Jesus came to save us
“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.”
1 Timothy 1:15
Jesus came to earth, born as we were. But why?
Because no one else could save us.
He knew. God knew that there was only one option. We were filthy, wandering, and helpless sinners that had several ways to one option: hell. Without him, that is what we are and where we're supposed to go. In and of ourselves, we have no goodness that could even get us near enough to God to beg him for mercy.
And God knew. He knew his loving creation had messed up. The very first humans did and, make no mistake, every human since has, too, including us. The only way we would be able to be free was through Him.
So in his love, God sent the world his only Son (John 3:16). And in his love, Jesus came to the world to save us, sinners.
There is salvation in no one else (Acts 4:12). There is no other name that anyone has that could give us what we so desperately needed. There is only one way back to God, back to our Creator (John 14:6). Anything else we trust in will leave us empty and restless.
And that’s been Satan’s plan all along. From the beginning (Genesis 3:4), all Satan wants to do is pull us away from God. He will tell us just what we think we want to hear and twist it to get his way. But if we truly see him as he is, he isn’t the giver of anything. He paces around us calculatingly, wanting to completely destroy us (1 Peter 5:8).
This is where Jesus finds us. And that’s why he came.
He steps in between us and Satan and takes the beatings meant for us (John 19:1). He came into the world not receiving the King’s welcome he should have had (John 1:10-11), but was instead despised by us (Isaiah 53:3, Matthew 12:14). The consequences of our sins fell on him instead of us (Isaiah 53:5, 1 Peter 2:24). It’s why he came (John 1:29, Matthew 1:21).
He didn’t do it halfway. Jesus didn’t just come to teach us some good morals or even the ultimate Truth to follow. He didn’t just do some miracles to prove the wonder of who God is.
Jesus made the hardest decision in the world. Even after asking God if there was another option, he didn’t waver. Even when God sent an angel to strengthen him instead of saving him and Jesus felt deep agony, he didn’t give up on us, but continued with the plan of his ultimate suffering and our ultimate saving (Luke 22:41-44).
Thankfully we know that the story doesn’t end with his death nor ours. His resurrection from the dead thwarted all of Satan’s plans. Because now there was a way that we could be as far from hell as possible. Now there was hope.
He alone, the Son of God and the Son of Man, would be able to save us from our sin and from the hold of the devil. And praise God, he did.
Jesus came.
