Here are His answers:
To fulfill prophecies:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17, 18)
Not to call the righteous, but sinners.
Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. But go and learn what this means: `I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Matthew 9:12,13)
To seek and to save what was lost.
Jesus said, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10)
To judge:
Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world” (John 9:39)
To be our light in a dark world:
Jesus said, “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:46)
To save the world:
“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only son.” (John 3:17-18)
For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. (John 12: 47)
His primary purpose: That we may have life to the full.
Jesus said, “I have come that they (us) may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
So that we might believe God and have eternal life:
Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24)
To give us THE TRUTH – truth we can trust:
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Let’s examine other scripture references that talk about why Jesus came to earth.
To tie the past to the future, to live in hope, to make known to us the path of life:
For David says of him:
‘I saw the Lord always before me,
with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
Therefore my heart has been glad and my tongue has exulted;
my flesh, too, will dwell in hope,
because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world,
nor will you suffer your holy one to see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence.‘ (Acts 2:25-28)
To give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins:
“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
for he has visited and brought redemption to his people.
He has raised up a horn for our salvation
within the house of David his servant,
even as he promised through the mouth of his holy
prophets of old:
salvation from our enemies and from the hand
of all who hate us,
to show mercy to our fathers
and to be mindful of hisholy covenant
and of the oath he swore to Abraham our father,
and to grant us that,
rescued from the hand of his enemies,
without fear we might worship him
in holiness and righteousness
before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called prophet of the Most High,
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give his people knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God
by which the daybreak from on high will visit us
to shine on those who sit in darkness and death’s shadow,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.” (Luke 1: 68-79)
To be a model, an example for us.
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (John 13:5)
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. (I Peter 2:21)
To demonstrate His love for us:
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
To pay the atoning penalty for our sins and redeem us.
He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:2)
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished– he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:24-26)
To die as a sacrifice, as our “Passover Lamb;” To take away the sins of the world:
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”(John 1:29)
Christ, our Passover lamb has been sacrificed.(1 Cor. 5:7)
That we might have peace with God:
Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. (Romans 5:2)
To fill us with joy and peace:
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans15: 13)
May the peace of Christ be with you!
*for the January/February 2008 issue
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