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WHY JESUS CAME
A. Introduction: We just completed a series on who Jesus is according to the eyewitnesses—the people who
walked and talked with Jesus when He was on earth. Tonight, we begin a series about why Jesus came into
this world. Understanding why Jesus came is just as important as knowing who He is.
1. Jesus’ coming has implications for every human being—past, present, and future. His coming affects
our reason for being (why we exist) and our destiny (where we are headed).
a. As a Christian, if you don’t understand what Jesus came into this world to do, you could be aiming at
the wrong goals in life and have false expectations about what God will and won’t do for you.
b. In many Christian circles today it is common to hear people say that Jesus came to give us abundant
life. By this they mean Jesus came so that we can fulfill our destiny—do something significant,
advance in a career, experience the best life has to offer—whatever makes us happy.
1. As proof that Jesus wants us to live the best life possible, many people cite this statement made
by Jesus: I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly. John 10:10
2. But, when sincere people encounter one problem after another, and are weighed down by the
hardships and drudgery of life, many struggle with questions: Where is the abundant life?
What am I doing wrong? Is God upset with me? Others end up angry at God when life
doesn’t go as they thought and they don’t get the blessing they were expecting.
2. But is success in this life what Jesus meant by His statement about abundant life? Is that what the first
eyewitnesses believed Jesus meant? Is that the message the apostles proclaimed as they went out to tell
the world about Jesus? We’re going to answer some of these questions over the next few weeks.

B. We made the point in the last series that Jesus’ first followers (the eyewitnesses) were convinced that Jesus is
God become fully man without ceasing to be fully God—one Person with two natures, human and Divine.
1. In that series we looked at the Gospel of John, written by one of Jesus’ earliest and closest followers,
John the apostle. John opened his gospel with at clear statement that Jesus is God, the Eternal Creator:
a. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. All things
were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1-3, KJV).
b. The next fact John gives about Jesus (the Word) is that: In him was life; and the life was the light
of men (John 1:4, KJV). John called Jesus the light of men because He brings true knowledge of
God who is the source of all true life.
c. The Greek word translated life in this passage is zoe. John, in his gospel and epistles, uses zoe to
mean life as God has in Himself and life as Jesus has in Himself—absolute or perfect uncreated life.
1. John 5:26—For as the Father has life in Himself, so has he granted the Son to have life in
Himself (NIV). I John 5:20—Jesus Christ…is the only true God, and he is eternal life (NLT).
2. I John 5:11-13—This is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in
his Son. So whoever has God’s Son has life; whoever does not have his Son does not have life.
I write this to you who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life
(NLT).
A. When Jesus talked about abundant life H wasn’t talking about quality of life, He was
talking about eternal life, the uncreated life in God Himself. Through faith in Christ we
become partakers of this life (more about this in upcoming lessons).
B. Eternal life is more than endless existence. Eternal life is communion and relationship
with Almighty God. Eternal life is knowing God. Jesus said: And this is eternal life,
that they know you (Father), the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent
(John 17:3, ESV).
2. We have a destiny that is bigger than this life, a purpose that is more important than where we live, who
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we marry, or what job or ministry we have.
a. Almighty God desires that we become more than creatures He created. He created men and women
to become His sons and daughters by partaking of Him—His Spirit, His uncreated, eternal life (zoe).
b. When God created the first man (Adam) and the human race in Adam, God’s desire was that
humanity chose dependence on Him and His life and Spirit.
1. The Book of Genesis gives an account of humanity’s earliest days on earth and life in a
beautiful, flawless world (many lessons for another day). Two specific trees are mentioned—
the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
2. Eating from one tree expressed a choice of dependence on God. The other expressed a choice
of independence from God. One choice would bring life, the other death. Gen 2:17
A. Adam chose independence from God through sin. He ate from the tree of knowledge of
good and evil. Sin is choosing to do it your way rather than God’s way.
B. Adam’s sin affected the human race and the entire creation. As a result of man’s choice,
this world (humanity and the earth itself) is infused with a curse of death. Gen 3:17-19
C. When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death throughout
all the world, so that everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned (Rom 5:12, TLB).
