Dec 9 Devotion: Why Christ Came

5).  And now,O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.  6).  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.  7).  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.  8).  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and that they have believed that thou didst send me.

                                    JOHN 17:5-8 (KJV)

Ask a church goer why Jesus came, and you will probably hear something based on LUKE 19:10—namely, “For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” And this is true. The Savior came to offer us hope, making new the relationship between God and believer. But Jesus’ time on earth was meant to do even more: He came to reveal the true nature of the Father.

In the garden of Eden, knowledge of the Lord was like a little trickle. Later Moses explained the Law so that the Israelites would know what was expected of them, and the trickle became a stream. When the prophets revealed more about God, the stream widened into a river. Then came Jesus, the very embodiment of His Father, and it was as if a dam broke on the sea of knowledge.

Scripture has given us a detailed picture of Jesus’ character so we can build a relationship with God based on His unwavering love and commitment. We do this by growing in our faith and sharing the hope of Jesus, who is the only way to know the Father (John 14:6). As we begin the period known as Advent—a season in which we look forward to celebrating Christ’s coming—let’s make it a time to seek the Lord more intentionally. May we, through prayer and study, draw ever closer to the One who loves us beyond all measure.

-IBC