Why did Jesus come to earth 2000 years ago?
We know that He didn’t just start to exist when Mary gave birth to Him, but He always existed. For example, we read in
John 1:1 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”
There are also many other passages in Scripture that clearly shows us that Jesus Christ was always there with God the Father in the beginning.
So why did Jesus come to earth and especially in flesh?
You might say, it’s because He had to come as the Messiah, to die in our place so that we can be saved. Yes, that is right but there are also many other reasons and let us discuss those reasons.
1. Representative obedience
The first human, Adam, sinned against God. He was disobedient and it brought sin into the world, and they also separated us from God. To repair this relationship between us and God, to restore it, God sent Jesus Christ to come down to earth as a human to live a life without sin and Paul talks about this in
Romans 5:18-19 “Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
So when celebrating Christmas, always remember, Christmas is not about Santa Claus or just getting presents but it’s about Jesus Christ that came down to earth to live a perfect pure life without sin, so that he can carry your sins on the cross and die in your place, so that you will be saved, so that you can have an eternal life if you accept this free gift to all men and women.
This is why Paul calls Jesus Christ the second Adam in
1 Corinthians 15:45 “And so it written, “The first Adam became a living being.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.”
1 Corinthians 15:47 “The first man was of the earth, made of dust; the second Man is the Lord from heaven.”
So Jesus had to be a human to represent us and obey God perfectly without sin.
2. To be a substitute sacrifice
If Jesus wasn’t human, he could not have come and died in our place on the cross. He couldn’t have paid the price for our sins.
Hebrews 2:17 “Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”
Hebrews 2:18 “For in that He Himself has suffered being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
God is just. And to be able to save us, He had to make Jesus in every way that we are. So that He might become an acceptable sacrifice a substitute sacrifice. If Jesus Christ was not fully human, He couldn’t have died for our sins.
3. The mediator between God and humans
When sin came into the world, we as humans were alienated from God, and we needed somebody to bring us back to a healthy relationship with God. And only Jesus Christ qualifies for that role.
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,”
1 Timothy 2:6 “Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”
For able to fulfill this role as mediator between God and humans, we needed somebody to be both fully God and fully human, and only Jesus Christ fulfills that role. Because Jesus is 100% God and 100% human. Some people might find it hard to understand, but for humans, of course it is impossible but for God it is not.
4. To be an example in our life
Jesus Christ came down to earth to be our example of how we should live our lives here on earth and our goals as a true Christians should always be to be like Jesus Christ.
1 John 2:6 “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.”
Do you really live your life according to the example Jesus Christ left us?
Hebrews 12:1-2 “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher or our faith.”
Galatians 5:1-2 “Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. Walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and gave Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”
Are you a sweet-smelling aroma for other people? Does it feel great for other people around you? If you, sometimes struggle with this then just ask yourself what would Jesus Christ do in this situation right now?
5. The pattern for our redeemed bodies
When Jesus Christ died and the after three days when He rose from the grave, He rose in a different body and Paul explains this in
1 Corinthians 15:42-43 “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory;”
This new body that Jesus had is the pattern for our bodies will look like one day when we are raised from the grave. Jesus is the first fruit according to
1 Corinthians 15:23 “But each one in his own order; Christ the first fruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming”
And in
1 Corinthians 15:49 “And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.”
Jesus had to be raised as a human being, to be the first born of the dead.
Colossians 1:17-18 “And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead that in all things He may gave the preeminence.’
6. To sympathize as high priest
Jesus went through a lot of pain and suffering while He was in earth, and if He was not fully human, He would not have experienced what we go through of our struggles.
Hebrews 2:18 “For in that he Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted.”
And in the end of the chapter, it goes say
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.”
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
7. To fulfill God’s promises
God always keeps His promises. Everything around us always changed and that is uncertain, but God never changed.
Proverbs 30:5 “every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.”
Jesus fulfilled around 300 prophecies from the Old Testament, and some of these are very specific prophecies. For example, there’s over 20 GS within the 24 hours of Jesus’s crucifixion. It was prophesized that Jesus would be deserted by His disciples, that He would be falsely accused, brutally beaten, that He would not retaliate, He would be executed with criminals, His hands and feet would be pierced, His bones would not be broken, they would gambol for His clothes, His mother would be a virgin, the exact place of His birth. There’s a lot more, but you can get the point. Jesus Christ is the only religious founder that could claim anything like this because God made these promises hundreds of years before Jesus came down to earth as a human and they all came true.
Jesus Himself is the promise of the Messiah that would come from the line of David and come to save the world. Jesus Himself said
John 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”
John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”
Jesus loves you so much that He died in your place. He took all your sins on Him as punishment and He suffered so that you don’t have to and all He asks is that you love Him, that you accept Him as Lord and Savior of your life. It is His gift to you