3. Since that time, death has plagued both the planet and the human race. Men are cut off from
God, the life in God (the life of God), and all things (men, animals, plants) corrupt and die.
Every problem in the world is ultimately an expression of the death that permeates creation
because of sin.
c. Jesus came into this world to offer Himself as a sacrifice for the sin of the world and thereby open
the way for all who believe on Him to be restored to God, to be restored to life, through faith in Him.
1. Paul (an eyewitness) wrote: (Jesus) came once for all time at the end of the age, to remove the
power of sin forever by his sacrificial death for us (Heb 9:26, NLT).
2. Peter (an eyewitness) wrote: Christ…died for our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but
he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God (I Pet 3:18, NLT).
3. John (an eyewitness) wrote: God showed us how much he loved us by sending his only Son
into the world so that we might have eternal life (zoe) through him (I John 4:9, NLT).
3. After John’s opening statement about Jesus (John 1:1-4), the next time he used the word life (zoe) in
relation to Jesus, John quoted a statement Jesus made in a conversation with a religious leader, a Pharisee
named Nicodemus.
a. Jesus said: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted
up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:14-15, KJV).
b. Jesus was making reference to a familiar event in Israel’s history. While they were on their way
back to their ancestral land after God delivered them from slavery in Egypt, poisonous snakes
invaded their camp. Many Israelites were bitten and died. Num 21:4-6
1. Moses prayed for the people, and the Lord told him to make a bronze replica of a poisonous
snake and attach it to a pole. God promised that when those who were bitten by the snakes,
looked at the serpent on the pole, they would recover. Num 21:7-9
2. Although this was a real event, it also pictured something about Jesus. He would be lifted up
on the Cross (or crucified), and just as the dying Israelites who looked to the bronze serpent
were saved, those who believe in Jesus will be saved by receiving eternal life (zoe).
A. John 3:14-15—And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert [on a pole], so must—
so it is necessary that—the Son of man be lifted up [on the Cross]; In order that everyone
who believes in Him—who cleaves to Him, trusts Him and relies on Him—may not perish,
but have eternal life and [actually] live forever (Amp).
B. Jesus continued His point with this statement: For God so greatly loved and dearly prized
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the world that He [even] gave up His only-begotten (unique) Son, so that whosoever
believes in (trusts, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish—come to destruction, be lost—
but have eternal (everlasting) life (John 3:16, Amp).
1. Notice, Jesus says that those who believe in Him will not perish. The Greek word
that is translated perish means to destroy fully, to perish, or to lose or be deprived of.
It can mean physical death, or eternal separation from God who is life.
2. God the Father, motivated by love, sent the Son, and the Son (who is Himself God)
willingly came, that the world (men and women) might be saved from perishing, saved
eternal separation from God who is Life.
4. There is no greater destruction that can come to a human being that to be lost to your created purpose.
All human beings were created to become God’s sons and daughters through faith in Him, and then live
in loving relationship with Him, not just in this life, but in the life to come. Sin has disqualified us
for our created purpose. Jesus came to open the way for us to be restored to God.
a. Eph 1:4-5—Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be
holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own
family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure (NLT).
b. II Tim 1:9-10—It is God who saved us and chose us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we
deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and
kindness to us through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of
Christ Jesus, our Savior, who broke the power of death and showed us the way to everlasting life
through the Good News (the gospel) (NLT).
C. The same Greek word that is translated perish is used in another specific statement Jesus made about why He
came to earth: For the Son of man is come to seek and save that which was lost (Luke 19:10, KJV).
1. Jesus made this statement not long before the crucifixion, when He on His way to Jerusalem for the final
time. Jesus spotted a man name Zacchaeus who climbed a tree to get a glimpse of Him. Jesus called to
Zacchaeus and said: I’m coming to be guest in your home today. Luke 19:1-10
a. The crowd began to murmur because Zacchaeus was a publican (tax collector). He was one of the
main tax collectors for the Romans in that area, and was very wealthy.
