Why Jesus came into the world

Why did Jesus come into the world? Paul gives us a statement that gets right to the core of what we celebrate at Christmas. In fact, if you celebrate Christmas and read the Christmas stories, immersing yourself in the nativity scene in the gospels and don’t keep moving until you get to what Paul talks about here, you have missed the central point for baby Jesus, angels, shepherds, wise men, and Bethlehem star. Why did Jesus come into the world? Let me read Paul’s answer again:

This is a trustworthy statement, deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners… (Timothy 1:15)

In the original NT text which was written in Greek, the first word is actually the word “trustworthy”. In the Greek language when you want to emphasize something, you put it at the beginning. It is called the emphatic position. So the first part of this verse literally says, “trustworthy is the statement”. Paul wants us to understand that he is saying something that we can take to the bank. Trustworthy is the statement. 

Then he adds… “deserving of full acceptance”. In other words, give yourself, commit your soul to what comes next. Christ came into the world to save sinners. This is the best news in all the world! Check it out. 

The coming of Christ was to save. For if he had not come into the world to us, we could never have made it to him. George Whitefield said “It would be easier to climb to the moon on a rope of sand than to climb to God by our own efforts.” In other words, we need Christ to come and save us. Not partially, all the way. The angel appeared to Joseph and told him, “and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus is his name because he is a Savior. He is the only Savior. The name Yeshua (Hebrew form of Jesus) means Yahweh saves or Jehovah saves. His name is Jesus and he has come to save. But what has he come to save us from? 

Well, the coming of Christ was to save sinners. So what we need to be saved from is our sin. It is our sin that will sink us to eternal destruction. But Jesus came to save sinners. It is for our sin that the wrath of God remains on us. But Jesus came to save sinners. It is our sin that keeps us estranged from the God and Father who made us and loves us. But it is Jesus who came to save sinners. 

So when we think about the story of Christmas, the coming of Christ and the mission he came on - to save sinners - it reminds us that the gospel is a message of salvation by grace alone. Who could ever come up with a salvation story like this? Think about it. God saved hopeless, undeserving sinners by taking on flesh, living in obscurity, being rejected by his people, and hung on a cross to die. It seems so foolish. 

And yet for undeserving sinners who have found refuge in the Savior, it is the sweetest news in all the world. It is good news of great joy for everyone who believes!