sermon from Nov. 28

Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?

Selected texts

Series on “Christmas 2010” (part 1)

Why did Jesus come from heaven to earth? How does that make Him different than all of the other founders of different religions? One time he said that he came “to seek and to save the lost.” Another time he said that he came to fulfill all of the promises in the Old Testament. Your Bible is divided into two parts—Old and New Testament or promise and fulfillment. In the Old Testament, there were prophets, priests and kings. They all looked forward to the ultimate prophet, priest and king who is Jesus. Let’s also see how practical it can be for your life.

JESUS WAS A PROPHET (ONE WHO SPEAKS FROM GOD TO US)

• A prophet is someone who speaks boldly and confronts sin. In Deuteronomy 18, Moses looked forward to a greater prophet than he was. Hebrews describes Jesus as being greater than Moses because the “builder of the house is greater than the house itself.”
• Jesus didn’t just point to the truth, He said “he was the truth.” It’s like talking about a story and having the author walk in to interpret it for you.
• One way Jesus is a prophet in our lives is that He sends the Holy Spirit to “convict of us of our sin” (i.e. living our lives as if God didn’t exist).

JESUS WAS A PRIEST (ONE WHO SPEAKS TO GOD FOR US)

• A priest would take the hopes, fears, dreams, needs, and sins of the people and bring them to God as a mediator.
• Jesus comes to earth as both God and man so he can identify with us and represent us to God the Father (Jesus is God the Son).
• Hebrews tells us because we have a good high priest (Jesus) we can go directly to God the Father and get the mercy and help we need.
• No matter what problems you have gone through, Jesus has experienced them and more so he is a faithful and sympathetic high priest.

JESUS WAS A KING (ONE WHO RULES AS GOD OVER ALL THINGS)

• Before Pilate he said that “his kingdom was not of this world.” Jesus challenges all despotic powers in the world. Desmond Tutu said that Jesus and the Bible were the biggest threat to dictatorial powers.
• Philippians 2 says that Jesus who became a humble man is exalted by God so that someday all will acknowledge His lordship.
• What it means for Jesus to be a prophet, priest and king in your life.