Why Did Jesus Need to Come?

Jesus was not born in Bethlehem so we could have Christmas. We celebrate Christmas because He came. Why did Jesus need to come? To unpack this answer, we are not going to the stable in Bethlehem but to a garden called Eden.

God created mankind in His own image. He gave Adam and Eve the authority over the earth. They were told to fill the earth, subdue it, and to have dominion over every living thing (see Genesis 1:27-28).

God gave Adam one simple command; do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He also gave him the consequence of disobedience—death. The first couple ate of it resulting in the loss of their innocence, their spiritual image was marred by sin, and their eventual death. The whole of God’s creation also came into the state of fallenness.

God confronted the first couple about their disobedience and told them about the consequences. God originally put the creation in subjection to Adam and Eve, but now they would come under the subjection of the fallen creation with Satan as the ruler of this world (see John 12:31).

The verdict of their disobedience was declared by God in Genesis:

Genesis 3:15-19 NKJV
(15)  And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
(16)  To the woman He said: "I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you."
(17)  Then to Adam He said, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': "Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
(18)  Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.
(19)  In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread Till you return to the ground, For out of it you were taken; For dust you are, And to dust you shall return."

Before the Fall, Adam just picked grapes and ate them. Now, he had to transplant the vines, pull up the weeds, pick off the bugs, keep critters and thieves away, contend with droughts and floods, etc. He would eat his food by the sweat of his face and cope with the thorns and thistles.

Eve would bear children in pain and be subject to her husband.

Once they were naked and unashamed, but now they were conscious of their nakedness. They sewed aprons of fig leaves to cover themselves.

[Excuse my humorous imagination.] Adam told Eve she looked good in green. Two days later, he told her she looked good in brown because the leaves wilted. Eve told Adam to get busy and get some more “green” because she had nothing fit to wear.

God provided a longer lasting garment with the skins of an animal. He killed an animal to make skin coverings for their nakedness. This was the first blood sacrifice, the death of an innocent for the covering of a sinner. The Hebrew word for atonement means to cover.

Now that we have the background, let’s go to the original question, “Why did Jesus need to come?

In the fullness of time God sent His Son to be the once for all sacrifice for sin and to destroy the works of the devil.

The Apostle John on Patmos had a vision known today as the Book of Revelation. The scripture portions in Revelation chapter five gives a great description of why Jesus, the Son of God, had to come to earth as the Son of Man.

Revelation 5:1-7 NKJV
(1)  And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
(2)  Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?"
(3)  And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll, or to look at it.
(4)  So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it.
(5)  But one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals."
(6)  And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
(7)  Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Verses 1-7 describes the scene where a search is made for someone worthy to open the seals of the scroll held in the hands of God the Father. The scroll was the one and only redemptive plan of God. No one in heaven or earth was found worthy to open the scroll. John wept, thinking there was no one worthy. He was told by one of the elders not to weep, because the “Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David” would release the seals and open the scroll.

John saw the Lamb, noted in later a chapter as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8 NKJV). He took the scroll resulting in a song of praise among those around the throne of God. The Lamb is Jesus who was crucified and resurrected.

Revelation 5:8-10 NKJV
(8)  Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
(9)  And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
(10)  And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth."

These verses 8-10 says that Jesus was slain for our redemption. In the Old Testament, there was only an atonement (covering for sin) by the blood of a sacrificed animal. Sins were not washed away, but they only covered the sin for a limited time with a yearly sacrifice.

The New Testament does not primarily describe an atonement for sin but a redemption from sin. Redemption is the buying back of something that was forfeited or sold. Jesus has redeemed us back to God by His own blood. He was able to offer the once and only sacrifice, paying the full redemption price for all who would come to Him by faith. In Christ, the sins are eliminated forever.

Remember, that Adam and Eve lost our unique place with God and the dominion of the earth. The dominion was forfeited to Satan (he is called by Jesus as the ruler of this world). By His redemption, we have been restored into earthly authority having made us kings and priests. We shall reign on the earth.

There are two other scriptures that concisely wraps this all up. Just soak in the fullness of these two verses:

2 Corinthians 5:21 NKJV
“For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

1 John 3:8 NKJV
“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil."

I pray this short study of “Why Jesus needed to come?” will give us another level of appreciation and worship to the Child that was born in Bethlehem. One day, He will come again as King of kings and Lord of lords to rule in Jerusalem. The first time He came as a babe in a stable, but the next time He will be the King in the Temple.

Merry Christmas!

Yours on the Journey,

Harry L. Whitt