Written by Nathan White, Edmonton, AB

Why did Jesus come to Earth? I asked a number of religious leaders this question and here are the responses I got.

“Jesus came for a number of reasons, to fulfill Old Testament prophecy, to save His people from sin, to call the gentiles home. He came to earth to establish hope and purpose for people.” – Rev. Chris Westby, Surrey, BC.

“Jesus came to die, sacrificing His life on the cross for a world who did not know Him. Through love He selflessly gave it all, death producing life for all eternity.” – Rev. Jenn Mcgrew, Calgary, AB.

“Jesus came to lay down His life for everyone so that they could have life.” – Rev. Jake Mcgrew, Calgary, AB.

It seems like a pretty simple question, doesn’t it? If you ever went to even one service at church around Christmas or Easter you could probably answer this question.

In the world today it’s pretty easy to have a conversation with someone about heaven or Jesus and hear them say, “Well you know I am a good person, I think I’ll go to heaven.”

Right? Anyone ever hear that? Or thought that themselves?

The reality is that’s not enough to get the VIP pass to the greatest place ever. The list is pretty long of all the good deeds that we can do in this life – and by all means do them daily!

But we can’t kid ourselves into believing that we will ever become worthy enough to eternally be in the presence of the Creator of the universe by donating 10% of our income to the local church, or filling shoe boxes full of toys to give to little kids at Christmas – both of which are amazing things that impact the world positively.

Without the personal intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, at the end of it all we will still be dead in our sin, spending eternity apart from the One who gives hope. Jesus did not come to make bad men good, He came to make dead men live.

It’s about saving our lives from spending eternity in a place stripped of all hope, not about changing our behaviour.

The greatest act of selflessness ever done in the history of the world was Jesus leaving Glory to enter humanity in the most humble and gentle way possible, to serve His people and demonstrate active unconditional life-changing love, and to give up His life to offer salvation to everyone! Even those who curse Him, who will never believe, who put the nails in His hands and feet.

He didn’t do that just so bad people would do good things. He did it so everyone who was dead could live.