If you were asked, Why did Christ Jesus come into this world, what would be your answer?
There are those who tell us that the Son of God came to earth to set an example and all mankind should follow His example. Others claim He came to proclaim the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Others say He came to complete God’s original purpose in the creation of man. It has also been said He came to establish a form of government which would be righteous in its rule, a government which would bring the kingdom of God to this earth.
Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). His reason for coming to earth is found in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.” In his first
letter to Timothy Paul wrote, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1st Timothy 1:15).
The Son of God stepped down from His Father’s throne, laid aside His infinite glory, and entered this world through the womb of a virgin so that the world through Him might be saved (John 3:16-17). He came into this world to save sinners not to condemn them to an
eternity in hell. From the day He was born in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger His eye was on the dreadful cross of Golgotha. He came to do the will of the Father.
The right answer to the question, “Why did Christ Jesus come into this world” must uphold the glory of God. Therefore any answer that dishonor the Father, disgrace the Son, and undermine the work of the Holy Spirit is an incorrect answer.
One theory taught and accepted today is the theory the Son of God came into this world to remove barriers which stood in the way of God’s grace flowing forth to fallen mankind. According to this theory Christ’s death took away those barriers. Holders of this view
claim the death of Christ on the cross was merely the procuring for God the right to forgive sinners.
If this theory is true the death of Christ was to
procure for God the right to forgive sinners then He died so that a way might be made for God to extend His mercy to us, rather than that a way was opened for us to go in to Him.
This theory reverses what Christ accomplished on the Cross. Nowhere in the Bible is this theory supported. It is not stated in the Bible God sent His Son into this world out of love for Himself but out of love for us. Nowhere in the Bible is it stated Christ died to
procure something for God. It is written in the Bible the reason Christ came to earth was to give Himself as a sacrifice for sinful mankind. According to this theory there is still something which the sinner must do before God will bestow His mercy upon him. It denies
the fatal effects of the Fall of man, and is a repudiation of the total depravity of man. It denies the Biblical teaching sinful mankind is incapable of performing any good works that would be acceptable in God’s sight. It is as far removed from the truth as is light from darkness. It places a greater emphasis on what the sinner believes than the sacrificial death
of Christ.
God out of His infinite love for mankind sent His Son into this world to pay a ransom of infinite value for the purchasing of our redemption and our deliverance from death to life, from hell and wrath to heaven and glory.
A second reason for Christ’s coming into this world was that His Father might be magnified. The great end which God has in all His works is the promotion of His
declarative glory, "For from Him and through Him, and to Him are all things. To Him be glory for ever" (Romans 11:36). There is nothing outside God which can possibly supply any motive for Him to act. Any claim there is something outside God which can motivate
Him to act is a denial of His self-sufficiency. The goal of God in creation, in providence, and in redemption, is the magnifying of Himself, everything else is subordinate to His sovereign will.
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said God “chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, and to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:4-6). The inheritance which we have obtained in Christ is in order that "we should be to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:12). The Holy Spirit is given us as the earnest of our inheritance "to the praise of His glory" (Ephesians 1:14). Our rejoicing is "in hope of the glory of God" (Romans 5:2). We are “filled with the fruits of
righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:11).
God’s primary reason for sending His Son into this world was to reveal His love and glory. The manifestation of His attributes are His goal in all His works.
Through Christ’s obedience and death God magnified His law (Isaiah 42:21). The law of God was honored by the Son’s subjection to it. It is dishonored by the disobedience of all of Adam’s descendants. The sending of His Son to earth to redeem fallen mankind
magnified the love of God. God’s justice was magnified when, by imputation, sin was found upon His Son and God called for the sword to smite Him (Zechariah 13:7). He magnified God’s holiness, His hatred of sin more clearly at the Cross than it will be in the
lake of fire.
God magnified His power when He “brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus Our Lord”
(Hebrews 13:20).
The third reason for God sending His Son into this world is that He might be glorified. The Son of God is the center of all the counsels of the Godhead. He is both the Alpha and Omega of their goals. All God’s thoughts concerning everything in heaven and in earth
begin and end in Christ. "God created all things by Jesus Christ" (Eph. 3:9), and all things were created "for him" (Col. 1:16). As Mediator He is the only medium of union and communion between God and mankind, “with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth” (Ephesians 1:10).
The Son of God is the one universal head in which God has summed up all things. Therefore, the work of redemption was given to Him that He might reconcile all things in heaven and earth unto Himself and glory might come to him. When Judas went out to betray Him, Jesus said, "Now is the Son of man glorified" (John 13:31). Within a few hours the Son was supremely honored by the Father through the committing to his care the mightiest work of all, a work which none other was capable of performing. To him was entrusted the task of glorifying God here on earth; of vanquishing His arch-enemy, Satan, and the redemption of His people. To this Jesus makes reference in John 17:4, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do.” He completed God’s goal in send Him into this world, executed His decrees, and fulfilled all His will.
