WHY DID JESUS COME TO EARTH?
April 24, 2011
Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
· Matthew 1:21: And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS: for he will save His people from their sins.
· Matthew 18:11: For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost
· Luke 9:56: “for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."
· Luke 19:10: for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.
· John 10:10: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly
· 1 Timothy 1:15: “This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”
· John 1:29: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Why Did Man Need Jesus To Save Them From Their Sins?
Before Jesus (Old testament):
· “The wages of sin is death…”
· God demanded a sacrifice for the atonement/forgiveness of sin.
· The lamb was the principal animal of sacrifice among the Jewish people at the evening and morning sacrifice.
o The lamb is gentle, meek, and innocent
· Sacrifices were offered morning and evening and for special holidays.
o Ex. 29:38-42: Now this is what you shall offer on the altar: two one year old lambs each day, continuously. 39"The one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 40and there shall be one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour mixed with one-fourth of a hin of beaten oil, and one-fourth of a hin of wine for a drink offering with one lamb. 41"The other lamb you shall offer at twilight, and shall offer with it the same grain offering and the same drink offering as in the morning, for a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 42"It shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the doorway of the tent of meeting before the LORD, where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.
o Num. 38:3-8): You shall say to them, 'This is the offering by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs one year old without defect as a continual burnt offering every day. 4'You shall offer the one lamb in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight; 5also a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a )grain offering, mixed with a fourth of a hin of beaten oil. 6'It is a continual burnt offering which was ordained in Mount Sinai as a soothing aroma, an offering by fire to the LORD. 7'Then the drink offering with it shall be a fourth of a hin for each lamb, in the holy place you shall pour out a drink offering of strong drink to the LORD. 8'The other lamb you shall offer at twilight; as the grain offering of the morning and as its drink offering, you shall offer it, an offering by fire, a soothing aroma to the LORD.
o specials days (Num. 28:11): 11'Then at the beginning of each of your months you shall present a burnt offering to the LORD: two bulls and one ram, seven male lambs one year old without defect. the Passover (28:16-19), Pentecost (28:26), Feast of the Trumpets (29:1, 2), the Day of Atonement (29:7, 8), and the Tabernacle (29:12-16). Other personal sacrifices included lambs (Lev. 12:6; 14:10-18, etc), such as the sin offerings (Lev. 4:32-35)
· The blood of the lamb paid the penalty for sin. Romans 3:22-25
· You could not approach God yourself but only through His chosen mediator.
o Priest – served as mediator to plead on behalf of the people
· Sacrifice had an expiration date
Jesus as the Sacrificial Lamb:
· “The wages of sin is death…”
· God demanded an offering of sacrifice for sin
· Needed a mediator to plead on our behalf
· Jesus as High Priest:
o Hebrews 7:26-28 - 26Such a high priest meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. 28For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.
o Hebrews 9:11-15 - 11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here,[b] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God! 15For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
o Hebrews 9:24-28 - 24For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. 25Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
o Hebrews 4:14-16; Hebrews 10:1-10; Hebrews 13:11-13, 1 Peter 1:18-19; Revelation 5:6-13
· In Jesus, God provided the lamb to be used for the sacrifice of our sins.
· The blood of Jesus paid the penalty for our sins for eternity.
Final Word:
John 3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
Jesus came to earth as a man to offer His body as a sacrifice for all our sins – past, present and future. He took the place of the lamb to be sacrificed; the priest that received the sacrificial offering and interceded on our behalf; and paid the penalty for our sins for eternity.
· Philippians 2:6, He, "made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”
http://www.letusreason.org/Doct60.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment