Step up to Speak up 3- Who Is Jesus and Why Did He Come?

Over recent Tuesdays we have spent some time mapping out some places in the Bible that we could take the people around us who don’t know Jesus to explain the Gospel better. We want to help you to make use of God’s Word in speaking to the people God has placed in your life, after all Romans 10: 17 says that, ‘faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.’

You can catch up on the introductory post here
Part 1 here
Part 2 here

Who is Jesus and why did He come? This isn't a big question, this is the only question. If we don't get people to Jesus we leave them nowhere. And by getting to Jesus I mean the whole of who Jesus is. Often the contemporary tendency has been to reduce Jesus to the parts that we feel that people want to hear to help them feel better about how their lives feel.

We can be so busy worrying about what the person feels that we ignore how Jesus feels about being under-represented (us saying less than He has told us to say) and mis-represented (us saying things that He would never want us to say). By getting to Jesus you instantly confirm what people would confess in more honest moments. They need someone from outside of them to help them. At some stage they will encounter a situation or set of circumstances that will leave terms like self-help redundant

His name and how it is given to Him gives a clear indication of the why Jesus came and why His coming is such grteat news. Matthew 1: 21 says, 'She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.' Jesus means 'Jehovah is salvation.' Let's be careful not to lose track of what this verse shows us though. Many of the people around us face complex problems which the peace, hope and joy that come from Jesus can go a long way to strengthening people to stand under. There is a statement of primary need here, the need that we thought about in part 2 of the series- sin. So straight away we have an answer to why he came, it's all wrapped up in His name.

But not just His name also His authority. He carries all the authority that comes from being God. Check out Colossians 1: 15-17 for an AWESOME picture of who He is: 'He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.' This is the reality of who He is and always has been. It is a spectacular statement of honour due but also humility shown as He came to earth to live as a man. It is also far removed from the place we are ready to give Him in our hearts. It demonstrates the extent of the rebellion that we engage in ever day when we choose the supremacy of someone else over our hearts and lives. Yet by God's grace that power which we ignore and seek to overthrow in pursuit of our own thing can be put to work to forgive our sin and hold together our broken lives.

We should never find it anything other than compelling that our sinful resistance against His place as Lord of all is met by grace. His Love should be a ready reference point for our lives AND in our message. Romans 5: 7-8 defines it for us, 'for one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.' Even when we were far from God and rejecting God He still loved us and sent Jesus to die for us. The sense and extent of this is measured in 1 Timothy 1: 15, '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.'

For one last picture of who He is and what He has and is doing let us leave you with Hebrews 1:3. 'He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high…'

To come and think through some more about what these things means why not come and join us for our Easter services.

Good Friday, 5:30pm The Silence and the Sentence
Easter Sunday 10:30am Unbreakable: I will... Keep my promise