John 6:38 says, “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.” Jesus said it. He had an existence in heaven. Even the most inventive imagination has trouble thinking about all he must have left behind just to come to the earth. It would be like Adam and Eve when they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. The difference is that Jesus left willingly to carry out his Father’s will. Adam and Eve goofed up.
Jesus came down from heaven to carry out his Father’s will. Down, just the word, doesn’t lend itself to a feeling of worthiness. It doesn’t take much of a jump to figure out that there was something, or someone, needed to transition us from down here to up there. And Jesus was the Father’s choice. While here on the earth he told us of the many reasons he was sent. And the Sunday sermon covered some or the reasons he was sent.
“And the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a look at Jesus. Something drove him to want to just see him. This fellow was a tax collector. His wealth came from over charging the people he collected from. He’s a scoundrel but he wanted to see Jesus. Jesus must have known too. When he came to the tree, he called him down and told him that he was going to his house. Arriving there, Jesus stated that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’s house.
Matthew 5:17 says that Jesus came to fulfill the law. God wrote the law, but mankind was unable to keep it. Until the crucifixion of Christ there was no remedy for sin. Death and hell were inevitable. Galatians 3:13 tells us that Christ redeemed us (paid the price) from the curse of the law. Until then we suffered from condemnation because men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). And, that he came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world would be saved through him (John 3:17). Jesus, fully man and fully God, was the only one who could take this role. He, because of his distinctive nature, was the lamb without blemish—the one who lived a perfect life. Jesus is our redeemer. Through him only is our salvation.
Jesus came down from heaven to carry out his Father’s will. Down, just the word, doesn’t lend itself to a feeling of worthiness. It doesn’t take much of a jump to figure out that there was something, or someone, needed to transition us from down here to up there. And Jesus was the Father’s choice. While here on the earth he told us of the many reasons he was sent. And the Sunday sermon covered some or the reasons he was sent.
“And the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Zacchaeus climbed a tree to get a look at Jesus. Something drove him to want to just see him. This fellow was a tax collector. His wealth came from over charging the people he collected from. He’s a scoundrel but he wanted to see Jesus. Jesus must have known too. When he came to the tree, he called him down and told him that he was going to his house. Arriving there, Jesus stated that salvation had come to Zacchaeus’s house.
Matthew 5:17 says that Jesus came to fulfill the law. God wrote the law, but mankind was unable to keep it. Until the crucifixion of Christ there was no remedy for sin. Death and hell were inevitable. Galatians 3:13 tells us that Christ redeemed us (paid the price) from the curse of the law. Until then we suffered from condemnation because men loved darkness rather than light (John 3:19).
Jesus came to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28). And, that he came into the world not to condemn the world but that the world would be saved through him (John 3:17). Jesus, fully man and fully God, was the only one who could take this role. He, because of his distinctive nature, was the lamb without blemish—the one who lived a perfect life. Jesus is our redeemer. Through him only is our salvation.
