“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
John 10:10b (NASB)
As we celebrate Christmas and commemorate Jesus coming to earth, it is right for us to ask and answer a very basic question – why did He come? Fortunately, Jesus Himself answered this question, and in His answer, we can find the greatest reason of all to celebrate this Christmas – He came that we may have abundant life. Let’s explore what Jesus did in relation to the abundance that is promised.
Jesus’ story doesn’t begin with His birth. In fact, Jesus’ story has no beginning or end. Jesus has, for all eternity, been together with God (John 1:1). He left this position of utmost abundance to be born into the world in human form. In so doing, he entered into quite the opposite situation. He was born in a stable because there was not a more suitable place available in Bethlehem (Luke 2:7). His earthly family was poor enough that when they went to the Temple after He was born, they gave an offering of two turtledoves which was specified for those who could not afford to offer a lamb (Luke 2:24, Leviticus 5:11). Soon after He was born, his family had to seek refuge in a land unfamiliar to them (Matthew 2:13). Once they were able to return to Israel, they located in Nazareth in Galilee, which was widely considered a place of second-class status (John 1:46). What a contrast from His heavenly abundance!
The contrast swings as strongly in the opposite direction for us. We are born into an earthly life that contains sin and its deadly effects, pain, suffering, despair, illness that will ultimately lead to death and eternal separation from God. The life that Jesus made possible by His saving work, of which His birth is just a part (See “Jesus Was Born For You” for more on this), has much different attributes:
- Hope – an eternity spent together with God is assured! (Titus 3:7)
- Joy – an everlasting happiness that can penetrate even the toughest of times (Isaiah 61:7)
- Peace – hearts free from anxiety and filled with gratitude (Phillipians 4:7).
- Love – an eternal, unconditional love of God that will never change (Psalm 136:2).
Jesus came from the highest abundance and was born into this world in the most ‘un-abundant’ of ways. Because He did, we can exchange the ‘un-abundant’, cheap imitation of life that exists in this world for an abundant life filled with Hope, Joy, Peace, and Love. That’s why He came. That’s the truth.
Jesus can that you may have life; that you may have a life filled with hope; that you may have a life filled with joy; that you may have a life filled with peace; that you may have a life filled with love; that you may have a truly abundant life!
That’s the YouTruth. Jesus Came That You May Have Life.