Why Jesus Came

I encourage you to watch The Nativity Story with your family or friends. Then, after the movie, you can share the good news of salvation to them. Again, God gave us an open door to share the Gospel at Hollywood ’s expense!

Let me share with you the real score behind the nativity. Romans 5:6-10 gives us the reasons why Jesus came. “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”[1]

First, His coming is the PLAN of God. Verse six says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Note the words, “at just the right time.” The Message goes like this, “Christ arrives right on time to make this happen.” His coming was God’s plan from eternity. He was right on schedule.

Who among you here are parents? When you child was born, were you thinking of your child’s death? Of course, not! You were thinking of how you child would live, not how he would die. But Jesus came to die. The Bible says, “Christ died for the wicked at the time that God chose.”[2]

But some people ask, “Wasn’t His death Plan B rather than Plan A?” They thought the situation got out of hand when the first couple sinned. So, they end up saying that God had to devise a Plan B, that is, Jesus had to die for man’s sin. The world could not simply accept that Christ’s death on the cross was God’s Plan A.

Yet this is what the Bible says, “For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors... it was the costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw. He had been chosen by God before the creation of the world and was revealed in these last days for your sake.”[3] Note that God chose Jesus before and not after the creation of the world. That’s even before man sinned. Clearly it was God’s plan all along.

God even predicted the way Christ would die. Psalm 22 has a lot of prophecies about Him. In verse one it predicted that He would cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It also described in verse 18 what the soldiers would do with Christ’s clothing: “They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” What is interesting is that in verse 16 it also foretold that Christ would die by crucifixion: “they have pierced my hands and my feet.” Don’t forget that the death penalty for the Jews was stoning and not crucifixion. So it was not a lucky guess. And talking about the crucifixion, God arranged history to make sure that Jesus would die as prophesied. He made sure the Roman Empire was in power when Jesus came. What was the death penalty imposed by the Romans? It was death by crucifixion. Galatians 4:4 says, “But when the right time finally came, God sent his own Son.”[4] This assures me that God is in control not only of history but also of our lives. That’s why it’s wise to give our lives to Him. So, His coming is the plan of God.

Second, His coming is the PROOF of God’s love. Verses 7-8 say, “We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.”[5] God proved how much He loves us by sending His Son to us. Of course the US Secret Service or the Presidential Security Group of Malacañang will bite a bullet for the president. That’s their duty. But we have not heard of anyone sacrificing his life for a rapist or a murderer who is facing the death penalty.

Note how Paul described us in our passage: “powerless… ungodly… sinners… God’s enemies…” The word “powerless” means “helpless,”[6] “sickly,”[7] “weak”[8] or “without strength.”[9] It shows that “we were incapable of working out any righteousness for ourselves.”[10] The word “ungodly” means “evil-doer,”[11] “sinful”[12] or “wicked.”[13] It points to a person who deserves to be condemned. Paul combined the words “powerless” and “ungodly” in verse six. It shows that on our own we are helpless and hopeless.