One
of the greatest things that man has been battling with since creation is Sin.
God created man to have fellowship with man but sin destroyed that
relationship. One way adopted by man to cleanse himself of sin, as in the past,
was to use the blood of slain lamb- which could not clean man of sin anyway.
As
a loving God, who is always drawing man closer to Himself, He decided on a
wonderful plan to get man out of the mess of sin and reconcile with man. But
how can God, as spirit as he is, shed blood to cleanse man –for without the
shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin (Heb. 9:22)
There was then the need to have a
perfect sacrificial lamb- without spot or wrinkle, to be sacrificed for this
purpose of God. How did God do it? Why would God
do such a thing? Why would he come as a baby, instead of appearing in power and
majesty? Why make himself a true man and live among us, when he knew fully well
how terribly he would be treated?
Jesus
Who was Jesus Christ? Why did He come to this
Earth? What did He accomplish? Unlike any other baby, the one
born that night in Bethlehem was unique in all of history. He was not created
by a human father and mother. He had a heavenly pre-existence (John 1:1-3, 14). By mystery,
He is God, the Son—Creator of the universe (Philippians 2:5-11). In the birth
of Jesus, we see the eternal, all-powerful and all-knowing Creator come to
earth in the flesh.
Why Jesus
Was Born
God's great plan for mankind included
the necessity of a savior and a redeemer of mankind. Here are a few reasons why
the greatest of all, Jesus the Messiah, the very Son of God, had to be born:
1. Jesus had to be born because of mankind's sin.
God created Adam and Eve and placed them
in a beautiful environment that supplied their every need. In the Garden of
Eden our original human parents found food plentiful, animals tame and a loving
teacher—God Himself—accompanying them and teaching them everything they needed
to know.
They had access to the tree of life. They
had every advantage, so what went wrong? Adam and Eve did what every other
human being has done: They sinned. They disobeyed God.
Why did Satan's deception of Adam and
Eve cause Christ to be born? The Savior had to be born because mankind, after
the sin of Adam and Eve, would have been eternally lost—cut off from God—had
Jesus not come to earth and allowed Himself to be sacrificed to save mankind
from its sins, which began with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
2. Jesus had to be born
because God wanted to reveal His own character to humanity.
God wanted to reveal His righteous
character to Adam and Eve and to all of mankind so they could become like Him in
mind and spirit.
God created our two original parents in
His own image (Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7). Accordingly, God instructed them to
exercise their free will by urging them to look to Him as the revealer of good
and evil. God gave Adam and Eve the opportunity to embrace His divine wisdom.
Tragically, Adam and Eve followed the father of lies, Satan, which severed
their close relationship with God.
So Jesus had to be born because Adam and
Eve failed to carry out God's mandate to glorify Him in their lives. It was
left for the Son of God, thousands of years later, to ultimately fulfill the
divine revelation of God's character and purpose for man.
3. Jesus had to be born
to remove the sins of humankind through a perfect sacrifice.
Hundreds of years before Jesus' birth, God revealed
through His faithful servant Moses a religious system that included animal
sacrifices and offerings. The blood of these animals were purported to cleanse
our sins but did not. The need for a perfect sacrifice meant that Jesus had to
be born. It was because the earlier, physical sacrifices were imperfect. They
could not take away the penalty for sin (Hebrews 10:4).
Jesus had to be born because, without
the true sacrifice, humanity was doomed. All would die, with no hope beyond the
grave.
4. Jesus had to be born
for mankind to have a Mediator.
Jesus is the mediator of the New
Covenant. Under the old covenant, the priesthood was staffed by the Levites, as
revealed in the Old Testament, was imperfect (Heb. 5:1, 7:11, 8:3, and 9:7). Under the New Covenant, God
replaced the sacrifices of the Levitical priesthood with the ultimate sacrifice
of Jesus Himself. Jesus had to be born because the salvation of mankind
requires something better (Heb. 8:6, 9:15, 12:24).
5. Jesus had to be born
for God to make His Spirit available to all humankind.
Not only did Jesus have to be born, but
He had to pay the penalty for our sins through His own death, then be
resurrected to ascend to the Father as our High Priest. Only then would
humanity at large be able to receive and benefit from the incredible gift of
God's Holy Spirit.
On the Day of Pentecost, Peter made a
statement in (Acts 2:32-33, 38). Why was Jesus' physical birth essential to His
followers' receiving of the Holy Spirit? Because no one is worthy to receive
the Holy Spirit and we must be begotten of God through His Spirit to receive
eternal life.
6. Jesus had to be born
for God to redeem mankind.
The salvation of mankind was dependent
on Jesus coming to earth and living a perfect life, then dying as the perfect
sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Jesus had to be born because He is
our Redeemer. God in His infinite mercy foreordained His plan of redemption for
sinful mankind through Christ (1 Peter 1:20). Jesus was declared to be
"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" to redeem humanity
(Revelation 13:8).
But why does sin require a redeemer?
(Romans 3:23, 6:23). Since the wages of sin is death, redemption requires the
sacrificial death of the Redeemer. That is why Jesus came- as our redeemer.
Know this
Jesus the Messiah is the promised
Redeemer. He had to be born for humanity to be redeemed from sin. As we noted
earlier, Peter summarized what we must do to be redeemed: (Acts 2:38). Through
Christ's blood, God forgives our sins, and by Christ we receive the promise of
eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:12-15).
Through Christ, God has restored that
which was lost in Eden—access to the tree
of life. Moreover, repentant people have become the temple of the living
God.
Brethren, God has made it possible for
all people to enter an intimate relationship with Him—which is why Jesus had to
be born. Do you know this Jesus? Are you sure? Have you accepted Him as your
savior and Lord? Is your lifestyle in keeping with repentance? Remember, Jesus
is coming soon to judge us. Are you ready? Amen!
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