1. Publicans were Jews who worked as tax collectors for Rome. They were considered traitors to
their people and were despised. Jesus came to seek and save the lost men like Zacchaeus.
2. Throughout Jesus’ ministry He was criticized for eating with tax collectors and sinners. Jesus’
response was: I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt 9:13, KJV).
b. The word repentance is used by Jesus and all through the New Testament to mean turn from sin and
follow Jesus—live in obedience to Him, imitate Him, seek to be like Him (more in later lessons).
2. On one occasion (also a few months before Jesus was crucified) in response to more criticism from
religious leaders for associating with sinners, Jesus told three parables about lost items. Luke 15:1-32
a. In the first two parables Jesus talked about a man who had one hundred sheep, but one went missing.
In the second parable, Jesus talked about a woman with ten pieces of silver and lost one of them.
1. In both instances the owners searched diligently until they found what was lost. Then they
called friends and family to rejoice with them over the lost items that were found.
2. Jesus ended each parable with: In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner
who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away
(Luke 15:7). In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one
sinner repents (Luke 15:10).
b. Then Jesus told a parable about a lost son. The son took his inheritance from his father, left home,
and spent all of the money on wild, riotous living.
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1. During a time of famine, the son ended up in a pigpen, eating swine food. At that point he
came to his senses and went back to his father’s house. The son realized that he had sinned
against both Heaven (Almighty God) and his father (his fellow man). Luke 15:11-21
2. The father welcomed the son home and then celebrated with a joyous feast: We…celebrate
this happy day. For this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but
now he is found. So the party began (Luke 15:24, NLT).
A. Note that these items (the sheep, the coin, the son) were valuable to their owners. The
items did not lose their value to their owner when they were lost, but that value could be
realized by the owner until the items were found.
B. Note that these items could not fulfill their created purpose while they were lost. Lost is
the same word used when Jesus said that God so loved the world that He gave His Son so
that whosoever trusts in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
c. Jesus told this parable to illustrate the fact that lost men have value to God. Jesus came to open the
way for sinful men and to be restored to their Creator and their created purpose.
3. Notice one more point in the parable about the lost son. Once the son was truly sorry for his sin and
came back home, there was a cleansing and restoration process.
a. Luke 15:22—But his father said to the servants, Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it
on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet (NLT).
1. Those who heard Jesus speak and were familiar with the Old Testament recognized that a
change of clothes meant removal of sin (Zach 3:4). The audience also knew that rings were
given to men as a mark of dignity and honor, and shoes were a symbol of freedom (shoes were
taken from prisoners).
2. There is a lot of symbolism in this. The point for us is that although this dirty, stinky wicked
son had truly repented and come back to father’s house, a cleansing and restoration process was
needed to transform him into a son suitable for life in his father’s home.
b. Jesus came to open the way for sinful men and women to be transformed into holy, righteous sons
and daughters of God. Paul the apostle, in the context of God calling people according to His
purpose for them wrote: For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like
his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn, with many brothers and sisters (Rom 8:29, NLT).
1. Our purpose, our destiny is to become sons and daughters who are like Jesus, conformed to His
image, Christ-like in character—sons and daughters who are holy and righteous in all their
motives, thoughts, words, and actions—just as Jesus, the Perfect Son, is.
2. Paul wrote: (Jesus) gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify
for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds (Titus 2:14, NASB).
4. Abundant life is being restored to our created purpose by becoming a partaker of God’s Spirit and life,
and then, by God’s Spirit in us, being conformed to the image of Christ—becoming Christ-like in
character, a son or daughter who is fully pleasing to our Father God.
D. Conclusion: Every human being wants to know why we’re here and what destiny and our purpose is. To
properly answer those questions, you must begin with God your Creator and His plan and purpose.
1. He doesn’t exist for us. We exist for Him: Rev 4:11—You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive
glory, honor, and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were
created (NLT).
2. Our purpose, our destiny is to be transformed into holy, righteous sons and daughters of God by His
Spirit and life, sons and daughters who are fully glorifying to Him in every thought, word, and deed.
Jesus came into this world to make this restoration and transformation possible. Much more next week!