The
Reason for Christ's Birth
Ever
wonder what all the fuss is about Jesus Christ and His birth? Ever
wonder just who he was? Whether he was just a good human being, or
if there was something more to him? Perhaps he was a prophet? Maybe
just a crazy religious guy?! Yet, whom do you say he is?
WHO
WAS HE, BORN IN A MANGER?
However,
Jesus' own claims were actually quite emphatic. He claimed to be God.
For we read, “The Jews were seeking all the more to kill him,
because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even
calling God his own Father, making
himself equal with God.”
(John
5:18) In fact, Jesus even went so far as to say, “Unless you
believe that I AM [he] you will die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
Here, Jesus takes on the Old Testament name of God, “I AM.” For
when Moses was to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God said, “Say
this to the people of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” (Exodus
3:14)
Earlier
on, another significant event had transpired at Jesus' own baptism.
We read, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from
the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the
Spirit of
God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a
voice from heaven,
said, 'This is my beloved Son,
with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:16-17) We see here at
least two extremely critical things. One, we see the proof for the
trinity. That is one God, in three distinct persons. We see, “The
Spirit” coming down upon Jesus. We hear a “voice from heaven,”
and, that voice saying that this is my “beloved Son.” So we have
here, “The Spirit” (Holy Spirit), “A voice from heaven” (God
the Father), and the “Son” (Jesus Christ). Secondly, the Father
calls him, “my beloved Son.” We see then, that not only did Jesus
claim to be God, but that God the Father also declared Him to be just
that – the Son of God!
We
see then, that Jesus Christ was indeed God. Yet, just why would Jesus
come to Earth in the form of a mere man? Why not come in all His
glory with with a whole host of angels announcing His arrival as the
Son of God? Why not just come right out and declare who He really
was? For even His earthly brothers said, “Leave here and go to
Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For
no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly. If you do
these things, show yourself to the world. For not even his brothers
believed in him.” (John 7:3-5) However, after Jesus' resurrection,
we find that His brothers did believe. For, it is written, “Then
they returned to Jerusalem...they went up to the upper room...Peter
and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the
son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to
prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
his brothers.” (Acts
1:12-14) So then, even His brothers who observed Him from childhood
on, became convinced of His true identity, after His resurrection
from among the dead!
WHY
WAS HE BORN?
Yet,
why did He come in the first place? Well, humanity had been plunged
into sin and thus separated from their Creator-God, due to Adam and
Eve's sin in the beginning. Mankind was unable to find a way to be
reconciled to God. God's punishment for sin was to steep. God had
said, “The wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) Quite simply, we
were stained with sin. We had miserably failed in keeping God's
rules. Rules about, “not wanting to have what someone else has,”
“wanting a woman who is not my wife sexually,” “not stealing,”
“not wanting to murder,” and “not using God's name as a swear
word.” (See Exodus 20:1-17, Matthew 5:21-22, 27)There were other
rules too. These rules were like a mirror. They showed us the holy
perfection of our Creator-God, and how terribly we fell short of
being able to be holy like Him. For this is what God had demanded –
100% perfection! God demanded that we be as holy as He is! The Bible
simply states, “All have sinned.” There were and are, no
exceptions. We have all failed God's test. Not even one person is
100% holy as God demanded. We were thus in a 100% hopeless condition,
and this is exactly the the reason why Jesus came to Earth, born in a
manger to a virgin by the name of Mary. He came to save us from our
sins!
Therefore,
we read, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your
wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She
will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins.”
(Matthew 1:21) John the Baptist echoes the same, saying, “Behold,
the Lamb of God, who
takes away the sin of the world.”
(John 1:29) This, was His purpose for stepping onto planet Earth! He
came for the express purpose of dealing with our sin! Yet, how would
He “save” us “from” our “sins”? Well, we already have a
clue in John's words, when he refers to Jesus as, “The Lamb of
God.” We know that throughout the Old Testament history, that lambs
were sacrificed upon altars. Then too, Jesus Himself says, “I lay
down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:15)
“Christ
Jesus came into the world
to
save sinners.”
1 Timothy
1:15
The Holy Bible clearly sets
forth the consequence of sin. We read, “For the wages of sin is
death.” (Romans 6:23) Again, Hebrews 9:22 says, “Without shedding
of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Very simply then, this
is how Jesus would remove our “sins.” He would die. In a very
matter-of-fact way, we read, “And they crucified him.” (Mark
15:24) Then the cry of triumph from the cross, “It is finished”!
(John 19:30) Your debt of sin was paid in full! His purpose for being
born on Earth was accomplished!
On the third day He would
arise from among the dead ones. At first we read that, “Mary stood
weeping outside the tomb,” but then she hears Jesus say, “Mary.”
Then, turning in a tremendous outpouring of relief, she cries out in
“Aramaic, Rabboni! (which means Teacher).” Next, we hear the
words of the living Savior say, “Go to my brothers and say to them,
I am ascending to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene, then
hastens off with great elation to inform the disciples, “I have
seen the Lord”! (John 20:11-18)
Oh, you see, Jesus did not
come to save us by His birth! Neither did He come to live a good life
as a way to save us, or to be honored by all, as some popular figure!
No – the price of our sin would never have been paid like that! The
truth is, He came to die upon a cruel Roman cross! To have His Father
pour out upon Him, for three dark hours, the punishment for all our
sin! He was born to die. He came to pay your sin-debt in full. This
is the reason Jesus was born! He came to pay your sin-debt in
full, and then in most amazing act of grace, to bestow His
righteousness to you!
Let
us read His birth announcement: “And the angel said to them, 'Fear
not, for behold, I
bring you good news of great joy that will be for all
people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Savior,
who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:10-11) “A Savior”! That is
“good news” indeed! A Savior is someone who saves, and He came to
save us from our sins – your sins! He came to give as a gift –
eternal life! He did not purchase this gift with money, but with His
very own blood.
I ask then, will you trust
Him as your Savior today?
“For God so loved
the world,
that
he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever
believeth in him
should not perish,
but
HAVE
eternal
life.”
John 3:16
(KJV)
Victor J. Reimer
*Scripture
quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV),
copyrighted © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights
reserved. (Unless other wise stated. )
No comments:
Post a Comment