Many of us believe that God has a purpose for our lives, that he foresees what we will be and what we will do even before we are born. For those of us who are parents, this has been a comfort when we have observed our beautiful newborn daughter or son. Surely God has wonderful things in store for them.
What did God foresee when his son was born? Why was Jesus born? Was it so that he could teach as no man had spoken before? Was it so that he could show people how to live? These things were certainly true of Jesus, but they were not the basic reason why he came.
Jesus was born to die.
Yes, it is true that all of us will die. Until the Lord returns, death is inevitable for each of us. But we would probably not say that we were born just so we can die. But that was the primary reason why Jesus was born, why God sent him into this world as a human being. He was "the lamb that was killed before the world was created" (Revelation 13:8).
When Jesus was walking with two disciples toward Emmaus after his resurrection, he told them that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer. On several occasions he had told his closest followers the same thing even before his death. "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served; he came to serve and to give his life to redeem many people." (Mark 10:45) "He came . . . to give his life."
At the time of the year when many of our brothers and sisters around the world are celebrating the birth of Jesus, let us remember that this was a baby whose main goal in being born was to die.
- 13 DECEMBER -