Why Did Jesus Come?

Text: Luke 1:26-37

This morning We will begin a four week Christmas Journey as we unwrap some Truths about Why Did Jesus Come? Why Did Jesus Come, and I will unwrap four different reasons that Jesus came to us and what that means for us as we prepare to celebrate His coming.

Are you getting ready for Christmas? Are you starting to feel that Christmas Spirit? By the way the true Christmas Spirit is His Spirit, not what I read about on CNN yesterday, where a shopper was actually knocked unconscious by the rush of people running into the store... actually stepping on her......that’s not the Christmas Spirit.... fighting over gifts and stepping on people along the way....... I want to challenge you this season to do your best to set your focus on the real reason we celebrate Christmas and try to incorporate the true meaning of Christmas into your family gatherings this year....... Read the Christmas story to your kids and tell them why we buy gifts........ take every opportunity to remind yourself and your children why we as Christians celebrate this great holiday... it sure has nothing to do with how much we spend... amen?

Have you ever thought about Why Did Jesus Come? All of us amateur theologians could probably come up with quite a few answers to that question..... so I want you to know that I realize that there are more than four reasons... but I’m going to just pick four to share with you....

Why Did Jesus Come? In our scripture this morning we have read how God delivered the news of His plan to this unsuspecting young lady, Mary.

Can I tell you something? When Gabriel, God’s General of the Angelic forces shows up on your door step to bring you greetings...... You can know something big is about to happen. Can you imagine the thoughts going through Mary’s mind, and the adrenaline pumping through her veins as this angel of the Lord stood before her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

I would be like.... “Boy, I’m glad he is saying nice things to me.... I would hate it if he was here in a bad mood.” I think Gabriel probably makes Gov. Swartzenieger look kind of puny don’t you? But he brought good news and Mary was glad.

The Scripture says that she was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this was..... I think our writer Luke, who was a Doctor by trade, and who is known for writing the facts and in a very detailed way, probably couldn’t fully describe her feelings.... to say she was troubled probably didn’t do it justice.. but the Bible says that Gabriel tried to calm her nerves..... “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”

I want to stop right there for a minute this morning and tell you the first reason that I believe that Jesus came......He came as a Baby which is an amazing thing if you think about how vulnerable He made himself......But even before Christ is born, I think we are getting a glimpse of Why God was sending His Son into the World and it’s found in this statement by God messenger Gabriel.....knowing that Mary was scared and frightened.... God calls Mary by name.... “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God.”

Write this down in your notes... This is Reason number one...... This is why He came as a Baby..... God wants to Identify With You. God wants to be on a personal, intimate level with His creation.... What better way than to join his creation as one of them?

I wonder if we really understand God’s desire to be in fellowship with us, personally.

Relationships can only be intimate, personal when we can look each other in the face, when we can hold each other, shake hands, have meals together.... there’s no other way.

My sister lives 20 hours away in Pierre, SD, and we are lucky if we are able to see them one time a year. I remember when Misty had her first baby girl, Teya... we congratulated her and told her how much we missed her and wanted to see her.... we saw some pictures of Teya as she started getting bigger.... but it wasn’t until we were able to hold Teya and love on her, and see her make her faces and make noises, and all the things babies do... it wasn’t until we got face to face that we really felt like we knew her... and could say we were apart of her life.

God understood our need to see someone face to face, so He planned a face to face meeting when He sent His Son, Jesus. What’s even more amazing to me is that God sent Jesus as a Baby.... A Baby..... The King of Kings.... the Creator of all that is.... is lying in a manger with a diaper on and can’t even change himself... he is totally dependent upon his human parents for their care and protection.