Why Did Jesus Come?

Maybe a better question is to ask, “Why did Jesus have to come?”  If Jesus is truly God, why would He leave heaven to live among His own creation?

• Destroy the Devil (Hebrews 2:14-15).  The first promise in the Bible about Jesus is that He would come through woman and “bruise” the head of the Devil (Genesis 3:15).  Jesus, through His death and resurrection, took away the very thing that the Devil could hold over every man.
• Release people from slavery (Hebrews 2:14-15).   Jesus said, “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin (John 8:31-36).  Our sin results in, among many things, death (Romans 6:23).  We fear dying for a lot of reasons (the unknown, the pain, the consequences for ourselves and others, and questions about the afterlife).  Fear of death and death itself is slavery.  The Devil, because we chose to obey him and sin against God, is our slave master.  Jesus came to set us free, and He did that by taking the sins of the world upon Himself (2 Cor. 5:21; Isaiah 53:6).  Through His blood, we can have the freedom from this slavery.  That’s what the word “propitiation” means, to make a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God.  God’s righteous anger over our wickedness was appeased by Jesus’ blood.  We can go free from the Devil, and live in complete inner peace because of Jesus.
• Aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:16-18).  Jesus took on human flesh.  Jesus lived like we did.  He was born into a poor family.  He had to grow up.  He had to obey His parents.  He faced temptations.  He felt pain and rejection.  He was mocked.  He laughed and He cried.  He got very angry at times. He was hungry and thirsty.  He lost good friends, some to death and some to betrayal.  Because He faced all these things, He has become a merciful and faithful High Priest for us.  He understands (Hebrews 4:15-16).
• To show us God.  To see Jesus is to see God (John 1:14,18; 14:8,9).  By walking in mortal flesh, Jesus showed us how God intended for mankind to talk, think, worship, and live.  By reading the 4 Gospels, we can see a clear pattern and path to follow in our own lives and relationships.
• To fulfill all prophecies.  Jesus stated in His famed “Sermon on the Mount” that He came to fulfill every word of the Old Testament (Matt. 5:17-18).  These prophecies spoke of His death, burial and resurrection, and how by this all men can be saved.  Jesus made it very clear that the prophets spoke of His coming (Luke 4:21; 10:23-24; 24:44-47; John 4:25-26; 5:45-47).
• To complete God’s work.  Before Jesus came to earth, He spoke through the Psalmist saying, “I have come to do Your will” (Psalm 40:6-8).  When Jesus was 12, He told His mother that He was to be about His Father’s business (Luke 2:49).  Early in His ministry, He told His apostles that His “food” was to finish God’s work (John 4:34).  As He was taking His last breaths on the cross, He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30).
• To seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10).  Jesus viewed Himself as a Shepherd who would leave the ninety-nine safe sheep and go after that one lost sheep in the wilderness (Luke 15:4).  That explains why Jesus did and said what He did while on earth, and why He spent time with certain people.  He touched the leper.  He ate with the tax collectors.  He was compassionate to the sinful, adulterous woman.  To Jesus, it was all about saving lost souls.  He is the Great Physician – He didn’t come to aid healthy people, He came for sick people, those whose souls were in desperate need of His salvation (Matthew 9:12; John 9:39).