Anticipating Messiah -- His Purpose Series

4th Sunday of Advent

“The PURPOSE of Messiah”

Why did He come down?

INTRODUCTION

This year we have revisited the Christmas story by focusing on the prophecies concerning the coming Messiah available to Jews and Gentiles hundreds of years before His coming.

The prophecies revealed his person, practice, passion, purpose as well as the period and place of His birth.

So far we have covered His Person, Practice and Passion.

THE PERSON OF MESSIAH – Who will He be?

THE PRACTICE OF MESSIAH – What Will He do?

THE PASSION OF MESSIAH – How will He help us?

Today we will focus on the PURPOSE of His coming.

THE PURPOSE OF MESSIAH - Why did He come to earth?

Why did Jesus have to take on flesh and come down to earth?

There are many reasons why He came down to earth but we will focus on those purposes directly stated by Scriptures.

Each purpose relates to a desperate need of mankind.

Each purpose calls for a specific response.

I.HE CAME TO REPRESENT THE FATHER TO US

Since the eternal Son of God did not come into existence at Bethlehem we find no birth narrative.

John wrote to convince all people of the divine eternal nature of Christ.

John goes all the way back to the beginning.

In 18 short verses John laid out 10 foundational facts regarding Christ.

•Jesus has always existed.

•Jesus has always enjoyed close association with the Father

•Jesus possessed all the attributes of Deity. (was GOD)

•Jesus is the only source of genuine life and light

•Jesus is the creator of the world

•Those who respond with saving faith become sons of the living God

•Jesus took on human flesh

•Jesus manifested the attributes and glory of the father even in the flesh and was full of grace and truth.

•The realization of grace and truth comes through Jesus

•Jesus came to explain the Father.

Verse 18 is the focus of our attention today.

We could not relate to God or understand His true nature.

Jesus came to represent God in an understandable way.

No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.

Jesus came to more fully represent the Father’s nature to us.

The word means to explain, to expound, to introduce, or reveal.

Jesus knows the Father intimately.

They have coexisted from eternity.

No human has ever seen the Father; only manifestations and frightening ones at that.

So Jesus came to explain the Father in such a way that would not otherwise be possible.

How does the infinite relate to the finite?

How does the unlimited become comprehensible to the limited?

Jesus came to bring enlightenment concerning the Father both by His Words and by His life.

Scripture is abundantly clear on the family resemblance.

He is the image of the invisible God, Col 1:15

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Heb 1:3

Jesus came to explain the Father in terms that we could actually understand.

When we look at Jesus we see the Father.

Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us." Jesus answered: "Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, `Show us the Father’? John 14:9

In Jesus we see God’s love, compassion, mercy, kindness, grace, and faithfulness as well as His power, wisdom and life.

Jesus came to represent the nature of God in such a way that we could understand and more fully embrace him as our Heavenly Father.

Response? Get to know Him and You will know the Father.

The eternal God chose to reveal Himself through the person of Jesus Christ.

II.HE CAME TO REVEAL TRUTH

Man was completely ignorant of eternal reality.

We were unable to discern the basic questions of life.

For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Romans 1:21-23