I encourage you to watch The Nativity Story with your family or friends. Then, after the movie, you can share the good news of salvation to them. Again, God gave us an open door to share the Gospel at Hollywood ’s expense!
Let me share with you the real score behind the nativity. Romans 5:6-10 gives us the reasons why Jesus came. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”[1]
First, His coming is the PLAN of God. Verse six says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Note the words, “at just the right time.” The Message goes like this, “Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.” His coming was God’s plan from eternity. He was right on schedule.
Who among you here are parents? When you child was born, were you thinking of your child’s death? Of course, not! You were thinking of how you child would live, not how he would die. But Jesus came to die. The Bible says, “Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose.”[2]
But some people ask, “Wasn’t His death Plan B rather than Plan A?” They thought the situation got out of hand when the first couple sinned. So, they end up saying that God had to devise a Plan B, that is, Jesus had to die for man’s sin. The world could not simply accept that Christ’s death on the cross was God’s Plan A.
Yet this is what the Bible says, “For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors... it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake.”[3] Note that God chose Jesus before and not after the creation of the world. That’s even before man sinned. Clearly it was God’s plan all along.
God even predicted the way Christ would die. Psalm 22 has a lot of prophecies about Him. In verse one it predicted that He would cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It also described in verse 18 what the soldiers would do with Christ’s clothing: “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” What is interesting is that in verse 16 it also foretold that Christ would die by crucifixion: “they have pierced my hands and my feet.” Don’t forget that the death penalty for the Jews was stoning and not crucifixion. So it was not a lucky guess. And talking about the crucifixion, God arranged history to make sure that Jesus would die as prophesied. He made sure the Roman Empire was in power when Jesus came. What was the death penalty imposed by the Romans? It was death by crucifixion. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son.”[4] This assures me that God is in control not only of history but also of our lives. That’s why it’s wise to give our lives to Him. So, His coming is the plan of God.
Second, His coming is the PROOF of God’s love. Verses 7-8 say, “We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”[5] God proved how much He loves us by sending His Son to us. Of course the US Secret Service or the Presidential Security Group of Malacañang will bite a bullet for the president. That’s their duty. But we have not heard of anyone sacrificing his life for a rapist or a murderer who is facing the death penalty.
Note how Paul described us in our passage: “powerless… ungodly… sinners… God’s enemies…” The word “powerless” means “helpless,”[6] “sickly,”[7] “weak”[8] or “without strength.”[9] It shows that “we were incapable of working out any righteousness for ourselves.”[10] The word “ungodly” means “evil-doer,”[11] “sinful”[12] or “wicked.”[13] It points to a person who deserves to be condemned. Paul combined the words “powerless” and “ungodly” in verse six. It shows that on our own we are helpless and hopeless.
The word “sinners” shows “The contrast... between the tremendous worth of the life laid down and the unworthiness of those who stand to benefit from it.”[14] Second Corinthians 5:21 says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In other words, “God put the wrong on [Christ] who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.”[15] First Peter 3:18 also says, “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.” In short, we are unworthy.
The phrase “God’s enemies” can also mean “haters of God.”[16] It means that people “set themselves against God and His purposes.”[17] In other words, not only that we can’t, we won’t obey God also. Thus, we are rebellious.
But God showed the depth of His love for us that, despite the fact that we are sinners, powerless, ungodly and His enemies, Christ died for us. So His coming is the proof of God’s love.
Third, His coming is the PROVISION for our salvation. We can make all the plans. But we know that in the end we cannot really make it all happen. We plan for the future but we are not even sure if we can make it beyond today. But God not only plans, He also provides. He made the plan of our salvation and He made it happen. He sent our Lord Jesus as the provision for our salvation.
Verse six says, “Christ died for the ungodly.” Now just in case you are wondering if we are included among the ungodly, verse eight says “Christ died for us.” That’s you and me. Christ is our SUBSTITUTION. He died in our place. We often hear that we are the ones who were supposed to be on the cross. But, even if we are nailed on the cross to die for our sins, our death will never be enough to pay for it. Psalm 49:7-8 says, “You cannot buy back your life or pay off God! It costs far too much to buy back your life. You can never pay God enough”.[18] Our Savior is the only worthy payment for our sins.
Verse nine says “we have now been justified by his blood”. Christ is our JUSTIFICATION. God already declared us “not guilty!” We are no longer condemned or convicted. That’s why Romans 8:1 says, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”. We are also assured in John 3:17-18 that “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.”
Verse nine continues: “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!” Christ is our PROPITIATION. That means God is no longer angry with us. His wrath for our sins is already appeased. When judgment day comes, we will no longer face His anger but we will receive mercy.
Then verse 10 goes on to say that “we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son”. Christ is our RECONCILIATION. We are no longer considered God’s enemies but His friends, and not just friends but also His children. “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God”.[19] We were reunited with God.
Verse 10 continues, “For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” Christ is our PRESERVATION. We are secure in our relationship with Him. Why? He rose from the dead on the third day. We accepted Jesus the living Savior, not a dead one. This is what the song says, “Because He lives I can face tomorrow.” Hebrews 7:25 says, “Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” God provided not only for our past, not only for our present but even also for our future.
Brethren, His coming is the plan of God, the proof of His love and the provision for our salvation. Those are the reasons why Jesus came, the reasons for this season. Let us share this Good News to our loved ones, friends and relatives.
Let us pray...
[1]All Bible verses are from the New International Version unless otherwise noted.
[2]Good News Bible (GNB).
[3]1 Peter 1:18a, 19-20, Ibid.
[4]GNB.
[5]The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language (The Message).
[6]GNB
[7]Expositor’s Bible Commentary – New Testament (ECBNT).
[8]Ibid.
[9]King James Version.
[10]Thomas Constable, “Notes on Romans (2000 Edition).”
[11]Bible in Basic English (BBE).
[12]Contemporary English Version (CEV).
[13]GNB.
[14]ECBNT.
[15]The Message.
[16]BBE.
[17]Constable.
[18]CEV.
[19]John 1:12.
