WHY DID JESUS COME HERE?

A. Read John chapter 1, verses 1-5 {1:1-5}.

1. The Word was in the beginning.
   
2. The Word was God, all things were made through Him.
   
3. He was Life and Light.

B. Read verses 6-9 {1:6-9}. He was to give His light to everyone.

C. Read verses 10-13 {1:10-13}. The Light was in the world that was made through Him. To as many as receive/accept Him, believing in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, born of the Will of God.

D. Read verses 14-15 {1:14-15}. The Word who was God, through whom all things were made, became flesh and lived with us--there were eye witnesses.

E. Read verses 16-18 {1:16-18}. We know the Word who was God by the name Jesus the Anointed (that is what the Greek word "Christos" means).

F. Read 1:29-30. The Word, Jesus, become flesh to become the sacrificial "Lamb" who would take away the sins of the world.

G. What is "sin"? Originally it was a hunting term to describe missing the target. Another Bible word for sin means to step beyond a boundary or break a law, so the Bible often uses words like "trespasses," "transgressions," and "debts" when referring to sin. Sin can be any one of the following:

1. 1 John 3:4 = Breaking any of God's commandments (see James 2:8-11).
2. 1 John 5:17 = doing anything wrong.
3. Romans 14:22-23 = going against our conscience, doing something we have doubts about.
4. James 4:17 = not doing what we know we should do.
5. Matthew 5:27-28; Proverbs 24:9 = thinking about or planning foolishness or wrong-doing.

H. Looking at the above list, can you find any category you haven't violated at one time or another?

1. Read Romans 3:9-18,23. It says every one of us is a sinner.

I. The Bible tells us some other unpleasant things about sin:

1. Leviticus 5:17-19; Acts 3:17-19; Romans 1:18-20 = Ignorance does not excuse our sins.
2. Proverbs 6:16-19; Galatians 5:19-21 = There are no "little" sins, they're all felonies to God.
3. Romans 1:18-32; 6:23 = Each and every sin carries the same legal penalty--DEATH.

J. Why does God treat sin so drastically? It has to do with God's most basic character trait.

1. Read Isaiah 6:1-5. It's the only trait repeated in this threefold formula in the Bible--God is HOLY.

K. What does "holy" mean? Separated, pure, without defect or contamination. To understand the concept of holy, imagine one of those people born without an immune system. To survive, they must live in a totally pure, germ free environment. Those that are able to go outside must wear a "bubble" suit similar to a space suit. Those of us living in the germ filled world don't tend to take the majority of germs very seriously. We've become used to them. A cold virus is a minor annoyance to us, but to a "bubble" person living in a pure environment, the slightest contamination, like a simple cold bug, is a deadly serious threat. God is like one of those bubble people. He's not intimidated by sin. But He is totally pure; no impurity can be allowed into His presence {Psalms 5:4; 15:1-5}. The impurity of sin is contradictory to God's pure character; it is the complete opposite of what He is.

L. Sin is an attempt to assassinate God's holiness. Assassination is a crime that carries the death penalty. If a trial judge found a murderer guilty, fined the murderer $50, then let the murderer go, would justice have been served? Would the law have been upheld?

1. Read Revelation 15:3; 2Timothy 4:8. God is a just Judge. If God were to ignore our capital crimes against Him, or if He were to level what amounted to a $50 fine against our capital crimes, how would He be able to uphold His holiness and uphold justice?
2. For God to be consistent with Himself, true to His holiness, genuinely just, He must punish and remove sin. The full penalty must be paid.

M. Is there a way we can work off or pay off our death sentence to God?

1. How many murders must a murderer not commit to pay for the one murder he did commit?
2. How many sins would you have to "not commit" to pay off one sin?
3. Read Romans 7:15-24. Does this dilemma sound familiar? Do you have the same struggle? For example, can you honestly promise to never tell any kind of lie ever again, and keep that promise? How many times have you "fallen off the wagon" regarding your particular weaknesses?
4. Read Romans 4:4-6. We cannot do enough good deeds to make us right with God.

N. Am I without hope then? Is there no way to escape the penalty for my sins?

1. Read Romans 5:6-10. God loves us so much that He was willing to send His Son in the flesh to pay our penalty and make us right with God through the blood of Jesus.

O. How was Jesus able to pay the full price for the world's sins?

1. Read Hebrews 2:14-18. Jesus had to become flesh because we are flesh. He had to be made like us in every way, suffering as we suffer, being tempted as we are tempted, so that in the flesh He could conquer suffering, temptation, and death since we could not and cannot.
2. Read Hebrews 4:15; 1Peter 1:18-19. Unlike the rest of us, Jesus didn't fail, He never sinned. He established a rather large righteousness "bank account" and did not make a single "sin" withdrawal so that when the time came to pay the penalty for the world's sins, He had the amount in full siting in the "bank."
3. Read Hebrews 9:25-28. Jesus' righteous life and blood covers the entire price of humanity from the beginning of creation until the end of the world.

P. So who receives the benefits of Jesus' sacrifice?

1. Romans 3:21-26 Those who have faith and believe.
2. John 1:12 Those who receive Him and believe have the right "to become" children of God. [Citizens in the U.S.A. have the right to vote, but having the right doesn't make them voters. A voter is one who has exercised that right and voted.]
3. John 3:16-18 Those who believe in His name.
4. John 3:3-5 To enter God's Kingdom one must be "born again" of water and the Spirit.

Do you believe what we have read about Jesus? Do you understand that you are like the rest of us--a sinner? Having believed, have you exercised the right to become a child of God? Have you been "born again of water and the Spirit"? In our next lesson we will study the Bible to see what it teaches concerning accepting Jesus. To get a head start, begin reading Acts.