Human For Me
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God wanted to be like you to save you from you.
Me
Me
There are two times in the year when the world focuses in on Christianity. Easter and Christmas. Just about everywhere in the United States these two holidays are celebrated. Every year, I was apart of a massive Christmas Cantata. We performed it twice so that everyone could see and hear it. The play was 3 hours long. It had two choirs. One orchestra, live animals, and two sets of actors. It was a production.
It was fun, exhausting, and uplifting.
But there’s one question that Christmas program didn’t answer. Why?
Why did the God of the Old Testament come to Earth as a human?
We know that He did, but why do it exactly the way that the Bible tells us He did.
We
We
The answer that we often hear isn’t wrong, its just not that simple. The Bible story covers thousands of years focusing in on the family of humanity.
Its a story of God’s great love for a disobedient and untrustworthy people. Yet God’s love still persists. Throughout the Old Testament, God through many different ways is trying to restore our relationship with Him.
Think of a husband and a wife. The wife hurts the husband through adultery. The husband should walk away and go find a more trusting and loyal wife. But instead because of the husband’s great love He keeps seeking after his disloyal wife.
In the midst of these choices, mankind tries its best to become like God.
The serpent’s first lie was about being God-like.
The tower of babel was to reach God’s level.
Pharaohs and Kings are described as Gods.
The constant search for eternal life is a search to be a God.
Various religions all over the world proclaim that you and me can become a God.
But there is only one religion or belief system that says God wanted to become like us. He wanted to become like us, so He could save us, from us.
The choices of God’s people (the wife) will eventually destroy them, and God loves them too much to let that happen so in comes the story of Christmas.
God
God
Why did God come to earth as a human? To save humanity. Save humanity from what? Most would say sin.
Okay, what is sin? Is it a list of actions we shouldn’t do? Is it only what is described in the 10 commandments?
What is sin that has destroyed humanity and wounded the universe?
20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We come to understand sin, by understanding the law
4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
1 John
Romans
According to Paul and John, sin is when we live a life without any concern of the law. When you do things that place ourselves ahead of others no matter the outcome.
Sin is lawlessness. But Love is lawfulness. If sin is the transgression of the law, then love is the fulfillment of the law.
So here is the reason Jesus came to earth as a human.
God couldn’t destroy sin without also destroying us. Because sin isn’t just mere actions we do, but sin has become who we are.
What I mean by that is at the end of the day, we will always be free to choose what we wish to do. In most of the stories in history and in the Bible, we find people time and time again choosing sin and evil over love and goodness.
From Cain to Joseph’s brothers to Saul and Judas.
God realized that when we are left to our own choices and our own ways we choose evil.
If God can’t force us to be good, how will He destroy sin, if all of His people have absorbed evil itself?
God doesn’t seek to destroy sin, He seeks to transform sin.
So God sends Jesus. The embodiment of love.
This is why in the Old Testament as well as Jesus speak on having a new heart.
3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
Its not enough to abstain from evil deeds or to do good things. There must be a transformation of your heart.
But what example would we have? Everyone we know has done evil.
That’s why Jesus came to earth. So that we could see what a life filled with love would look like.
Jesus became human for me. He became human for you. Jesus was willing to leave the one place you want to be most. He came to the place you hate most. Because Jesus loves you more than His own existence.
Jesus came to the earth so that He could destroy sin but still preserve humans. The only way that could be done was by the cross and the life he lived before the cross.
You
You
But what can I do with all that information? What benefit do I have knowing that Jesus simply didn’t want to destroy sin, but to transform sin?
Because it is also not enough to simply know life changing facts. The next steps are to apply the information to your life and to the lives of others.
In order to do that we need to answer a question:
Who is Jesus to you?
Is He a Friend?
Comforter?
Provider?
Your Hope?
Savior?
Forgiveness?
Who is Jesus to you?
Now you can take a little portion of who Jesus is to you and be that to someone else.
Has Jesus given you comfort when there you had every reason to doubt?
Share that experience with someone else.
Has Jesus provided for you when you were empty and knew no where to turn?
Become the provider someone else needs.
Has Jesus given you forgiveness?
Offer forgiveness to those who need mercy.
We
We
Because when we behold Jesus.
When we come to know who He is, who He truly is, our hearts become changed.
We change from being ruthless and selfish to being people of mercy and love.
We change from people who hate the world to people who offer forgiveness.
6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
Lets behold Jesus all parts of the year, not just in December.