Why Did Jesus Come? - Why? #7

Why Did Jesus Come?

Luke 2:8-14
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

Three Mysteries (concerning Jesus)

• The Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Resurrection
  • Our faith must include these three mysteries.
  • They are difficult to understand.
  • They are not unintelligible—God understands them.
• But for us there is an element of mystery.
  • I Corinthians 4:1 "… servants of Jesus Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God."
• The greatest error anyone can make is to think they can fully understand these three mysteries.

He became like us that He might make us like Him.

• "The best way to send an idea, is to wrap it up in a person."~ scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer
• Incarnation, meaning "in the flesh."
  • Jesus was the way that God sent His "idea" to humanity; there was and is no better way!
• One of the early church fathers whose name was Ignatius explained that "by the Incarnation, God broke His silence."
• John 1:14 And the Word was made 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.
• Christmas is all about the Christ.
  • Cultural confusion or denial?

Why Did Jesus Come?

• Incarnation
  • God becoming human; the union of divinity and humanity in Jesus of Nazareth.
• John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
• Christ's incarnation brought the infinite God within reach of finite men.
• "He who never began to be, but eternally existed, and who continued to be what he eternally was, began to be what he eternally was not."

Incarnation

• <Latin> incarnatio = being or taking flesh
• A biblical idea, but not a biblical term.
• Derived from the Latin version of John 1:14
  • "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."
• The affirmation that God, in one of the modes of His existence as Trinity and without in any way ceasing to be the one God, has revealed Himself to humanity for its salvation by becoming human.
• Jesus, the Man from Nazareth, is the incarnate Word, the Son of God.
  • As the God-Man, He mediates God to humans
  • As the Man-God, He represents humans to God.
• By faith-union with Him, men and women, as adopted children of God, participate in His filial relation to God as Father.

The Purpose of the Incarnation

• Matthew 1:21 "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."
• Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
• John 3:17 "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved."
• I Timothy 1:15 "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

The Humanity of Jesus

• During His earthly ministry, Jesus displayed common physiological needs:
  • He experienced fatigue John 4:6
  • His body required sleep Matt. 8:24, food Matt. 4:2; 21:18, and water John 19:28
  • Human emotional characteristics accompanied the physical ones: Jesus expressed joy John 15:11 and sorrow Matt. 26:37; He showed compassion Matt. 9:36 and love John11:5; and He was moved to righteous indignation Mark 3:5.
• Acts 2:22 – Peter, in his sermon at Pentecost, declared that Jesus is "a man approved of God among you...".
• The respective genealogies of Jesus serve as testimonies to His natural human descent
  • Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-37

The Deity of Jesus

• Colossians 1:19 "For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell"
• John 10:30 "I and My Father are one."
• Scriptures affirm the preexistence of Jesus:
• John 1:1-2 "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God"
• Philippians 2:5-11
• With the "I am" sayings, He equated Himself with the God who appeared to Moses in the burning bush of Exodus 3:14.
• John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven."
• John 10:7 "I am the door of the sheep."
• John 10:11 "I am the good shepherd"
• John 11:25 "I am the resurrection and the life"
• John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life"
• John 15:1 "I am the true vine"
• John 8:58 "Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM."

In Jesus divine omnipotence
moved in a human arm;
In Jesus divine wisdom
was cradled in a human brain;
In Jesus divine love
throbbed in a human heart;
In Jesus divine compassion
glistened in a human eye;
In Jesus divine grace
poured forth in human lips.