Why Jesus came to earth

Luke 1:30-33 (NASB)

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.  He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His Kingdom will have no end.”

Do you know what the name “Jesus” means?  The Greek word for Jesus is “Iesous”, pronounced “ee-ay-sooce” , the Greek translation of the Hebrew name, Joshua, meaning “Savior”. The name “Christ” (“Christos”) means anointed, i.e. The Messiah = King.  So the title “the Lord Jesus Christ” means “Lord, Savior, King”.

There are many reasons why Jesus came to earth, but basically they can be summarized as follows:

1.   To fulfill prophecy.  There were over 300 prophecies fulfilled by Jesus coming to earth.  An earlier devotional discussed the fulfillment of the Micah 5:2 prophecy regarding His birthplace.  Another major prophecy fulfilled at His birth was being born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14).  The Biblical Prophecy Resource Center (http://www.bprc.org/topics/fulfill.html) is one source for checking out all the prophecies that Jesus fulfilled. 

2.   To reveal God to man—many examples, two are Matt 16:16, John 14:28.

3.   To offer His life as a sacrifice for the sins of men—I Peter 1:18-19, Eph 2:13.

In this passage, Jesus is described as (1) great, (2) Son of the Most High, (3) on the throne of His father David, (4) ruler over the house of Jacob forever, and (5) having a Kingdom that will never end.  We tend to gloss over these descriptors of Jesus, but what do they really mean to you today?

All of these statements about Jesus were intended to show that Jesus’ birth was fulfilling God’s promises to His people in Israel.  The Greek word for “great” is “megas” that literally means “exceedingly mighty”.  Great is an overused word in our language and perhaps if it is used to describe Jesus then we should not use this word to describe any human or human work!

Those in that day who heard the words “Son of the Most High” would know that this was a proclamation of Jesus being the Messiah (God’s anointed One). “On the throne of His father David” was a fulfillment of God’s covenant with David found in II Samuel 7:12-16.  “Ruler over the house of Jacob forever” meant that Jesus was the eternal leader of Israel since God renamed Jacob as Israel in Genesis 32:28.

We Christians hold dear to the promise that Jesus’ Kingdom will have no end.  We cannot understand what that exactly means, but the assurance of eternal life for all those who confess Jesus as their personal Savior is what gives us hope for facing death and life thereafter.   

How does this discussion from Luke 1:30-33 increase your faith and hope in your Savior and Lord Jesus Christ?  Write a few words in your Bible by this passage.