#494: Why Jesus Came to Earth – Final

So far, we’ve covered three reasons why I believe Jesus came to earth, and we’ve reached the fourth and final reason. It is my opinion that Jesus came to earth to be our atonement for sin, that He came to teach us the rules face-to-face since every other attempt failed, and He came to earth to show Satan that He will reign as our King forever.

The fourth, and possibly the most important reason in my opinion, that Jesus came to earth….to show us the true character of God.

Quite possibly my most favorite verse in the Bible comes from the Gospel of John, Chapter 14, where Jesus tells Philip, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father”. The Son and the Father, along with the Holy Spirit, all have the exact same character. We read in the Old Testament about God’s anger, about God drawing his sword, about God wiping out nations. We also read about God’s love for us and how His “mercy endures forever”, but that seems to be overshadowed by the negative. And I’m still not convinced that Satan has infiltrated the Bible and changed the perception of God as an angry tyrant, something that isn’t the first time he’s lied about.

And as an illustration to backup by belief, is when the Pharisees brought the prostitute to Jesus to see if He would stone her to death. The Pharisees believed in an angry God that must be feared, a God that would deliver a swift and final punishment. If Jesus was truly who He claimed He was, He would surely stone the prostitute to death, because that is the punishment for sin.

But what did Jesus do? He forgave the prostitute. And the Father would have too. Jesus was kind, loving, empathetic, sympathetic, and most of all, merciful. The only I truly perceived that Jesus showed any anger was when He found out they had turned the temple into a flea market, and He went in and turned all of the tables over.

Jesus knew Judas was going to betray Him, Did Jesus get angry? No, Jesus knew it was all a part of the plan, and even if it wasn’t, I just can’t see Jesus killing Judas for what He did. He more than likely knew that Judas was going to punish himself.

Jesus had the power many times to punish sinners. He could have killed the Roman guard who came to arrest Him, but how did He handle that. Even when Peter cut the guard’s ear off, Jesus admonished Peter and healed the man who was coming to take Him to His death.

Hanging on the cross, the thief next to Him acknowledge that Jesus truly was the Son of God. Jesus could easily have said, “Tough buddy…you violated my laws. You’re not going to be in Heaven!” But instead, Jesus forgave him and promised him a table in Heaven.

And as Jesus hung on the cross dying, His last breath drawing near, how did He use that last breath? To cry out, “Father forgive them!”

God would have forgiven the prostitute. God would have healed the Roman guard. God would have forgiven the thief on the cross. And I hope this part really hits home….had there been no Son, God would have died on that cross for us as well.

Unfortunately, not many see that. I still see reels on social media of pastors telling us we must “fear” God. How if you don’t repent of your sins, you’ll burn in hell for eternity. And some fallacies we see in the Bible, things that I have yet to figure out, but I know don’t make sense, is where God ordered Achan to be killed for theft. That God sent fire down to consume Nadab and Abihu for lighting an unlawful censer. Uzziah was struck dead simply for touching the Ark of the Covenant.

I don’t believe those things happened as portrayed, but that is how the character of God is portrayed. But that is not His character. He is just like Jesus.

And that, is another reason Jesus came to earth, to show us the love and Mercy of the Father.

Blessings.