WHY DID GOD SEND HIS ONLY SON TO US? - December 16, 2023

           God the Father sent Jesus to die as a sin sacrifice for every human being on earth, so that not one person who put his/her trust in Him would die and suffer eternal punishment for his sins. GOD DID THAT, AND JESUS AGREED TO IT. He said, "... Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me.  Then I said, 'Behold, I have come -- In the volume of the book it is written of Me-- to do Your will, O God'" (Heb. 10: 5-7; Psalm 40:6-8).

          God wanted Jesus to die in our place because a just God could not leave sin unpunished, and our God is a just God. BUT WHY did the Father and His Son want all humans to escape death and hell at the price of the cruel death of the sinless Jesus on a cross to take our place? WHY?

          Because GOD LOVES US! LOVE IS THE REASON! In a nutshell this one Bible verse sums it up: "For God so LOVED the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

          Look at the baby in the manger. His birth to a virgin mother was a miracle, because GOD ALMIGHTY was the baby's Father. After His resurrection, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene and said, "... go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God" (John 20:17). Jesus died on the cross as a man. He was 100% human and 100% God! He was like us in every respect, except He had never sinned. He showed us by His life on earth that He could be perfect, and He could perform miracles, but only by the POWER of the Holy Spirit, leaving us an example of how to live our lives. Being sinless, He was qualified to be a perfect sacrifice for us humans. And He opened the door for us into a personal relationship with God as our Father and Jesus as our elder brother, although Jesus would also be our Bridegroom and our King. You and I can agree with Thomas, who confessed upon seeing His nail-scarred hands, Jesus is "My Lord and my God!" (John 20:27-28). "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). Wow!

          Look again at the baby in the manger. Do you see a shadow? It is the shadow of a cruel Roman cross. Jesus would go from the cradle to the cross, his singular mission in His brief life of thirty years on this earth.

          AND HE DID IT ALL OUT OF LOVE FOR US! Never doubt you are loved and forgiven. You would be saying that Jesus' death on the cross was insufficient for you. That would be the height of ingratitude and wretchedness!

          At Christmas, rejoice that Jesus came into the world for a person like you, beginning life as a baby, and growing up, knowing the cross awaited Him, so that you could live with Him in eternity, enjoying the perfect life of LOVE. Let your praises outdo the angels' announcement to the shepherds in the skies over Bethlehem this Christmas!