Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?

We’ve studied in one of our previous lessons who Jesus is. We’ve seen that Jesus is God. He said Himself in John 10:30 that He and the Father are One, and he was not speaking metaphorically. We also saw that Jesus is the only way for us to go to God the Father. Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is “the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me,” that is through Jesus. Thirdly, we saw that Jesus loves us, and He has shown that love to us by dying on the cross for our sins, Romans 5:8.

Today, we are going to look at the reasons why Jesus had to come to earth.

1.       First, Jesus came to earth to Save Us

His name tells us that. In Matthew 1:18-25 we read that: 18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. 19 Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. 20 But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” 22 So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: 23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”

“Jesus” means “savior.” Jesus is also called by different names, like “Immanuel,” which means God with us or “Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace,” as we see in Isaiah 9:6. We need to remember that these were not “names” of Jesus, by which people would call him, but “titles,” described His nature, His qualities that people could see in Him.

Jesus Himself described his work in Luke 19:10: “for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Q: What does it mean that people are in need to be saved?

Q: And lost? What does that mean?

Q: When someone is sick today with the flu or another disease, what is one of the first things they need to do, before they go to the doctor? The need to admit that they are sick and seek treatment.

So, when we talk about Jesus being our Savior, it is important to recognize the need for being saved. Romans 3:23 and 6:23, when read together tell us that “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Q: What does it mean to be a good person?

No matter how good we are, in one way or another, many times throughout our life, we have done things that are wrong. Many people today have the erroneous idea that they will go to heaven because they are good people. But that’s not what the Bible teaches.

Q: How can good people sin?

When someone says that they can go to heaven because they are good people, they are saying that they do not need Jesus and that they can be saved through their own works, which are both contrary to what the Bible teaches (Titus 3:4-5: 4 But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit)

2.      Second, Jesus came to earth to take the punishment for our sins

1 Peter 2:21-25 tells us that: For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: 22 “Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth”; 23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Q: Why was Jesus the only one who could take away our punishment?

Because He was the only one to ever live who did not sin. As we mentioned earlier, everyone sins. There are some people who say that Jesus is not God, that he was a created human being. But how can it be that this human being lived a perfect life, when the Bible teaches us that no one can be without sin, but Jesus?

1 Peter 1:18-19 says that “knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

In order to fully understand the concept of Jesus’ death, we need to understand the sacrificial system of the Jews. In the Old Testament, there was an elaborate system of how Jews were to sacrifice animals when they sinned. These animals needed to be without blemish, meaning sickness, or any wounds, or broken leg or some other imperfection. The sins of the people were ceremonially placed on the animal, which, with its death, took these sins away.

However, as we read in Hebrews 10:4, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins,” and in verse 10: “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Therefore, Jesus is the only one who can take away our sins, animal sacrifice couldn’t do it, being a “good person” can’t do it, only Jesus can, when/if we are sanctified.

Q: What does it mean to be sanctified once for all?

Jesus sacrifice on the cross for us was not something that was a mistake or a surprise, but something that God had planned. Acts 2:23 tells us that “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;

In 2 Corinthians 5:17 we read: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

Q: Is everyone automatically saved because of Jesus sacrifice on the cross?

Because there is a conditional word “IF”, this means that it is possible to be “in” Christ or it is possible to be “out” of Christ. In Christ we are a new creation “IF” we are in Christ. We need to be “in Christ” to be new.

Ephesians 1:7-8 tells us that “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence.”

Forgiveness of sins is “in Christ”.  Therefore, if we want forgiveness, we must get into Christ.

In our next lesson, we’ll talk about how we can receive this forgiveness and salvation from our sins that Jesus offers us.

Conclusions: Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins, and He did this by taking our sins upon Himself. We can receive forgiveness of our sins and salvation by being in Jesus.