Jesus Christ
Despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief . . .
we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned every one to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth. . . .
He was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people. . . .
There was no deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him;
he has put him to grief.
The prophet Isaiah
Chapter 53, Verses 3-10
The gospel starts with the fall of man and ends with the redemption of man. We see from the beginning to the end, Christ is always present. The Gospel is centered around Christ for without Him there would be no good news. When we talk about Christ, I think two things need to be clear for a right understanding, first being who He was and second what He has accomplished. I believe the apostles creed simply sums up best who Christ was in a short summery.
Jesus Christ, Gods only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.” John 1:1-3
We see in the beginning of all things before anything was created, the Word was with God. Also we learn that the Word was God, Meaning the Word and God were the same. Both equal in deity but with different in roles. Later on in verse 14, We learn that the Word became flesh and lived among us. How can this be? Does this mean God lived among us? Yes and no. God the Father did not however, Christ His only Son did.
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father” John 1:14
Over and over again Christ repeated in different ways that, the Father and Son were one. And if we are to believe that Christ and God are one then that means Christ would have been the ultimate sacrifice for us. For who knows what pleases God better than God, and who can satisfy the wrath of God better than God. Who can give us a better example of how to live besides God and who can love us better than God’s love. If the Son and the Father are one, then the Son is more than Sufficient to satisfy the Father. He is even more sufficient to intercede for us.
“I and the Father are one.” John 10:30
God secured His own glory in sending His Son.
Christ has accomplished a multitude of things during His life on Earth. Here below are a few I have chosen to highlight however there are many more we could discuss.
Christ Took on Gods Wrath for Us.
Ever since the fall of man, God has shown mercy towards mankind allowing them to live. God has held back his wrath on mankind but there is two places where we see His full wrath reveled. In Rom 5:9 it tells us that the wrath of God has been absorbed by the blood of Christ, saving those who believe in Christ from the wrath of God. Also in Rev 16:1 we learn that the wrath of God is poured out onto the Earth in the final days by the angels of the Lord. The angels cried out “It is what they deserve!” “Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!” and rightfully so, all deserve the wrath of God. However those who are found in Christ, have been saved from the wrath of God.
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:10
“Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.” Rom 5:9
Salvation is from God’s wrath, by God’s grace, through God’s Son, for God’s Glory. – Steven Lawson
Christ Came to Please God for Us
Christ is the only one who could please God. For once mankind fell into sin, it became impossible for mankind to please a Holy God. For the nature of sin wants nothing to do with pleasing the Lord God Almighty. And who better to please the Father than His own Son.
“Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief.”
Isaiah 53:10
“Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Ephesians 5:2
“For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell” Colo 1:19
God was well pleased with His Son, for everything that He accomplished was for God’s glory. But what is most astonishing about this substitution of Christ for sinners is that it was God’s idea. It was God’s will, Christ did not intrude on God’s plan to punish sinners. God planned for him to be there. Therefore, it pleased Him whenever Christ fully accomplished God’s will even to the point of death.
Christ Came to Fulfill the Law
The fulfillment of the Law was very crucial, in being that, it was what God demanded of us. The Law was meant to separate God’s people from all other nations. The Covenant was Renewed between man and God (in Exodus 34), with that God gave them direction on how to live as His people. However, sinful man could never uphold the law fully hence why we needed Christ to fulfill it.
“For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist,
in bringing many sons to glory,
should make the founder of their salvation
perfect through suffering.”
Hebrews 2:10
“You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matt 5:48
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matt 5:17
We see Christ fulfilling everything we failed and doing everything in complete obedience. We see Christ reversing everything sin has done to the world and to His people. We see Christ inviting us into a relationship with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit for the first time since the fall of mankind. We see Christ defeating Sin and Death, giving us victory over both. We see Christ fulfilling the Law. We see Christ bestowing upon us His Righteousness. We see Christ securing and guarding our in inheritance in Heaven. Most importantly Christ has restored our relationship with God the Father. In order for all this to take place, He had to be born of flesh and become the first brother of many. He had to become like us, becoming the second Adam, becoming the example for all Christians. If the Son of God had gone from incarnation to the cross without a life of temptation and pain to test his righteousness and his love, he would not be a suitable Savior for fallen man. His suffering not only absorbed the wrath of God.
It also fulfilled his true humanity and made him able to call us
brothers and sisters.
“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” Heb 2:17-18
God showed us that the worst evil imaginable, the death of God’s beloved and only Son, was meant for good. Giving us hope in our own suffering and sin, in knowing Christ paid the ultimate cost for our sin, becoming the author of our salvation. May we live free from the bondage of sin, being transformed into the image of Christ daily.
In Christ alone my hope is found, He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone this solid Ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease
My Comforter my All in All, here in the love of Christ I stand – Townend
John Piper wrote a book called “fifty reasons why Jesus came to die” highlighting what Christ accomplished for us and the Sufficiency of Christ. I’m sure there are many more reasons Christ came but here are the ones John Piper saw.
Fifty Reasons Why Jesus Came to Die
1 To Absorb the Wrath of God
2 To Please His Heavenly Father
3 To Learn Obedience and Be Perfected
4 To Achieve His Own Resurrection from the Dead
5 To Show the Wealth of God’s Love and Grace
for Sinners
6 To Show His Own Love for Us
7 To Cancel the Legal Demands of the Law
Against Us
8 To Become a Ransom for Many
9 For the Forgiveness of Our Sins
10 To Provide the Basis for Our Justification
11 To Complete the Obedience That Becomes
Our Righteousness
12 To Take Away Our Condemnation
13 To Abolish Circumcision and All Rituals
as the Basis of Salvation
14 To Bring Us to Faith and Keep Us Faithful
15 To Make Us Holy, Blameless, and Perfect
16 To Give Us a Clear Conscience
17 To Obtain for Us All Things That Are Good for Us
18 To Heal Us from Moral and Physical Sickness
19 To Give Eternal Life to All Who Believe on Him
20 To Deliver Us from the Present Evil Age
21 To Reconcile Us to God
22 To Bring Us to God
23 So That We Might Belong to Him
24 To Give Us Confident Access to the Holiest Place
25 To Become for Us the Place Where We Meet God
26 To Bring the Old Testament Priesthood to an End
and Become the Eternal High Priest
27 To Become a Sympathetic and Helpful Priest
28 To Free Us from the Futility of Our Ancestry
29 To Free Us from the Slavery of Sin
30 That We Might Die to Sin and Live to Righteousness
31 So That We Would Die to the Law and
Bear Fruit for God
32 To Enable Us to Live for Christ and Not Ourselves
33 To Make His Cross the Ground of All Our Boasting
34 To Enable Us to Live by Faith in Him
35 To Give Marriage Its Deepest Meaning
36 To Create a People Passionate for Good Works
37 To Call Us to Follow His Example of Lowliness
and Costly Love
38 To Create a Band of Crucified Followers
39 To Free Us from Bondage to the Fear of Death
40 So That We Would Be with Him Immediately
After Death
41 To Secure Our Resurrection from the Dead
42 To Disarm the Rulers and Authorities
43 To Unleash the Power of God in the Gospel
44 To Destroy the Hostility Between Races
45 To Ransom People from Every Tribe and Language
and People and Nation
46 To Gather All His Sheep from Around the World
47 To Rescue Us from Final Judgment
48 To Gain His Joy and Ours
49 So That He Would Be Crowned with Glory
and Honor
50 To Show That the Worst Evil Is Meant by God
for Good
⇒This article was influenced by “fifty reasons why Jesus came to die” by John Piper
Thoughts In The Light Of Eternity 
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