The Truth

You are driving down the highway when you encounter a sign that reads, “Dangerous Curve Ahead.” Immediately you are confronted with making a choice. One, you can observe the warning and slow down. Two, you can ignore the warning and maintain your rate of speed. Or, three, you can defy the warning and speed up. Whatever response you exercise, you will not change the truth of the sign. The curve remains dangerous, regardless of whether you acknowledge the fact or not

Jesus puts on skin on and comes to Earth- and one of the fundamental questions we have to ask ourselves is, why? Why did Jesus come to Earth anyway?

To save us from our sins

Jesus puts on skin on iand comes to Earth- and one of the fundamental questions we have to ask ourselves is, why? Why did Jesus come to Earth anyway?

To make us children of God.

he came because of God's love 2: He came that we might become the children of God.

That the law would be fulfilled and we as mankind would have the only way of being reconciled with God through the entirety of His death and resurrection.

Marcus Harden To bring people on earth to Him.

Craig Alan Myers "The Son of Man has come to seek and to save the lost."

Bethany Reedy to bring hope to a dying world by providing the source of eternal life

Well, let’s ask Jesus, because Jesus gives us a direct answer to this question. Today I want to look at 4 passages of Scripture when Jesus said a reason he came to Earth. These are going to be in quick survey form, we are going to cast the net wide and not necessarily go too deep into any of these passages. Before we dive into these 4 texts, let me say that these are certainly not all of the passages that tell us a reason Christ came to Earth. In fact, I found over 35 passages that reveal answers to this question, but I figured 35 passages in one sermon was a little much so these are the four that the Holy Spirit drew me into this week.

Jesus Came to bear witness to the Truth- John 18:37

English Standard Version Chapter 18

37 Then Pilate said to him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Jesus, staring in the face of death, tells Pilate that the reason he came to Earth was to bear witness to the truth.

Now, the word truth can be a tricky term. After all, in the times that we live truth has almost become relative. We have given license of people to pick their own truth, and we have no right (in their eyes) to question their truth. But that is not what Jesus says at any point in the Bible.

Truth is not debatable; and all truth is found in the person of Jesus; we do not choose whether the Gospel message is true or not, we only choose our response to it.

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching Truth, Response To

Truth is

All truth is found in the person of Jesus

Jesus came so that we might be aware of the truth that is around us.

Truth never changes. The teachings of Jesus are just as relevant and true today as they were 2000 years ago when he preached them. The people in this world that say “Well, we know more now.” Or “There have been new revelation of Truth” are in a for a big surprise- because the truth of Christ does not change. Watch this:

Play a C chord..... This has always been C and it alway will be C- it will never change. You can be as tone deaf as you want to be. You can sing sharp or flat- but your lack of tone will never change C. The same is true with God. The world changing their minds on morals and ethics will never change the fact that this is God’s Word- it will always be God’s Word, and my God never changes!

Jesus came to serve us and give his life for us- 0:45

English Standard Version Chapter 10

For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

These are the words of Jesus in response to a request from James and John, the sons of Zebedee. James and John are quite proud of themselves for all they have given up, and all that they have done for Jesus. They are really thinking that they deserve something special, so they ask Jesus if they can sit directly on his right side and left side in heaven- a bold ask for sure. And Jesus’ response in not one of special treatment, but one of humility and servanthood.

Man, what a good God we serve. Think about how powerful this one statement of Jesus is. GOD eternal, all powerful, holy, perfect GOD comes to Earth- not to rule over us, not to punish us, not to manipulate us or demand our unwavering allegiance- those are things human kings do- but our God came to serve us and give his life for us.

Imagine for a moment that you killed a man- maybe it was an accident, maybe it was on purpose- but you did it, and you were sentenced to the electric chair- and just as you are sitting down in the chair for your punishment the President of the USA Donald Trump himself- arguably the most powerful man in the world comes in, stands you up, and says “Ill do this for him...” That is nothing compared to the Savior of this world doing it for you.

Jesus came because he saw that sin had us all held captive, and the punishment was death, and he said I will- I will pay and get those who belong to me BACK.

Jesus came to call sinners to Repentance- Mark 2:17

English Standard Version Chapter 2

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Well, here’s another piece of news for you Christians- Jesus did not just come for you! Don’t get it twisted; Jesus came for sinners, not for the righteous. We can get this so backwards. Thinking that once you are righteous you can then get Jesus- NOPE. Quite the contrary, Jesus sa

Jesus came to give us life to the full- John 10:10

English Standard Version Chapter 10

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11

This verse is found in Jesus’ Good Shepherd discourse in . Jesus is explaining to his Disciples how he is not like Satan, who comes to harm, steal, and ultimately kill those who are of God, but he is like a good shepherd that cares for his sheep- he loves them, cares for them, and ultimately gives them the best life possible.

Maybe you have heard the story about a guide on a tour bus that traveled through Israel’s countryside had the crowd engaged as he explained the history, the scenery and the lifestyle. In his description, he included a heart-warming portrayal of the ancient shepherd/sheep relationship. He told of how the shepherd builds a relationship with his sheep, how he feeds them and gently cares for them. He pointed out that the shepherd doesn’t drive the sheep but leads them, and that the shepherd does not need to be harsh with them, because they hear his voice and follow.

Suddenly the guide realized he had lost his audience. They all were staring out the window at a guy chasing a flock of sheep. He was throwing sticks and rocks at them, whacking them with sticks and even siccing the sheep dog on them. The sheep-chasing man really took away from the image the guide had just painted.

The guide overcome by emotion jumped off the bus and confronted the man, "Do you realize what you have done to me?" he asked. "I was spinning a charming story about the gentle ways of shepherds and here you are mistreating, hazing and assaulting these sheep. What’s going on?"

A bewildered look froze upon the face of the sheep-chaser. Then he finally said, "Man, you’ve got it all wrong. I’m not a shepherd. I’m a butcher."

This poor unwitting fellow provides a tremendous illustration of what a shepherd is not.

But here’s the bottom line, friends- Jesus came for life NOW not just life LATER. He reminds us in this statement that Jesus came not to just defeat sin- as in the things we do wrong, the normal way that we think about sin, but that he came to defeat sin as in anything that separates us from God or anything that impairs us from living God’s best. So, depression, anxiety, sickness, fear, envy, hatred- all of those things, Jesus says I came so that you can be rid of those things too.

Jesus Came to bring Judgement- John 9:39

English Standard Version Chapter 9

For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”

This is certainly not the most popular Scripture on our list-it comes to us from Jesus’ teaching after healing a man born blind- a Scripture we just studied a few weeks ago.

Jesus comes to bring judgement, does not give us warm fuzzy feelings- right? But just because it does not make us feel good does not mean it is not true.

Jesus came to be the bar setter- the standard- the example. Once Jesus shows up and lives this perfect life that we read about, no sin, no disobeying, nothing evil in him at all- God basically looks at all of us and says there is the standard, you cannot hit it- so you need redemption.

So here’s the thing, church, in order for their to be salvation there has to be a standard, and if there is a standard set there is consequently some that will not meet the standard. Even if the only reason they will not meet the standard is only by their own choice