Why Christ Came
Luke 19:10
December 24, 2015
Have you ever had a neighbor who really lights up the street with their display? Sometimes we compete with our neighbors about who has the best lights around. Well there’s a family in Australia who lights up the neighborhood. They have the Guiness World Record for the number of lights. I can’t imagine counting them, but they have 1,194,380 million lights.
But is that all there is to Christmas? Some of you are here because you wouldn’t be anywhere else on Christmas Eve, some of you are here because you have no choice . . . If you want dinner and presents tomorrow, then you have to be here. Many of us would say we know who Jesus is, but to do we really understand why He came.
So, I’m going to answer the question, — Why did Christ come to the earth?
You see, it’s not enough to know who Jesus is. Most of the world knows what Christians believe about Jesus. I think the world still wants to know and maybe we need to be reminded — Why did Jesus come and what difference does it make?
People have many different thoughts and opinions about why Jesus came. There are all kinds of theories . . .
. . . but we need to look to God’s word and to the words of Jesus, Himself. In the gospel of Luke there’s a popular story that was made into a song. It’s the story about Jesus encountering a thief who was the chief tax collector. He was a sinful man named Zaccheus.
After visiting with Jesus, Zaccheus was a changed man - - and Jesus said this - - - 9“Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.” That’s great news for Zaccheus and his family.
Then Jesus made this statement about Himself - - - from Luke 19:10 ~
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.
It’s really a simple statement, yet it’s so rich and deep and profound. Think about this - - - The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost!
That’s it!! That’s the Gospel message, that’s the reason Jesus came.
We have the most amazing and powerful historical fact. “The Son of Man came.”
Jesus has come! The Almighty entered our world, the infinite became finite! The eternal invaded time. It’s the Incarnation – God in human flesh. Immanuel – God with us. He is Jesus - One who saves.
His birth differs from every other birth in history. He voluntarily came in obedience to the Father’s will. That’s not true of you and I. We were born, but we had no choice in the matter. I had no say in it. I am here by the choices made by my parents. But Jesus “came” according to the plan of God.
Paul tells us in Galatians 4:4 ~ “When the time had fully come, God sent forth His Son.” Every detail was 100% perfectly planned. Nothing happened by chance.
He came from the light into the darkness.
He came from perfection into weakness.
He came from purity into a world of sin.
But still He came! God himself entered the human race in the form of a tiny baby. He is the Son of Man because He was first the Son of God.
And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and dwelt (lived) among us” (John 1:14).
Sometimes we focus on peripheral questions – how did Jesus turn water into wine? – how did Jesus heal that person? How did Jesus do this or that — — and often times they distract us from the core issues.
We believe God became a man. This is the central truth of our faith. It’s a fact which is inconceivable in other religions. They reject the notion that somehow — God could become one of us. To Christians it is impossible to speak about God — without speaking about God becoming one of us.
At the heart of our faith is this truth ~ God came to us in the person of Jesus.
Second, we have the most spiritually significant mission.
The Son of Man came to seek and to save.
Jesus came looking for someone. What is our Lord like? He is like the woman who lost a coin and searched her house until she found it. He is like the man who lost one sheep and went out into the wilderness to find it. He is the like the Father who welcomed his Prodigal Son home again. Jesus came looking for someone.
He came seeking sinners in a tree, at midnight, and the woman at the well.
Jesus came seeking those caught in adultery, blind beggars, lepers, and wild men living in the tombs.
He came seeking self-righteous Pharisees who thought they didn’t need Him.
He came seeking fishermen, politicians, radicals, physicians, tax collectors, rich men at the top of the heap, and poor folks no one would touch.
He sought prostitutes and drunkards, He sought sinners of all varieties . . .
And He came seeking you and I.
Jesus came as the seeking Savior!
Third, we have the most perfect description of the state of humanity.
Jesus came seeking . . . what was lost.
People don’t like to admit it, but we are lost without God.
What does it mean to be lost? I remember many times when Debbie and I would go shopping with Joshua and Zachary. Inevitably we would go to the toy section, and one of them, I won’t say who, but one would be mesmerized by some toy and we would want to move on, but he wouldn’t.
Sometimes, we thought he was with us, but he wasn’t . . . and I can still picture his face when he was crying out for mom and dad. He was lost!
Isaiah 53:6 reminds us “we have all strayed like sheep. Each one of us has turned to go his own way.” We all by nature go our own way. No one has to teach us to run from God. If Christ did not come to us, we would never come to Him.
We were born running!
We all want to do our own thing!
We all go our own way!
Dumb sheep have nothing on us. We don’t even know we’re lost until someone comes from heaven seeking us, wanting to save us. Understand this - - - If Christ didn’t come to us, we would never come to Him. In a sense . . . we run from God and God runs after us, seeking us — — to save us.
We were lost until Jesus found us. Sometimes we may say, someone needs to come to Christ, but if Jesus did not come to us first, we would never come to Him at all. That’s what it means to be truly lost.
Lost without God.
Lost without hope.
Lost in a tangled web of sin.
Lost and trapped forever.
So, what does this mean for us?
Jesus left heaven to make His home among us, to reveal God to us, to show us the true nature of the Father.
In Him we see God’s love.
In Him we see God’s mercy.
In Him we see God’s power.
In Him we see God’s justice.
In Him we see God’s holiness.
If Christ came to save, then we are without excuse if we reject Him.
What excuse could you give that would satisfy God? How would you explain your rejection of Jesus? What sufficient reason would you have for saying “no” to God’s Son? Think how clearly Jesus said it in John 3:16-17 ~
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
That’s a great truth we need to hold onto. God sent His Son into the world - not to condemn us, but to save us – so we might have life, life today and life eternally.
We are all sinners . . . and what sinners need is salvation, we need to be saved. We need forgiveness and a new life.
What sinners need, Jesus came to provide. When God gave His only Son to hang on a tree like a common criminal, He gave the very best He had. God has more grace in his heart than you have sin in your life.
Jesus is a better Savior than you are a sinner. You don’t have to be a prisoner of your past. In Christ you can rise above your past to live a life that brings great glory to God.
When we believe in Jesus, at the very moment we say YES to Him, our sins are forgiven. We are pardoned, freed. Sometimes it’s hard to believe that.
It’s the Gospel that no matter how bad your sins may be, you can be saved right now. Your past does not determine your future when Jesus enters the picture.
If you qualify as lost — — and that’s all of us . . . then you are an excellent candidate to be saved. If you are a sinner, we all are sinners. Christ came seeking you.
If you don’t know Jesus . . . Won’t you come? Won’t you come to Jesus? He came for you!
There is hope for every person! Christ came to seek and save the lost.
He has the power to save you. He seeks you this very moment.
As John said in Revelation 3:20 ~ 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with Me.
“Won’t you open the door to Jesus? He is standing at the door, knocking! Listen, hear His voice, He is seeking you . . . right now! Come to Jesus!
And wen you come to Jesus, you will certainly find Him. He came for you.
