The title of my message tonight
is Why Did Christ Come? Why did the Son of God assume
human nature? Was there a necessity for his
incarnation? If so, what was that necessity? What could it have been? I ask
these questions not with the irreverence of carnal curiosity,
but with utter reverence for God our Savior. If he who is
God over all, blessed forever, becomes a man, if he who is rich,
rich as God Almighty, infinitely, indescribably rich, becomes poor,
if he who is himself Lord of all becomes a servant, there
must be some great divine necessity for him doing so. What was that
necessity? Surely the answer If we find
it will only inspire our hearts to love him, to worship him,
and to serve him. Surely the answer, if we can
discover it, will be edifying to our souls. And the answer
is not difficult to find. In fact, it is written everywhere
in the New Testament particularly. This book that we have before
us, is not the secret of God, but the revelation of God. I
heard someone the other day, I was driving down the road,
I had been to the post office or something, and one of these
talk shows, a fellow called in, and he said, well, you know,
there is a secret code in the Bible. Isn't that wonderful? He started saying, now if you
take every word, count seven for every word in there, there's
a secret code to tell you all kinds of things. What foolishness.
This is not God's secret code index, this is God's revelation.
And he has stated plainly what his purpose is in this world,
so that ignorance with regard to his purpose Ignorance with
regard to why Christ came into this world is absolutely excuseless. Our Lord Jesus Christ, we're
told back in Hebrews 10, came into this world to do his Father's
will, which will is the sanctification of all God's elect. Our Lord
Jesus came here to save his people from their sins, we're told in
Matthew 1.21. He came here to die so that God
might be just and the justifier of all who believe. There are
many, many passages where we are specifically told, and those
passages specifically are devoted to telling us why Christ came
into the world. But I think there are none which
more clearly tell us, and with greater detail explain to us,
the necessity for the incarnation than Hebrews 2. So hold your
Bibles open tonight at Hebrews 2, verses 9 through 18, and I
want to show you why Christ came. Here are five specific reasons,
five necessities for the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. This
is why he came. for the suffering of death. Our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world assuming
our nature specifically for the suffering of death. Look at verse
9. We see Jesus, all who believe do. I could spend a good bit
of time there as I have in the past. We see Jesus. All who believe see him. Who
was made a little lower than the angels. Now notice the word
for. It means because. He was made
a little lower than the angels for this purpose, because he
had come here for the suffering of death, crowned with glory
and honor. That he, that he. In other words,
there was no other way he could. He came here for the suffering
of death. Now he's crowned with glory and honor, but he assumed
our nature in order that he, by the grace of God, should taste
death for every man. The Lord Jesus came here as a
man, as one of us, assuming a real human body and a real human soul,
made in all things like unto his brethren, sin alone accepted,
so that he might be in a condition to die as our sin-atoning substitute. So that he might be in a condition
in which he could be a sacrifice for sin and make atonement for
sin. Joshua once saw the sun go backward
on the sundial by ten degrees. Well, here we are told how the
sun of righteousness went backward by ten degrees indeed, for he
made himself a little lower than the Father, becoming the servant
of the Father by his own voluntary consent. He made himself a little
lower than the angels, becoming himself a man who was a creature
made subject to vanity for a while. He even made himself a little
lower than men, becoming himself the least of men that he might
bring us at last into the glorious kingdom of God Almighty, that
he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man. He came here to save. In order
to save us, in order to be our Savior, the Son of God had to
become our substitute, our sin offering. He had to die. But that could not be. God Almighty
cannot die. God is eternal. He changes not. God is eternal. Nothing touches
Him. Nothing affects Him. God's unmoved
by anything outside Himself. How then can He die? Only if
He assumes our nature and becomes one of us. And so really and
truly is God and man united in the person of Jesus Christ, that
what Jesus Christ did as a man, it has infinite merit, for he
is God himself. Listen to the scriptures. The
apostle says in Acts chapter 20 and verse 28, to the elders
at Ephesus, feed the church of God, which he hath purchased
with his own blood. Now wait a minute, God doesn't
have any blood, he doesn't have a body. No, he doesn't. But the
God-man does. And that one who died for us
at Calvary is himself God. That gives infinite merit and
infinite efficacy to all that he did for us. In order for justice
to be satisfied, Christ must become one of us. Look at verse
10. For it became him. It was necessary for him. It
behooved him. For him are all things. and by
whom are all things," and that's talking about God Almighty, "...in
bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their
salvation perfect through sufferings." It was necessary. Now, I can't
tell you how cautiously, how very cautiously, I say it's necessary
for God to do anything. But if God would save the sinner,
it was absolutely necessary that justice be satisfied. This is
what's said here by inspiration. It became him. And the word is,
it was necessary for him. It was necessary for him, for
whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many
sons to glory. Now, there was no necessity that
he should bring many sons to glory, but Lindsey Campbell,
if he brings you and me to glory, this was necessary. to make the
captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. The first
reference here is to God the Father. It became him. You see,
salvation is an act of God Almighty, an act worthy of God, characteristic
of God, for God is love. He is the first cause of all
things in creation, in providence, and in grace. This is the one
for whom are all things and by whom are all things. The second
reference in this text, in verse 10, is you and I who are God's
elect in bringing many sons to glory. We who believe, we who
are called by grace, we who now walk before God in faith, we
are the sons of God, chosen, predestined under the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will, redeemed by his Son's precious blood,
called by his Holy Spirit, heirs of heavenly glory, heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ. Now he speaks here of many sons,
many sons. Now, we look at things in our
time, we look at things at any given time in history, and the
sons of God seem to be few. Many are called, our Lord said,
but few are chosen. But when all is said and done,
there are many, many, many. A great multitude which no man
can number. Now sometimes folks say, well
explain that. Just wait and see. Just wait
and see. Many sons shall be brought to
glory. The third group mentioned here,
or the third person mentioned here, rather, is our Savior himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is here called the Captain
of our Salvation, as an interesting phrase used. It became him, it
was necessary for him in saving us to make the Captain of our
Salvation perfect through sufferings. Christ is called the captain
of our salvation because he's the head. He's the one who did
it. He's the author of it. He's the
king. He's the Lord. He's the captain. He's the one
in charge. He's the one to whom salvation has been committed.
