Love Resurrected

Why Jesus? Why did He come from heaven to earth a long time ago? Why did He come and live among us and die in our place? When we consider most of the world is moving away from the God of the universe because of religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, many others and simply no religion; it begs the question, “why would the all-knowing God come to earth in the person of Jesus Christ?”
 
John 3:16 and Matthew 5:17 paint a picture of what God is doing through His Son:  
 
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ESV
 
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Matthew 5:17 ESV
 
These passages set up the fact God not only wants to sacrifice His Son to meet a requirement we never could, but also give us the reward of His meeting that requirement. Then why not just give us the reward? Why go through all the trouble of being born, living a hard life, dying a terrible death and then being resurrected?
 
There are many passages that speak of a glorious inheritance God has prepared. Ephesians 1:18 (ESV) quotes, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance…”
 
Let’s say you have an uncle and he is a very rich man. He has decided to include you in his will and leave you a monetary trust as an inheritance. Your uncle has chosen to do this because you are in good standing with him. You met a requirement he had for you as a nephew or niece. Maybe you were obedient and genuinely loved your uncle. This love for your uncle was easily seen in your actions and words toward him. As a result, you will receive an inheritance, but only after your uncle has passed away. At the time of his death his will, will be executed and sometime thereafter you will receive the inheritance he has promised to you.
 
With God, no one has met the requirement He had established. Romans 3:23 (ESV) states, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.” So, God in His wisdom and never failing grace had a plan. He would step out of heaven, come to us, live with us, hurt with us, suffer with us and ultimately die for us. Jesus would be the fulfilment of the requirement that was necessary to gain the inheritance of God.
 
The crazy thing is… He lived a perfect life: no mistakes, no screw ups, no bad words, no drugs, no hypocrisy, no lies, NO SIN! He did this and could have taken the reward for himself, but instead he died a criminal’s death for you. He did the work and we get the reward.
 
You see, for there to be an inheritance; someone had to earn it and someone had to die. That was God’s plan executed through the life, death and resurrection of His Son.
So, here we are with the questions: Why did He come from heaven to earth a long time ago? Why did He come and live among us and die in our place?
 
The simple answer is You! He came for you! He came for me! He came for us! As a result, Jesus can make the statement He makes in John 14:6 (ESV) when He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
 
Jesus is the only One who came for us!
 
This Easter, instead of asking how Jesus can be the only way, we should be joyful someone loves us enough that He came to where we are and sacrificed Himself for us. He loves us enough to pass on an inheritance we did not earn and we don’t deserve.  This love of God is so true, He even has given us the freedom to choose Him or not.