Why did Jesus Come?
It had to have been a very difficult thing for Jesus to leave his world in heaven, which must be a marvelous place, and come to the earth which he created and live as a human being. One has to ask, why he did it? I am going to offer below for your consideration three reasons.
1. God’s creation and especially God’s human creation was not making the progress that God felt it should. People were not being as creative as they were created to be. Other than in the Roman Empire where the economy was driven by slavery and the plundering and pillaging of their magnificent army, the standard of living around the world was low and not improving. The major inventions that had to happen in order for the world to rise above the problems which were being created by an ever increasing population, the spread of disease and the motivations of greed and power were not even close. Progress in farming was almost nonexistent. The Hebrew nation, which God had hoped would provide leadership for the rest of the world had failed and only continued to exist as a temple community.
In order to better understand the problem, God decided to take a closer look. God wanted to experience life as we do; to see what we see; hear what we hear; feel what we feel and experience the joys of progress, acceptance and success as well as the agony of rejection. God wanted to experience life from a human perspective. It was not God’s intent then or now to run the world. That is what human beings were created to do, but God was very interested that humans would succeed and make the world go forward. Jesus wanted to experience what humans experience so as to better determine just why they were not getting the job done.
2. Jesus came to introduce to the people to The Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God. One thing that God needed was a more efficient method of communicating with human beings. Speaking to the people through the prophets as God had attempted to do in the Old Testament had not worked well, mainly because the prophets had their own language and their own religious perspectives. It proved to be impossible for God to break through their religious dogma and their historical jargon. The Hebrew people came to see God as the source of all happenings, be they good or bad, and they blamed God for all tragedies and set backs, which of course was inappropriate and counter productive.
The Kingdom of God which Jesus came preaching (Mark 1:14) offered hope, self reliance, and the opportunity to live a better, more productive life through the leadership and support of The Holy Spirit. Those who were born into this kingdom could live higher and produce more from that day forward. The Holy Spirit would know each individual, the problems they faced and the types of things they could do move their life forward.
3. Another reason for which Jesus came was to rid the world of the highly sophisticated, very motivational but irrelevant and destructive sacrificial system utilized by the Hebrew people. This system had been created by human beings for the benefit of human beings and it needed to be removed. Time and again God had tried to speak through the Hebrew Prophets to tell the people that the sacrificial system had no value (Micah 6:6-8, Isaiah 1:10-11) but they would not hear the words. The system continued. It was only the human sacrifice of Jesus, The Man without sin, God in the Flesh, that could create the change.
It is fair to say that the overall reason Jesus came to walk with human beings in this world was to make our world better. God was willing to get involved and help the people of the world to turn things around. The challenge was, how? The world that God has made runs on a cause and effect operating system. It is a good system. It works, and it would neither be in God’s best interest nor the interest of society for God to break into this marvelous system, at least not so much that people would begin to doubt the system and depend more on God than gravity, or good nutrition or gun powder or love or even in common sense. God does not want to assume the responsibility for things we are supposed to accomplish. But Jesus came to help, and he brought with him The Holy Spirit.
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1 comment:
Jesus came to become true man, not as a demonstration but to fulfill the requirements for redemption. If he had come as GOD he could not have paid the price. The price for sin had to be paid by an absolutely pure lamb of God. A man.
I find that most people have not come to grips with the reality of Jesus as true man. Oh, we say it in our creeds but we have this elevated view of him which denies his humanity and the purity of life he led.
I try to shock people into reality by asking some Socratic questions to lead them to the recognition of his humanity:
Did everyone around Jesus from his behavior and demeanor see him as the Christ?
NO. Not even his brothers and sisters saw him that way. Certainly the Pharisees didn't. Even the Disciples weren't sure. His Cousin John didn't know. The people in Nazareth tried to kill him when the suggestions was made. So, he must have walked and lived among them as a man in every way.
Did Jesus eat and drink like every other man?
YES. He was even accused of being a glutton and a bibber of wine. He liked to eat and drink. Like any man.
If Jesus ate and drank did he as a man have bodily functions?
YES. Now it gets hairy. Jesus Pooped. and He peed. And, if he ever ate beans which I'm betting he did, well you know what beans do to you.
When he was a baby Jesus dirtied diapers. Mary had to change him. He was fully man.
Did Jesus have emotions?
YES. He wept. He Laughed. He was angry. He took offense. We must get past the idea that Jesus was some emotionless automiton on the earth wandering around. He was a real man with real emotions yet he didn't sin.
Was Jesus ever lustful or tempted?
DEPENDS. If the question is did he ever have considerations of things in his mind for a brief second then he has to have been tempted. Otherwise we have to tear the page out of the Bible where it says, "He was tempted in all ways even as we are". When Satan tempted him to turn stones into loaves of bread he had to of thought, "I could do that". But didn't. As a teenager with human hormones running thru his body he must have looked at a girl with some brief appreciation. That could be interpreted as temptation. The verse I cite goes on to say "He was tempted in all ways even as we are yet without sin".
Without this sinless life in full exposure to sin his sacrifice on the cross would have been meaningless. Thousands of Jews died on crosses during that time at the hands of the romans. Only Jesus life and sacrificial death was enough to pay the full price for all the sins, past present and future of everyone on the earth who recognizes and embraces Him as Lord.
That my good friend is the real and elaborated reason he came. The three you give are good subheadings and may even be true but to come and live a fully human sinless life as a full payment for sin is the only core reason he came.
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