Why Did Christ Come?

Look Busy, Jesus is Coming.

This morning is the 4th Sunday of Advent. The last 4 weeks have been spent preparing our homes, our churches, communities, and our lives for the celebration of the birth of Christ. With just a few more shopping days left, to decorate the tree, to do some last minute Christmas preparations, let’s take some time this morning to remember why Christ Came, and that we celebrate his birth in eager anticipation of his second coming.

To fully wrestle with this question we must ask it in multiple ways. First the big picture question, Why did Christ, God in human flesh, come into the world he created? Second, on the personal level, Why did Christ come into your life? Finally in anticipation of Christ’s Second coming how should we live in response? Bumper sticker

As we wrestle with these questions may we grow deeper in the understanding of the work of Christmas in the world around us, and in our lives. May we leave here empowered through the Holy Spirit to continue the work of Christmas until Christ comes again.

To Do God’s Will!

Hebrews is a long sermon addressed to the Hebrews, the children of Abraham. It’s towards the end of this sermon that the preacher tackles the questions, Why Christ came? What God wants? What is God’s will?

What God Wants

Sacrificial system was a yearly reminder of their sin. It reminded the people year after year how they failed to live obediently to God.

God didn’t want sacrifices, but they were required, what he has wanted since the fall of man was obedience. 1 Samuel 15:22

Why Christ Came!

To do what we, and the blood of bulls and goats couldn’t do.

To perfectly do the will of God.

Jesus teaches us to pray your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus even prays in the garden on the way to the cross not my will but yours be done. Jesus was obedient to do God’s will even to the point of Death.

Christ came to do the will of God the father and because he was obedient even to the point of death he was the perfect sacrifice once and for all. That through this one sacrifice God has forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

What is God’s will?

Hebrews 10:10 NLT

10 For God’s will was for us to be made holy by the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ, once for all time.

God’s will is for us to be made holy. Through Christ we can follow in his footsteps. To live obediently to the will of God in our lives. To allow the work of Christmas to continue to transform us. It is through Christ that we can present our lives as a living sacrifice acceptable to God.

-Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1–2 NRSV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

God’s will is the work of Christmas in and through our lives.

Christ, God in human flesh, came to do the will of God. The will of God for Christ was to offer himself as a final perfect sacrifice for the whole world. That by the sacrifice of Christ we may be made holy.

Hebrews 10:14 NLT

14 For by that one offering he forever made perfect those who are being made holy.

God wants obedience more than sacrifice. A holy life is a life lived in obedience to God’s will even if it requires us to lay down our lives. The work of Christmas is why Christ came into the world he created, it is why he came into your life. God’s sanctifying work goes on in you through the work of the Holy Spirit. God’s work goes on through you through the work of the Holy Spirit. The work of God to redeem all creation to himself isn’t done until Christ returns.Romans 8:20-23 This is why Christ came. This is the work of Christmas.

The Work of Christmas

When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the nations, to bring peace among the people, to make music in the heart.