#492: Why Jesus Came to Earth – Part 2

We discussed and can agree on the fact that Jesus came to earth to sacrifice Himself for our sins. But I believe there are other reasons as well.

How did Cain know it was a sin to murder his brother? Well, either God had to verbally give the law to Adam and Eve, or He built it into their moral compass. Whichever way He did it, we know he did it because Cain tried to hide the fact that he had killed his brother. “Am I my brother’s keeper?” was his response when God questioned the location of Abel. And by the way, God knew where Abel was and what Cain had been done, or He wouldn’t have asked. God knows all.

And let’s establish something else. God did not give us laws, but rather He gave us rules to live by to ensure we have a happy and healthy life. If we call it a “law”, it makes it sound restrictive or oppressive. God loves us, and simply wants us to enjoy the lives He gave us. Think of it as

Giving the rules verbally, or however He instilled them in us, didn’t work. We are stubborn, or as God Himself calls us, “Stiff-Necked. Cain killed Abel, we had Sodom and Gomorrah, and God warned of a coming flood, and no one paid attention to His warnings except Noah and his family.

Since that didn’t work, God decided to put His rules in stone. He etched them into tablets of stone with His own finger so people would always have them as a reminder, and even instructed Moses to build a sacred ark to put them in for safe keeping. What has happened? Apparently the ark and the tablets have been lost or stolen. And the commandments, as we know them, have been altered by man. In some versions, the fourth commandment has been removed and the tenth commandment split into two. In other versions, the third commandment has been removed, the fourth commandment changed from Sabbath to the Lord’s Day and moved so it is the third commandment. We’re like juvenile delinquents that do everything possible to get our own way and usurp the word of God.

You would think that God had had enough by now and would begin punishing people for their sins. But that’s not God. We are His children and He loves us, so when we sinned, He sent prophets to remind us of our sins and to warn us of the natural consequences of our actions. King David committed adultery and murder and didn’t bat an eye, so God had to sent Nathan to remind him that his actions were not acceptable.

Isaiah, Elijah, Samuel, Exekiel, Jeremiah, Jonah, and a host of others were sent by God to tell us to straighten up. We either ignored those prophet, ridiculed them, came up with our own false prophets to dispute their word, and in some cased, imprisoned them.

After every attempt failed, God decided to send His Only Son, in whom He was well pleased, to earth to teach us face-to-face. As we discussed, Jesus came to earth to be our sacrificial lamb, but He also came to teach us as demonstrated by His teachings in the synagogue at a very early age.

Jesus taught at every opportunity He had. He taught us verbally through the parables He told. He taught by example when He showed the Pharisees just how loving and merciful He was and how they should be also. He taught us the Beatitudes during the Sermon on the Mount. He lived sinlessly by example, and gently reminded us what God and the prophets had said in what would become the Old Testament.

And look where we are. Giving us the rules verbally, writing them in stone, sending prophets to remind us, and sending Jesus Himself to teach us, and it still hasn’t worked. We live in a sinful, selfish world that either completely ignore God’s word, or diligently searched for loopholes so we can twist His rules to our liking.

We are a stiff-necked person. I’ve not seen a prophet that I know of. The tablets of stone are no where to be found. We still have our moral compass if we choose to acknowledge it.

But I’m afraid there are no more warnings. I’m afraid God has simply decided to send Jesus a second time, to harvest the good and let the tares fall where they may.

I pray that you continue to read and study God’s word so that not only can we live together in love, but we’ll be ready to live with God eternally in Heaven.

I love you, and God’s blessings.