The Purpose of Jesus

We all know the story of Baby Jesus. We tell it every year at Christmas time. We teach it to our kids before they know how to write their own names. We use the story to tell the gospel. None of these things are bad, but I think that too often we rest on the story of Baby Jesus and we forget about the man on the cross that the baby in the manger grew up to be.

We picture our Savior as the baby that was born in a barn to the Virgin Mary. We see the man with all of God’s power and authority as the tender and mild infant that the wise men visited. When we continue to view the Son of God as Baby Jesus we forget how incredible this man was. We downplay his sacrifice and we tend to see him as someone that came only to provide for us, forgetting to serve him and obey him as our Lord.

Yes, Christ did come to die for us, to save us, and to give us life; a gift greater than anything we could imagine. Jesus came for the world. He came to set the ultimate example for us and he paid the ultimate price for me so that I could live to show his example to others. Jesus was 100% man and also 100% Lord. He felt the same emotions that we feel today, he felt them stronger than we ever will. He understands us; he was tempted; and he was betrayed by the people who he loved most. He lived a full life, fuller than any of us ever will, and he did it perfectly, without sin.

Jesus had all of the power and prioritized love. He was God, he could have done anything; yet he chose to love us. We are imperfect. We mess up before our feet hit the floor in the morning. We deny him every day in the same breath that we say we love him. He knew that we would fail him time and time again, and he vowed to never fail us. All we need to do is love him and love people.

We have every reason to trust in his plan and his goodness and somehow we still doubt him every day. I think this is because we limit him and still see him as that baby in the manger, we forget who he grew up to be. We read the Lord’s commands in the Bible and we acknowledge them as good ideas. We cite the Great Commission and we agree that someone should go into the nations for the Lord.

But as soon as we hear God telling us to go, we think he’s wrong. We think that the Lord of the universe is wrong, how dare he tell me to give up everything that I worked for? How dare God ask me to leave comfort for him? Why should I go to the nations, why can’t someone else go? When we say these things we are proclaiming ourselves as god. We decide that we make the plans for our lives and we convince ourselves that we know best.

There will never be enough words to explain how incredible Jesus was and how much he loved us and did for us. God has every right to ask you to go, he has so much planned for you and he knows what you can accomplish for His name. He wants to use you! Let Him guide you! Everything that you have now is yours because the Lord gave it to you. It all belongs to him and he will always give you what you need. He loved you so much that he gave you everything, knowing that you don’t deserve it and will never earn it.

He wants you…

Baby Jesus in the manger wants you. Young Jesus learning in the temple wants you. Jesus getting baptized in the Jordan River wants you. Jesus wanted you when he was tempted in the wilderness. He wanted you when he was serving with the disciples. He wanted you when the world was against him. He wanted you when you hung him on a cross to die the worst death. He will not leave you behind. He wants you right now, at your worst and he promises to pull you into his arms, he will not leave you at your worst. Just trust him to transform you and to love you the way that He always has.