THE REASON JESUS CHRIST CAME TO EARTH

The reason I am writing this particular post is about something shocking I heard today - that there are still Christians who are only aware of the message of tithes and offerings and are not aware of the message of repentance and salvation.

While correcting the Pharisees in His message, our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 23:23, "How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God a tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cummin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the Law, such as justice and mercy and honesty.

This you should practise, without neglecting the others."

The Lord was simply telling them to, in addition to the very important teaching on tithes and offerings truly needed to advance the work of the Gospel, to also pay attention to the more important teachings of the Law.

Prior to telling His parable of the Lost Sheep (Matthew 18:12-13), our Lord Jesus says in verse 11: "For the Son of Man has come to save what had been lost."

When our Lord Jesus was preparing to go to His suffering and death in Jerusalem as He had told His Apostles severally, He told them to go to a Samaritan village to prepare Him for His journey but the people of the village would not receive Him because they knew He was in transit through their town to Jerusalem.

The Apostles James and John wanted to call fire from heaven to destroy the Samaritan Village to which the Lord Jesus rebuked them saying in Luke 9:55-56, "You don't know what kind of a Spirit you belong to; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives but to save them."

In receiving Zacchaeus the tax collector who promised to make restitution to anyone of all wrongfully collected taxes above the rate allowed by Law, the Lord Jesus said to him, "Salvation has come to this house today, for this man, also, is a descendant of Abraham. The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost."

In all these Scripture passages, we see a pattern beginning to develop as to the reason the Lord Jesus Christ came into the World. His name means Saviour Anointed, while His title is Messiah.

The Lord Jesus always existed as God (Hebrew 1:1-3a) and came into the world as a human being to redeem mankind from sin and death caused by the devil who tricked the first humans Adam and Eve into disobeying God in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3). This was when sin entered the world.

Every human being born after Adam and Eve's sin come with that stain and needed redemption because the gate of heaven had been shut from mankind forever. Initially, God the Father commanded His people the Israelites to use bulls and goats as remission for their sins. 

As Sacred Scripture says in Hebrews 10:3-7, As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins. For this reason, when Christ was about to come into the world, He said to God:

"You do not want sacrifices and offerings, but you have prepared a body for me. You are not pleased with animals burnt whole on the altar or with sacrifices to take away sins. Then I said, Here I am, to do your will, O God, just as it is written of me in the book of the Law."

Our Lord Jesus therefore came as a human being to save man from eternal destruction as a result of God's love for mankind (John 3:16-18). Jesus was offered up once to die for mankind's sins and therefore not only achieved reconciliation for mankind with God but has opened the gate of Heaven to all WHO QUALIFY to go into eternal life.

Therefore no other sacrifice is required to take away sins again as Jesus paid the full price with His Holy and Precious blood (Hebrews 10:9-10, Hebrews 9:22). The Lord Jesus passed through very excruciating pain and suffering and did all this out of His love for us.

The message of repentance and salvation, therefore, is what the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded us as His followers or Christians to preach to everyone on earth. The message is only for those on earth because anyone who has died goes EITHER to eternal torment in hell fire if he or she died in sin or goes to heaven for eternal life with Jesus if he or she lived a righteous life as commanded by Jesus.

We see clearly what constitutes sin or unrighteousness and what constitutes Holiness or righteous living in Galatians 5:16-26.

No one is to take what Jesus did lightly because as Sacred Scripture says in Hebrews 10:26-31, For there is no longer any sacrifice that will take away sins if we purposely go on sinning after the truth has been made known to us. Instead, all that is left is to wait in fear for the coming Judgement and the fierce fire which will destroy those who oppose God!

Anyone who disobeys the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy when judged guilty on the evidence of two or more witnesses. What, then, of the person who despises the Son of God? who treats as a cheap thing the blood of God's covenant which purified him from sin? who insults the Spirit of grace?

Just think how much worse is the punishment he will deserve! For we know who said, "I will take revenge, I will repay"; and who also said, "The Lord will judge His people." It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!

So dear reader, now you know why the Lord Jesus came into the world. Now you know about the great price He paid to save us with His precious blood. Now you know why you should not joke with what Jesus did or think it was a cheap thing. Now you know why Christians preach the message of salvation and repentance.

Since you know all this, what is the next thing to do? The answer is simple - repent of your sins today sincerely and wholeheartedly, accept the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour of your life, ask for His Holy Spirit to come into your life to teach you the truth about God and how to obey His commandments and finally look for a Church (Body of Christ) where they fellowship regularly and PARTICULARLY preach the message of Repentance and Salvation both in word and deed.

The Lord Jesus Christ is coming NOW, as He has been going round telling different people in different Continents to warn mankind about the realities of Heaven and Hell and why mankind should repent and turn to Him as the ONLY guarantee to eternal life in heaven.

As the Lord Jesus says in John 10:10, The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life - life in all its fullness. 

The thief mentioned here is satan and his demons who have made it their duty to deceive and send men to hell since they have already been condemned there by their foolish rebellion against God, while the Lord Jesus comes to give us life in abundance and fullness - only if we obey His commands as contained in His word, the Holy Bible.

Jesus also came to show us how to live a fruitful and happy life and how to overcome the challenges of this life that must happen in this sinful world. He has given us authority over satan and his demons (Luke 10:19) and so we do not need to live in fear but in boldness and love for Jesus and the world to join in the work of salvation to wins souls for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus reminds us not to forget that what is most important is for our names to be in the Book of life in heaven (Luke 10:20). We can ONLY achieve this if we faithfully obey His commands (John 8:31-32)

I urge you, dear friend, to take that bold step now to accept Jesus into your life as tomorrow may be too late. God bless you as you hear His word and obey in Jesus' mighty name, Amen.

Gabriel Ama.