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Why Did He Come?
By Dennis Pollock "And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins'' (Matthew 1:21). Nearly everybody loves Christmas. Christians do; skeptics do; even Jews can sometimes be found with a tree in the window and stockings hung by the chimney with care. Perhaps it is partly the “Christmas cheer” that the ghost of Christmas-Present sprinkles upon weary people who otherwise have little to be cheerful about. The myths of a little fat man in a red suit, elves, reindeer, and magic are a nice escape from terrorism, Iraq, and an insolvent Social Security system. Then, too, the idea of Baby Jesus in the manger is far less threatening than the grown Man who declared, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me” (Matthew 16:24). Babies don’t really intimidate us; God manifested in the flesh making demands upon our life is a different matter altogether. Even among evangelical Christians there is a difference of emphasis upon the nature and purpose of Christ’s incarnation. Many pastors have decided that the major reason Jesus came was to give to us the good life. “God has a wonderful plan for your life” is the cardinal doctrine of this new faith. Vote for Jesus and (to quote Pedro from the Napoleon Dynamite movie) all your wildest dreams will come true. Seems rather far from the words of Jesus, when he told Ananias to go and lay hands on Paul, “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name's sake'' (Acts 9:16). Such was God’s wonderful plan for Paul’s life (which truly was wonderful, but not in the sense that most folks count wonderful!). The Heart of the Matter The truth is that many of the concepts we like to use to entice sinners to come to Christ, such as fulfillment, success, happiness, and peace can often be byproducts of what Jesus does but they are not the heart of the matter. The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that Jesus came to earth to deal with the source of man’s most serious problem, which is sin. Anyone who reads the Bible finds that it is all about sin and righteousness – our sin, God’s righteousness, and our own need for that righteousness if we are ever to live eternally in God’s presence. And it is made abundantly clear that the alternative to living forever in God’s presence is not a reality any sane man would want. This is why the word “repent” is used so frequently in the New Testament. When John the Baptist began his ministry, his message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!'' (Matthew 3:2). When Jesus came along six months later, the message wasn’t much different: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’'' (Matthew 4:17). When the Lord sent out the disciples to preach all over Israel, we are told: “So they went out and preached that people should repent” (Mark 6:12). And on the Day of Pentecost, after the Spirit had fallen and the crowds asked in fearful tones, “What shall we do?” Peter boldly told them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). God seems to be especially concerned about this business of repenting from sin! Considering the prominence of this command, and the fact that it was endorsed by our Lord and by all those closest to Him, it would seem natural that we should hear this echoed frequently and constantly in the evangelical church where the believers profess to love, respect, and believe the Scriptures. And yet there is a strange silence in many churches on this subject of repentance from sin. Indeed the whole concept of sin vs. righteousness seems to have gone AWOL from most churches. The good life has taken its place and is hammered home with mind numbing regularity. As a result we have multitudes accepting a Christ who has almost nothing to do with saving from sin, and is far more in the mode of therapist, coach, and Santa Claus. Sin as a Ravenous Beast One of the earliest Biblical characterizations of sin is found in the story of Cain and Abel. Once Cain has been rejected for offering a non-blood sacrifice, he develops a bitter attitude. God says to him: Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it (Genesis 4:6,7). God portrays sin to Cain as a living beast, crouching by his doorway, ready to pounce and destroy. Perhaps one of the most fearful and incredible descriptions of sin can be found in the words, “its desire is for you.” Sin wanted Cain, and those who know the story know that it got what it wanted. Cain went on to become the world’s first murderer. In much of the church it is fairly well known (if not preached so much) that Jesus died on the cross to redeem us from the penalty of sin. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of Christ. Jesus died as our sin substitute, suffering the wrath of God in our place and becoming a “propitiation” for us (meaning one who diverts God’s anger by taking it on Himself). Sadly, this is too often as far as most folks go with Jesus as our Savior. Being set free from the penalty of sin is indeed wonderful, but Christ’s death is tragically inadequate if it leaves us to live continually under the dominion of sin, doing the things we hate and hating the things we do. What many fail to realize is that Jesus came not only to deliver us from sin’s penalty, but also from sin’s power. Our Lord tells us that there is a slavery to sin. Today we like to talk about addictions. We talk about sexual addictions, alcohol addictions, drug addictions, gambling addictions, and so forth. We instinctively realize that many people have gotten themselves into behavior patterns that they find they hate, and yet seem powerless to do anything about it. There is some truth to this. Jesus knew about addictions a long time ago, but used a slightly different term when He declared, “Everyone who sins is a slave of sin” (John 8:34). He was not suggesting that man is therefore not accountable for his behavior. The slavery of sin