There appears to be disagreement about why Jesus came to Earth. "It was to preach to the poor." "No, no, it was to die for my sins." "Don't be ridiculous. It was to demonstrate love." And on and on. Of course, the question is not without clear answer. To know why the Word (John 1:1) came, let's just look at the Word.
If you think that Jesus came to Earth for one reason and one reason only, I would suggest that's a very narrow view. How often is God doing only one thing? So, we read, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them" (Matt 5:17). That's a reason Jesus Himself gave. Here's another. "Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby, so that I may preach there also; for that is what I came for" (Mark 1:38). And, "For this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name" (John 12:27). As noted previously, He also said, "I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4). In the next chapter He said, "For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice" (John 18:37). Some of His reasons are unexpected, like, "For judgment I came into this world, so that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind" (John 9:39). Contrast that with, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him" (John 3:16-17). It's jarring to hear Jesus say, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law" (Matt 10:34-35), but He lists that one, too. We're much more comfortable with, "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45) (unless, of course, you're one who denies that Jesus came to pay the price for sin on our behalf). Very clearly Jesus claimed, "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). One that we like a lot is, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10). Just to name a few. Elsewhere we read, "God put [Christ] forward ... to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness ... so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom 3:25-26). Unequivocally we find that, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Tim 1:15). Hebrews tells us, "Since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives" (Heb 2:14). And in John's first epistle we find, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).
Just a few examples of what we find in Scripture about why Jesus came to Earth. He came to fulfill the the Law. He came to preach the gospel. He came to glorify God, and to do so by doing the work that God sent Him to do. He came to testify to the truth. He came to bring judgment. He came to give eternal life to those who believe. He came to bring a sword between families. He came to serve. He came to give His life as a ransom. He came to seek and to save the lost. He came to give us abundant life. He came to demonstrate God's righteousness -- to make God both just and justifier. He came to confirm God's promises. He came to render death powerless. He came to destroy the works of the devil. All of that, and more. So, which one is it? The answer, of course, is "Yes." The answer is "All of the above." So when people try to boil it down to "one thing" -- always their pet notion -- you can be sure that they're not really interested in what Jesus had to say or the rest of the Word ... that is Jesus. He said He was "the Truth" (John 14:6), so all of that is the truth. Just accept it. And, perhaps, enjoy it.
3 comments:
Who is ever doing anything for only one reason? Why would we assume Christ came for only one? We might have a favorite reason, or try to make a more encompassing reason, but any narrowing to one will lead to the ignoring of Scripture and the loss of glory owed to God.
Excellent point. I do see people who insist that Jesus came to do one things in particular, and pulling out one proof text to support their entire theological construct. The problem is that to do so they need to ignore or minimize a multitudes of other things Jesus came here to do. I think that if it is necessary to boil down Jesus' mission during His earthly ministry to one sentence, I'd have to say that "Glorify YHWH", or "Save sinners" would be the most appropriate options. But as you note, there is so much more than that.
After reading today’s post, I am struck again by what a stupendous event it was for God the Father to send His Son to earth to live and die as He did. I don’t think we could ever understand the full magnitude of this act of God on our behalf. Still, in His Word, God has given us some insight into His purposes for this event, which Stan has listed for us so concisely. I have a book in my home library called, “Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die,” by John Piper, which describes even more purposes of Jesus’ life and death. I agree that I would never focus on just one of them to the exclusion of the others--since each and every reason is truly wonderful.
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