for you so that you can fellowship
with Him.
(2) God has given you an opportunity to defeat the sin in
your life.
(3) God has offered you a new life to accomplish things
greater than you can imagine.
(4) And God has made it possible for you to live forever
with Him in heaven.
II. Jesus came to teach us some things.
A. Jesus came to teach us some things about sin.
1. Sin is disobeying what God says.
Luke 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
a. Jesus rebuked the people for doing the things He told them to
do.
b. Disobeying God IS sin.
2. Sin is destructive.
Matt 7:26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon
that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
a. A lot of people are familiar with that parable but what they
don’t understand is that Jesus didn’t come to teach
engineering.
b. That house is symbolic of life.
c. The message of that parable is that sin is destroying a lot of
lives.
3. Sin separates from God.
a. Jesus taught this truth many different times and in many
different ways.
b. Jesus talked about the separation between those who are His
and those who are not.
(1) Do you remember the rich man who died and the Bible
says of him?
Luke 16:23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments….
26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that
they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that
would come from thence.
(2) Jesus was teaching that there is a line of separation
between God and those who do not have Christ.
(3) sin places you on the side opposite from God for all
eternity.
(4) As a matter of fact, I believe that makes is a good
definition of what hell is.
(5) Hell is the absence of God and God’s mercy.
c. Then there are the two sides in this life.
John 8:44 Ye are of your father the devil….
(a) There are those who are of God and those who are of
the devil.
(b) That distinction is a birthright, a choice, and a
lifestyle.
4. Sin damns the soul.
a. This is a sad truth to be taught it but is better to be taught
it now while there is hope to change it than learn it when it
is too late to do anything about it.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten
Son of God.
b. And just in case you don’t understand what that condemnation
is about, Jesus taught that in plain, unimaginative terms.
Matthew 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me,
ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
5. Sin can be remedied through what Jesus has done for us.
John 10:10 … I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.
III. Jesus came to demonstrate some thing.
A. You know how you can something that is totally new to you and you don’t
know how to work it?
1. That is the way some of the things of God are.
2. He knew we would never be able to figure it out on our own so
Jesus came to demonstrate it.
B. Jesus came to demonstrate FORGIVENESS.
1. Matthew 9 has the story of the man who was sick of the palsy.
2. No doubt, Jesus would heal many like him while on the earth; but
this time, Jesus did it differently.
3. Instead of saying, "Rise up and walk," or "Stretch forth your
hand," He said, "Thy sins be forgiven thee."
4. Of course, that caused a great stir among the scribes and
Pharisees.
a. They considered the statement blasphemous.
b. They asked, "Who can forgive sins but God?"
5. Jesus more or less said, "Exactly."
a. That was the very point He was making.
b. So He said it again and then healed the man.
6. That is such a good story to demonstrate the deity of Christ that
we might not notice the simpler lessons.
a. Either a specific act on this man’s part or the general
sinfulness of mankind had caused this man to be afflicted with
a disease.
b. How do I know that? Because Jesus associated the disease with
forgiveness.
c. Jesus tells us that this man was being healed by being
forgiven.
7. A few quick lessons about forgiveness.
a. We don’t know what this man may have done wrong because Jesus
did not tell us. He just forgave him.
(1) That is how forgiveness is supposed to work.
(2) One does not brand the person with the mark of Cain before
he forgives.
(3) He just forgives.
b. Jesus forgiveness made this person as whole as if he had never
been sick.
(1) Again, that is how forgiveness works.
(2) It does not heal and leave a limp, or a crippled hand, or
even a scar.
(3) True forgiveness is total and complete.
c. This is how forgiveness works and Jesus came to teach us things
just like that.
C. Jesus came to demonstrate MERCY.
1. In John 8, a group of scribes and Pharisees brought a woman to
Jesus and charged her.
2. These men say that they caught her in the very act of adultery.
3. They want the woman stoned but Jesus makes one statement and then
goes to writing on the ground.
4. While He is writing on the ground, the Holy Spirit begins to
convict the hearts of the accusers so that they leave and when
Jesus looks up, it is just her and Him.
5. Here is where the mercy comes in.
a. Do you remember what Jesus said to her?
b. "Woman, where are thine accusers? Does no man condemn thee?"
c. Her answer was, "No one, Lord."
d. His response was, "Neither do I accuse thee. Go and sin no
more."
e. Jesus did not say, "I forgive you."
f. Jesus said, "I do not accuse you."
6. Mercy is when the charges aren’t forgiven. Mercy is when the
charges are erased!
a. I don’t know exactly how God deals with this in theological
terms.
b. We know that every sin must be paid for.
c. It is my basic understanding that before forgiveness can be
granted, it must be requested.
d. That is one reason I believe God requires that we CONFESS our
sins as 1John 1:9 commands.
e. I also believe that mercy and forgiveness work hand-in-hand.
f. When we ask to be forgiven, God grants not only the forgiveness
but also the mercy.
g. But here, the woman did not ask for forgiveness and the Bible
doesn’t say that Jesus forgave her.
h. It just says the accusations, which were obviously true, were
dropped!
7. I can say two things about this:
a. God can do what God wants to do and if God wants to give
someone mercy, He can!
b. I want some of that mercy too!
8. But Jesus isn’t just giving mercy. He is demonstrating it.
a. You and I need to drop some charges against everyone who asks
us for forgiveness.
b. There may be a few folk we need to drop charges against who
never even got around to asking for it.
D. Jesus came to demonstrate LOVE.
1. I will not spend much time on that.
2. I get the feeling that if you can not see how much He loves us
by what I have already said, nothing else I say will help you
see it.
IV. Jesus came to pay something for us.
A. That is the reason most of us would have named at the beginning of the
message.
1. It is by far the most important thing He did for us.
2. Without His payment on the cross of Calvary, it would not matter
how much we knew or could do.
B. But there are other reasons He came.
The question tonight is, "What can Jesus help you with?" Whatever you need, He
cares. Whatever you need, He can help.
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