Wjhy he came 5

When we were much younger, there was this popular saying of “do what I say but not what I do “. This was used to describe people who doled advice they would not generally use and as such, were judged for the hypocrisy of their words. Somehow if God did not come in human form, we could accuse him of demanding from us what he has not been through himself and as such the coming of Jesus in addition to providing a platform for identifying with humanity also served to show us  an example.

This reason of his being an example affords us the privilege of a role model. Paul while speaking to  the Galatian church asked them to imitate him as he imitated Christ ( 1 Corinthian 11:1).There are several instances Jesus served as an example to us.

There was a song we used to sing about prayer in the Sunday School “Jesus started with prayer and ended with prayer, prayer is the master key”. Jesus showed an example to us by laying a pattern of consistent prayer (Mark 1:35). Even with increasing popularity, he often withdrew himself to pray (Luke 5:16). He prayed so much that his disciples actually asked him to teach them to pray (Luke 11:1).We are told he prayed out of reverent submission (Hebrews 5:7).

Jesus also showed us an example in going to a place of worship regularly. He was taken to the temple as a child ( Luke 2:21-40), as a boy(Luke 2:41-52) and even on Sabbath days( Luke 4:16) and the book of Hebrews enjoins us not to forsake the gathering of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25).Whenever we gather with other believers, power is released (Obadiah 1:17, Psalms 84:7,Hebrews 12:22).

He was also an example of what it meant to be a good citizen by paying his taxes and to be a good church member by paying the temple tax.

Jesus was not too busy to be sociable as we see him attending a wedding party (John 2:1-12 ). He even performed his first miracle there. .He was friendly and had friends,( John 11), and had time to play and touch little children  who were brought to him(Matthew 19:14).Jesus also showed us an example of what it means to be a real man, he was man enough to cry (John 11:35) when he lost a friend.

Another example Jesus showed us was the need to be able to cross barriers and treat people equally. He crossed  cultural and racial barriers by talking with the Samaritan women (John 4), ate and drank with tax collectors who were regarded as outcasts in his days ( Matthew 11 :19).He knew the art of delegation and at one time sent seventy disciples out to preach Luke 10 :17-19).

These are just a few examples I have mentioned but studying the life of Jesus personally will cause us to see how he was

Lest I forget, Jesus showed us an example of what it is to provide for our families. While he was on the cross, he provided life insurance for his widowed mother whom he told the John to take home as his own mother (John 19 :25-27) .

We really do celebrate the coming of Jesus as we have come to see that his coming was in no way accidental, he came because he was sent and so as to fulfil prophecy, he also came as part of the redemptive plan of God, identifying with us humans while showing us examples of how to live our lives.

I am so glad that Jesus came, what about you?

In His Service.

Grace Tom-Lawyer

Why he came 4

“For the Son of man , came to seek and save the lost “-Luke 18 :10 -NIV New International Version

“But go and learn what this means ,I desire mercy and not sacrifice For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”--Matthew 9:13  KJV King James Version
“For this reason, whe had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful priest in service to God that he might make atonement for the sins of the people”- Hebrews 2:17 NIV New International Version
 “Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are tested”- Hebrews 2:18 NLT New Living Translation

The third reason we would consider why Jesus came is the fact that Jesus came to redeem man. It was part of God’s redemptive purpose which required that man be restored (1 John 4:10).

Jesus came to redeem us, he came to save us (Matthew 9:13). In his days, Jesus was misinterpreted. He was accused of eating with sinners(Mark 2:17-18) but this company he kept was actually defined by his mission as this were the very people he was sent to.For anyone to work in divine purpose, not all company will be right and we must see this being far beyond physical company.

In this redemptive purpose of God, Jesus came to remove us from just existing to truly living (1 John 5:12).He declared that he had come to give us abundant life(John 10:10).Another part of the redemptive purpose of God was for Jesus to destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).

The next reason we will consider for his coming is that Jesus came so as to identify with humanity. It was necessary for Jesus to come to earth to identify with us. Right where he was in the heaven, he could not redeem man because the prophecy in Genesis 3:15 talked about the “seed of the woman”. God could not fully identify with man until he became man (1 Timothy 3:16) and as such was able to serve us in the redemptive purpose (Mark 10:45).

In identifying with man, Jesus came to reveal the father to us (John 17:25-26) .He started this with his disciples whom  he could not have related to properly without being human.

If Jesus did not identify with us by being made a human being, he would never have really been able to empathize with us , hence we see that in becoming fully human ,in every way, he is able to be a merciful and faithful priest(Hebrews 2:17).

The fact that Jesus came to identify with us brings a lot of comfort to me and I would like to look at several things that Jesus experienced that we experience today, yet he was without sin (Hebrews 4:15).

Jesus knows what it is to have suffered the pain of mockery and insults ( Matthew 27;31&1 Peter 2:23). He is well acquainted with the pain of being misunderstood(John 10:30-33) and misintepreted .Even his family members thought that he was crazy (Mark 3:21).He knows what it is to be betrayed even by close friends (Luke 22:48) and to be left alone or even denied when the chips are down by people who he felt were his best buddies.(Luke 22:54-62).

Jesus has also felt the sting of being despised as his neighbours retorted that he was just a carpenter (Matthew 13:55).While identifying with us, Jesus is fully aware of what it feels like to be forsaken by God ( Matthew 27:46  ) and he knows, O this one has brought me great comfort in the past few weeks, he knows what it is to be falsely accused .Having gone through a season of being falsely accused with many times just lying down on the bed and crying, I have drawn comfort from the fact that Jesus knows what it is to be falsely accused and he can share my pain .

Probably another area we can all identify with is the pain of seemingly unanswered prayers (Matthew 26:39,Luke 22:42). Yes ,Jesus also did not have all his prayers answered as he would have loved them to be. And if we find ourselves grieving, we can also be sure that he understands, having lost even a close friend. We are told he wept. But in all of these, Jesus still did the will of the father and was without sin (Hebrews 4 :15 ) .

Jesus came to redeem man and in doing so, he died in our place. He also came to identify with us, knowing what it is to be human so he can fully help us. We can freely approach him for mercy and grace in our times of need (Hebrews 4:16) He has been there, gone through and nailed it to the cross.

In His Service.

Grace Tom-Lawyer