THE REASON FOR HIS COMING

The Purpose of His Coming

One question about Christ’s first advent needs a response: What did Jesus come to earth to do?

Sin is humanity’s biggest problem, and Jesus came to solve that problem.

“You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin”

1 John 3:5 (NLT) — 5 And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

John 1:14 (NKJV) — 14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

In His life Jesus modeled perfect obedience to God, and in His death He atoned for humankind’s sin.

The result of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection is that God makes sinners holy when they trust Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Jesus’ arrival on planet Earth was a declaration of war on Satan.

1 John 3:8 (NLT) — 8 But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.

This verse emphasizes the reality of Satan and his opposition to God and God’s people. We must not underestimate the hostility and deceitfulness of the enemy of our souls. Jesus certainly did not.

The word “destroy” in 1 John 3:8 points to the power of God’s Son. To “destroy” means to dissolve the bonds that hold things together.

Christ’s coming to earth was an expression of God’s love.

How do we know that God loves sinners? “By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:9–10 NASB).

1 John 4:9–10 (NLT) — 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

God initiated the relationship (He sent His Son).

God gave His best (His only begotten Son).

God met our deepest needs. (We can live through Him, who is the propitiation for our sins. Propitiation means satisfying God’s holy wrath against sin.)

When we don’t feel that God loves us, we need to look at objective truth. God reached out to us by sending the Son He loves, and the Son died for our sins and rose to give us an eternal relationship with God. Is Jesus your Savior?

Jesus was born that He might be King.

“When you hear the bells ringing out at Christmas, think of the reason why Jesus was born. Dream not that He came to load your tables and fill your cups, but in your mirth look higher than all earth-born things. When you hear that in certain churches there are pompous celebrations and ecclesiastical displays, think not for this purpose was Jesus born. No, but look within your hearts, and say, for this purpose was He born: that He might be a King, that He might rule through the truth in the souls of a people who are by grace made to love the truth of God. “ - CHARLES SPURGEON (1834–1892)*

* C. H. Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, vol. 18 (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1872), 701.

Elliot Ritzema, ed., 300 Quotations and Prayers for Christmas, Pastorum Series (Lexham Press, 2013).