is one we bring upon ourselves. There are two different aspects to sin the Bible illuminates. The first is the one that most people picture when they think about sin. In this portrait the sinner is a rebel. He shakes His fist at God and His holy commands and defiantly refuses to obey them. Jeremiah describes the Israelites of his day thus: They are all hardened rebels, going about to slander. They are bronze and iron; they all act corruptly (Jeremiah 6:28). Certainly rebellion is a core component of sin, particularly in its opening phases. But when we see the sinner as a rebel only, it is hard to feel any kind of compassion for him. He is defiant, stubborn, arrogant, and presumptuous, and deserves every bit of wrath the Almighty dishes out to him. But there is another, Biblical perspective on sin and the sinner. In this view the sinner is seen as a captive, almost to the point of being a victim. This is the kind of situation Paul describes in Romans 7, as he describes the man who “delights in the law of God according to the inner man,” yet finds himself powerless to change his wicked behavior. He does the thing he hates and cannot find the strength to do that which his heart truly wants. Paul sums up such a situation with the words, “O wretched man that I am. Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Let me flesh this out with the following illustration: Here is a young man who is feeling his oats. Rebellion is in his blood, and he is tired of always having to live up to his parents’ standards and convictions. At last he breaks free and begins to deliberately behave in ways he knows his parents disapprove. One of his rebellious choices is to begin to smoke cigarettes. He can’t stand the taste at first, but he is determined to press through and become a smoker. It looks so cool, it looks so hip, and it totally defies his parents’ wishes and convictions. And so he walks down the street proudly puffing and strutting his newfound independence. Rebellion feels so exhilarating! Advance the clock 40 years. Now middle-aged, the man has been smoking for decades. He has shortness of breath and the beginnings of emphysema. He has a pot belly, is nearly bald, and has long given up on trying to look cool. His parents are both dead, so he has no one to rebel against by his smoking. Thinking about the costs of his habit he decides he would be better off quitting. But when he throws his cigarettes away, he discovers a powerful craving. What his body once tried to reject is now making demands of the most intense kind. After just a couple of days, he buys himself several cartons of cigarettes and begins to puff away. He now smokes not out of rebellion, but because he has to. He started out a rebel but has ended up a slave. What he could have easily dealt with in the beginning has become a monster that he cannot overcome at this stage. Habitual sin always works this way. Play around the slippery slope long and you will soon fall in. Having fallen you find the pit is far too steep for your puny will-power and good intentions to scale. I once counseled a woman with an anger problem. She was in the habit of flying off the handle toward her husband, which wasn’t doing much for their marriage. She knew she was wrong to do this and came to me for help. I asked her, “When you lose your temper this way, do you afterwards go to him and ask his forgiveness?” She told me an answer I have never forgotten, as it so perfectly describes the slavery of sin. She said, “I used to, but then he told me, ‘I don’t know why you’re apologizing, since you know you’re going to turn around and do this again.’” Then this distraught lady told me, “I knew he was right, and after that I stopped apologizing.” I have always been bothered by that popular bumper sticker which reads: “Christians aren’t perfect; they’re just forgiven.” I have no problem with the first and last points. I have never met a perfect Christian yet, and if the Bible says anything, it tells us that the gospel provides the forgiveness of sins. The problem I have is with that little word “just” that sits between the two points. I don’t like the idea of being just forgiven – as though all Christ was able to accomplish was to wipe the slate clean, only to have us carry on in the same wicked way as before, as He continually stays busy wiping and re-wiping our slates. Jesus announced at the beginning of His ministry that the Spirit of the Lord was upon Him, and that God had anointed Him to proclaim deliverance to the captives. As far as I am concerned one of the greatest chapters in the Bible is Romans 6, where Paul affirms over and over in varied ways that Jesus sets us free from the power and grip of sin. Among many other amazing declarations, Paul tells us:
Here is the Emancipation Proclamation for the Christian. Here we discover that Christ is not only our Deliverer from sin’s penalty, but from its very power. And here we learn that it is not our will-power or resolutions that bring the victory, but Christ Himself. Just as we could not save ourselves from hell by our good works, so we cannot save ourselves from sin’s dominion by our own efforts and determination. Jesus was born! And it is indeed fitting that we celebrate this incredible good news. Enjoy the Christmas carols, the eggnog (does anybody really like that stuff?), and that special present that sits wrapped under the tree. But always remember that the manger was but the first step to the cross and the resurrection. The angel said to the shepherds, “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…” (Luke 2:10). And that good news is that the penalty and the power of sin would be annihilated in the lives of all that would embrace Christ the Savior and the Deliverer. A faith glimpse of the Savior is sufficient to break even the strongest bonds. For “if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).
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