Greetings to all of you in the name of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, whose birth we all will be celebrating shortly.
Generally at Christmas time we recount the events
around the birth of Jesus. About Mary, the young maiden betrothed to Joseph the
carpenter, and how she was found to be with child by the power of the Holy
Spirit as informed by the angel Gabriel; how both had to journey to Bethlehem
to register themselves in the census ordered by Emperor Augustus and as there was
no place in the inns, she delivered her baby in the manger; how the shepherds
came to visit the baby being informed by the choir of the angels; how the Magi traveled from the east, following a star and finding the baby worshiped him
as a King and presented to him gold, frankincense and myrrh as gifts; how Herod
King of Judea intended to kill the baby, and warned by an angel the couple ran
away to Egypt with the child and after the death of Herod they returned to
Judea, and settled down in Nazareth in Galilee.
But today I want to delve into the reasons or the
purpose for which Jesus was born as a baby some 2000 years back. Yes, as
preached by the apostles and as written in the Gospels, we all know that Jesus
was born to redeem mankind, reconcile us to God and to assure us of eternal
life. Let’s search what the Bible says regarding this in detail.
The angel who appeared to Joseph in his dream instructed
him to take the pregnant Mary as his wife and that the child she will bear
should be named “Jesus for he will save his people from their sins.”(Matthew
1:21). This is the main purpose for which Jesus came to earth. Saving us from
our sins is salvation. We, the sinful mankind cannot stand before the holy and
pure God, especially on the Judgment Day, for all our righteousness is but
filthy rags in the eyes of God. (Isaiah 64:6). So we need someone who is born a
human like us, but sinless, who will offer himself on his own free will as a
sacrifice, bearing our sins. This is what Jesus did on the cross and this is
the meaning of Old Testament sacrificial system. An animal is sacrificed in the
place of the sinner so that the sinner is forgiven and lives, but the animal
dies in his place. Jesus was the Lamb of God who died in our place so that we
can go scot-free.
At this juncture it is good to know that no other
religion on earth preaches forgiveness of sins. In Hinduism, even god cannot
forgive sins, but an individual has to work out his own salvation by doing many
good deeds to overcome the effects of his bad deeds, which is the essence of Karma theory. As one life is not
sufficient to achieve this, this theory proposes that a man takes many births
to finally break free of the world, which is mukti. Buddhism follows similar teaching for it is an offshoot of
Hinduism. But Buddhism does not even acknowledge that there is god! In Islam,
it is believed that one’s salvation depends on the mercy of Allah, and so to
please Allah, they do many charitable deeds to become worthy of salvation.
In all these teachings it is, “Do good so you can be
saved.” Apostles of Christ taught “We do good because we are saved.” It is from
the assurance of our salvation and in gratitude of being saved that we serve
others in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus is also the only one who proclaimed
that he, the Son of Man, has the authority to forgive sins in Mark 2:10, while
healing the paralytic who was lowered from the roof by his friends. So the
first purpose for which Jesus came to earth is to offer forgiveness to sins,
thereby saving us from our sins.
Secondly Jesus announced during his ministry, “Let us
go to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for
that is what I came out to do.” (Mark 1:38). So what is this message that Jesus
wanted to proclaim? Jesus began his ministry by exhorting people, “Repent, for
the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17). This was his message.
This is also our Good News or the Gospel. If an individual repents, seeks
forgiveness of his sins, he will be forgiven, for Jesus, who has the power to
forgive sins, has come to the world, inaugurating the kingdom of God on earth.
Though the message of Jesus is universal and the
salvation he offered is also universal, without us repenting our sins, and
obtaining remission of it in faith in Jesus, God is not going to just pour out
salvation over anyone. This is set clearly by Apostle Peter in his very first
sermon in Jerusalem, when he said in Acts 2:38, “Repent, and be baptized every
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that our sins may be forgiven; and
you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This forgiveness of sins or
remission of sins is necessary for salvation and the first step towards this is
repentance. We can glean four stages in the process of our salvation here:
repentance, remission of sins in the name of Jesus Christ, baptism and
receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. The message of Jesus was repentance and
forgiveness of sins, the good news being Jesus has the authority to forgive our
sins.
Thirdly, the birth of Jesus is never far away from his
death on the cross. Jesus said he came “to give his life a ransom for many.” (Mark
10:45b). As explained earlier, he came to die for us, to bear our sins and die
in our place on the cross, as a substitute; to pay the ransom for our lives, to
save us from sure death and die as a propitiation for our sins. It is his shed
blood that ransomed those who believe in him; he had paid for our sins that we
need to do no work or toil to earn our salvation. All that we need is faith in
this work of his and appropriate it to us. It is “the blood of Jesus his
(God’s) Son (that) cleanses us from all sins.” (I John 1:7b). Paul explains it
beautifully in Romans 3:22-25. We, the believers are “now justified by his
(God’s) grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom
God put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through
faith.” When we believe in what Christ did for us on the cross, his
righteousness is imparted to us. Hallelujah!
If the ‘reason’ for the ‘season’ is Jesus, then we can
say that it is not about anything but ‘it is about the cross.’ Without the
cross there is no redemption for us. It is by the blood that was shed on
Calvary that our sins are forgiven. Then, he came to shed his blood on the
cross as a ransom for many, all those who will believe in him.
Finally, Jesus came to earth to rise victoriously from
the dead on the third day, victorious over sin and death and blazed the way to
heaven in his resurrection. Can we stand on Mount Zion with the Lamb as a
follower of Christ, with the names of God the Father and the Lamb written on
our foreheads, as indicated in Revelation 14:1? What a privilege it would be!
Is that not the final goal of every Christian who believes in Christ? We are
justified, that is, declared ‘not guilty’ by God; sanctified by the Holy
Spirit, transforming us from sinners to saints, a process that goes on till the
end of our lives, and finally in death and resurrection we are glorified, inheriting
the eternal life. This is why Jesus came to earth, so that we can inherit
eternal life. “That whoever believes in him (Jesus Christ) may have eternal
life.” (John 3:15b).
Then, Jesus came to earth as a baby born in the
manger, some 2000 years ago, to save us from our sins, to proclaim the good
news that forgiveness is available to the repentant for he has the power to
forgive sins, to die for us to pay ransom for our sins, and to show us the way in
resurrection to heaven to inherit eternal life.
Have you accepted this Jesus as your Savior? What
amazing grace that once we have faith in him and in his sacrifice, all the
above said blessings will be ours, our heritage to live with and to die for.
God bless you all. Have a wonderful Christmas and a
very happy New Year!
