Why Did Jesus Come?

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.