WHY DID JESUS COME?
CHRISTMAS 2005
- Read Luke 2:1-20
We come today to celebrate the birth, the arrival of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. During the past month or so, there has been a lot of noise about the celebration of Christmas. Some stores have told their employees to wish their customers “Happy Holidays” instead of a “Merry Christmas” because they don’t want to offend anyone. Anyone other than Christians that is. Some schools have done away with Christmas break and now call it “Winter Break” or such. Others have done away with any music in their programs that refer to Christmas. Must have a separation of church and state and all of that bunk. Some have even gone so far as to begin calling “Christmas Trees” “Holiday Trees,” or “Magical Trees” or whatever.
I’m no happier about this turn of events than you are, and according to the Bible, it’s only going to get worse between now and when Jesus comes again. But you know what? There weren’t very many people who celebrated the birth of Jesus when He came 2000 years ago either. About the only ones singing Christmas carols that day, were choirs of angels God sent to announce the arrival of His Son, and not all the lawyers and courts in the world could stop them.
No my friend, I am not happy that many in our country want to ignore that God chose to take on flesh and live among us. But, that doesn’t change the fact that Jesus, the Only Begotten Son of God came to earth!
Matthew chapter 1 says the child would be named Jesus and He would be called Immanuel which means “God is with us.” But why? Why do we celebrate Christmas; why was “God with us”; and why did Jesus Come?
My friends, I believe Jesus came for 4 primary reasons.
I. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE PERSON OF GOD
- John 14:9-11
When Jesus was born, many had the idea that God was somewhat distant. Many then and many today have the idea that God is some kind of heavenly Police officer, just waiting for you to step out of line so He can get you.
First off, Jesus said, “That’s not the way you approach and think of God. Yes, He is just. Yes, He does have standards and He will judge. But, you can think of and approach God as a Heavenly Father, and He’s much like what you see in Me.”
I don’t know about you, and I don’t know what kind of Dad you had growing up, but if you had a good one it will change your perspective on what God is like.
I and my brothers were fortunate. We had a great Daddy. Let me tell you, our dad was a bit strict. He had his standards. He had his rules and if you didn’t live up to them, there was swift punishment to follow. But let me tell you, our Daddy always wanted the best for us and made the rules he did, not because he didn’t want us to have fun, but because he wanted to protect us and wanted the best for us.
We didn’t have to be afraid to approach our dad, because he was our dad.
Jesus said, “If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father.” In other words, “God’s like I am.” What was Jesus like? We know He was loving. We know He was accepting as well. The prostitutes, they weren’t afraid to approach Jesus. The tax collectors; they weren’t afraid to approach Jesus. The little child, the ones the grown ups and disciples tried to drive away, they weren’t afraid to approach Jesus. You know why not? It was because they knew He would accept them. He wouldn’t turn them away.
My friend, that’s what God is like and that’s what Jesus came to show us. He said, “You can call God, Abba, Daddy.”
Jesus came to show us the person of God. Jesus also came to show us the love of God.
II. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE LOVE OF GOD
A while back a video was made about a man who was a bridge tender. It was his job to raise and lower the drawbridge so the trains could cross and so boats could get through. One day he took his son to work with him. After a while his son got bored and the dad let his son go play. Finally it came time for him to lower the bridge because a train was scheduled. The man looked and looked for his son and finally he saw him, playing where the end of the bridge would land if he lowered it. In the distance the man began to hear the train’s whistle. He called and called his son, but the boy could not hear his dad’s call. If the man lowered the bridge, the people on the train would be saved but his son would die. If he left the bridge up, his son would be spared, but the people on the train would plunge to their deaths in the river below. Frantically, as the train approached, the man called and called his son, but the boy, wrapped up in his game, could not hear his daddy’s yell.
Finally, with a broken heart, the dad lowered the bridge. The people on the train were spared, but at the cost of the bridge tender’s only son.
My friend, the Bible says,
> John 3:16 “For God so loved the world. That He gave His only begotten Son. That whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
> Romans 5:8 But God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us!
My friend, Jesus Christ came and died on the cross to pay the price for your sins and mine. He came and died to show us how much God loves us, so much that He would sacrifice His only Son for you. My friend, Jesus came because God loves you.
III. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE EXPECTATIONS OF GOD
- Matthew 18:1-4
Before and even since Jesus came, many people believed that the only way you could please God was through obeying a bunch of rules & regulations. Or, some people even today think that they have to do this or that, or give a certain amount of money, or whatever, in order to get to God.
What does Jesus say God expects? He says, “unless you are converted & become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” What does God expect of you and I? He expects us to become childlike.
Many of you know my son Drew. Let me tell you, Drew is not perfect by any means. He makes mistakes and he sometimes does things he knows his mom & I won’t be happy with. Drew has a little money he has saved over the years, and several times here lately, when we’ve talked about something being expensive, he’s offered to give us his money. We smile, because what he has won’t make much difference.
The day before yesterday, Drew “helped” me carry a package into a friend’s house. He “helped” me, until I finally asked him to let go because I couldn’t get in the door with his help.
Drew right now is 6, going on 16. Sometimes he wants to argue, believing that he has everything figured out.
You know, Drew is a lot like us when we approach God. We don’t have much to offer Him, because everything we have He gave us. We can’t help God all that much, because He built this whole universe in 6 days without our help. But, there are 2 things I see in Drew that I believe God wants to see in us.
1. Children Trust - You know, Drew doesn’t worry much about whether he’ll have something to eat. He doesn’t worry much about whether he’ll have a place to eat or something to wear. When I ball up my fist and tell Drew I’m going to bust his lip. He laughs. You know why? Because he trusts me. He knows I’ll never do anything to hurt him.
My friend, God wants; God expects you to trust Him. The Bible says:
> Hebrews 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who draws near to Him must believe He exists and rewards those who seek Him.
Children trust. The Bible says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” My friend, God expects your trust, to trust Him with your salvation and to trust Him with your life. Children trust, but children also love.
2] Children love - Last night, when I left the house, going back to my office Drew came up, hugged me and said, “Daddy I love you. I love you more than you love me.”
Now, there is no way he can love me more than I love him, as any parent can tell you. But, I’m moved by his sentiment. He does love me.
Have you noticed how loving most of the children in our church are? They love to give people hugs.
That’s one of the things God expects of His children. The Bible says, we are to love God with everything in us.
Let me ask you my friend, can you truthfully say that you love God? Does your love for Him affect the way you live and the things you do?
Jesus came to show us the person of God. He came to show us the love of God and the expectations of God, but He also came to show us the way to God.
IV. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE WAY TO GOD
> John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
> Revelation 3:20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in ...
Not through rules, not through regulations, but through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.
*** Plan of salvation ***
CONCLUSION
Some of you this morning, have wandered away from the Lord, and believe you’ll never get it right, you’ll never get close to God again.
In 1758, Robert Robinson wrote one of the most loved hymns of the Christian church, “Come, Thou Fount.” Part of the song says,
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it.
Prone to leave the God I love.
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it.
Seal it for Thy courts above.
A lot of people don’t know that after writing that hymn, Robinson fell and his own sin and failure caused him to lose his belief that God could still love him. Years later, on a summer evening he was riding in a carriage with a lady friend. They rode past a church and heard the words of the hymn Robinson had written so many years before, coming from the open windows of the church.
Robinson began to cry. His friend asked him why he was crying and he told her that he had written that hymn. “I would give everything I own,” he said, “to know the peace I knew when I wrote that hymn.”
How I wish he had understood, how I pray that you will understand today, that no matter how far you have wandered, God will still welcome you home. ... Prodigal son.
