ast time, I started to expound the reasons why Jesus came. I plan to continue this study again today.
Let us pray.
In the previous time, I explained that though the immediate parents of Jesus can be said to be Jews, their ancestors were actually mixture of several blood.
God made sure that the blood of all the races in the world as of the time were present in Him so that no nation or race can lay absolute claim that He belongs to them.
No, Christ belongs to everyone in all the nations and all races of the world.
I also said that in His vein flows the blood of Tamar and Ahab. Both women are Canaanites. Canaanites are descendants of Ham, from whom all the black race of the world descended.
I also spoke about the prophecies that heralded the birth of Jesus. These prophecies spanned hundreds of years by different people who did not know themselves.
I also spoke about the spectacular events surrounding His birth and the spectacular events that occurred when He was born.
A mysterious star showed up in the sky. The astrologers promptly recognized that something extraordinary was happening to the earth.
They followed the movement of the star to the location where the event was taking place. It was the birth of a little boy in a manger. Recognizing the baby as the King of kings, the astrologers worshipped Him and presented Him with precious gifts.
An angel descended from heaven at night to announce the birth of the baby to some shepherds watching after their flock in the field by night at the outskirt of the town. The angel was joined by other heavenly hosts to sing praises to God.
But why will the king of kings come to earth in human form and be subjected to all human indignity? Why?
The simple answer is that He came because of you and me, in order to re-unite you and me with God, from whom we have been separated due to our sins.
Initially, God set a number of laws, which were expected to guide man aright, to make him holy.
Unfortunately the laws failed to achieve the purpose for which they were given.
Paul in Roman 8 vs 3 says "The law did not achieve holiness in us because it was weak through the flesh" (Vs. 3 KJV).
Same verse in the LB has it that: "Knowing the commandments of God do not save us from sin's grasp, because we can't and don't keep them because the sinful nature within us is against God. It never did obey God's laws and it never will. This is why those that are in the flesh cannot please God" (Vs. 7-8).
Certainly, this is the situation with every human being who will be sincere to him or herself.
If we human beings can admit within ourselves that we do not measure up in our daily living to be described as righteous, how then do we think that God will be pleased with us and accept us into His place (heaven), which is a Holy place and where nothing unholy will be admitted?
If God demands 'Holiness' in us before He can accept us as His children and we fail to meet the conditions of obtaining holiness through the keeping of His commandments, where do we go from there? What is the alternative? How else can we be made right with God?
God knew all along that we will fail Him by the deeds of the law. Paul testified to this in Rom. 3:20. He wrote
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God"
But right from the time man (Adam) fell in the garden, God had provided an escape for man and his descendants by which we can become justified again in His sight.
The first revelation of this is found in Gen. 3:15 when He (God) pronounced judgement on the serpent (Satan) who was the architect of man's separation from God.
Prophet Isaiah said : "The people who walk in darkness shall see a great light - a light that will shine on all those who live in the land of the shadow of death…… For God will break the chains that bind His people and the whip that scourges them, …For unto us a Child is born; unto us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder; and His Name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace…. The Zeal of the Lord of host will perform this" (Isaiah 9:2-7).
This son did come. We are during this period celebrating His coming.
We are celebrating His coming because He came and broke the chains that bind us and the whip that scourges us in the rules for worship vis-ŕ-vis, what and what not to eat, what and what not to wear, the number of times to pray in the day, the preparations to make before each prayer, the particular place to face at prayers.
Under the law, the penalty for violating any of the moral laws were harsh, punishable by death in many instances.
Paul the apostle in Galatians 3:13 described them as 'doom of impossible system'. (LB)
Peter described the law system as "a yoke that neither we nor our fathers were able to bear" (Acts.15:10).
The truth of the matter is that the moment our fore parents broke God's command in the garden, He realized the failure of the law and He had planned the way by which man will be able to meet the condition of salvation. He made this provision in Jesus. This is the significance of Gen.3:15.
Salvation then becomes that of FAITH in this plan of God"
Abraham on the account of his faith in God had been considered righteous by God (Gen.15:6).
Why then did God give the laws when actually He had planned salvation by faith right in the garden, as we know that the laws came 1400 years after the event in the garden?
Paul explained; "They were added after the promise was given to show men how guilty they are of breaking God's Laws" (Gal. 3:19). "That every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God" (Rom. 3:19).
It is also to allow us to see what God's Standard of Holiness is, which no human being can meet.
The laws allow us to see what great sinners we are; for the more we know of God's laws, the clearer our shortcomings are made obvious (Rom. 3:20). We thus become humble before Him, void of any boasting of what we can ever do to earn our salvation.
So, we realize that our acquittal is not based on our good deeds or how many times we pray in the day, or how eloquent we are at prayers, or how much of the scriptures we know, or how many times we fast in a year or how many pilgrimages we make, or how much donations we make. "BUT ON WHAT CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US" (Rom. 3:27-28).
All the requirements of the law were met in Him and that is why He Himself said that He had not come to cancel the laws but to fulfill them.
The system of the law was to last only until the coming of Christ, the Child to whom God's promise was made (Gal. 3:19).
"Until Christ came, we were guarded by the law, kept in protective custody, so to speak, until we could believe in the coming Saviour.
The Jewish laws were our teacher and guide until Christ came to give us right standing with God through our faith" (Gal. 3:23-24).
Augustus M. Toplady (1740-1778) certainly grasped the concept of our salvation and he expressed it excellently in his famous song "Rock of Ages" Vs 2 and 3 reads:
2 Not the labour of my hands can fulfill Thy law's demands; Could my zeal no respite know, could my tears for ever flow, All for sin could not atone; Thou must save, and Thou alone.
3.Nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling; Naked, come to thee for dress, helpless, look to Thee for grace; Foul, I to the fountain fly; wash me, saviour, or I die.
After Jesus came and offered Himself as a on-time sacrifice as penalty for the sin of man, salvation became that of grace to anyone who will simply believe in that plan of salvation, void of any good work that anyone can claim.
Will you accept this plan of salvation today and have your name written in the book of life?
As for me I will rather take the name of Jesus now, get to the gate of heaven and find it not what is required; I will have lost nothing, than to reject Him now, get to heaven and the name of Jesus is all that is required and it will be too late. That you will not have a regret is my prayer.
Let us pray