By his Father's purpose and by his Father's love, because of
his Father's righteousness and justice and truth, Christ must
suffer perfectly all that the law and justice of God demanded
of us if we are to be saved. The only way that Christ could
redeem us would be to redeem us in agreement and in complete
compatibility with the perfection of God in justice. Justice must
be satisfied. I can't stress this sufficiently.
The whole key to understanding redemption is not to understand
grace, though that's necessary. It is not to understand love,
though that's necessary. But it is to understand that
redemption is an act of justice. It's an act of justice. It's
an act of law. It's an act of righteousness.
Jesus Christ died for us because justice must be satisfied. Well, how is he made to be a
perfect Savior? How is he made to be a perfect
captain of our salvation? By perfectly fulfilling all the
law of God as a man. He was made perfect through the
things which he suffered. Now look at verse 11. The only
way, the only way God could save us was by justice being satisfied.
The only way Christ could save us was to satisfy justice. In
verse 11 we're told that the only way justice could be satisfied
for us, the only way Christ could sanctify us, the only way Christ
could sanctify us, the only way he could make us holy was by
himself becoming one with us, for both he that sanctified And
they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause he's
not ashamed to call them brethren." And when he says, we're all of
one, we're all of one nature, we're all of one body, we're
all of one record, we stand as one before God Almighty. Now,
that which was offered in the law, the blood of goats and calves,
could never take away sin. The high priest would go into
the holy place every year on the day of atonement with the
blood of the lamb, ordered by God, no matter how costly the
sacrifice was, no matter how diligent the high priest was,
no matter how noble he was, he'd go in there and offer that blood
and he'd come back out and say, fellows, I've got to go back
next year. Because the blood of bulls and goats cannot take
away sin. Nothing you do, nothing a man
does, nothing offered by man, no sacrifice, no matter how noble
or costly, can atone for sin. But Jesus Christ, God Almighty,
is a sacrifice of nobler name and richer blood than they, the
hymn writers said. He is able by his sacrifice,
being one with us, to put away our sins. Christ our sanctifier
and our sanctification, and all who are sanctified in him have
one Father. We are, as the chosen adopted
sons of God, his brethren, and he owns us as such. You remember
how some folks came to the Lord Jesus in Matthew 12, and I think
Mark records it in chapter 3, and they said, your mother's
looking for you, your mother's calling for you. And the Lord
Jesus pointed to his disciples and he said, Behold, my mother
and my brethren. This is my family. I'm not ashamed
to own them. These are my brethren. The Lord
Jesus said, I call you my brethren and my friends in Christ and
with Christ. All believers then are one body. One body. It is true of the local
assembly. But our unity with the body of
Christ in the kingdom of God goes beyond these four walls.
We're one body with every true believer. One body. Christ is
the head. We're all members of his body.
United in him with one father. Beneficiaries of one covenant.
Saved by one grace. Redeemed by one blood. Called
by one spirit. Walking together in one faith.
in one hope of the gospel. Let's ever treat one another
just that way. Not just here. Let us indeed
do so here as a body of believers. But wherever faithful men and
women are found, let us be found their faithful brethren, faithfully
serving and ministering to them as God enables us, doing what
we can to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is our Lord Jesus Christ who unites us together as one
and now in Him we are one with God, the sons of God. Imagine
that. And He is not ashamed to call
us that. These are my brethren. These
are my brethren. Now look at verses 12 and 13.
All those for whom Christ came, all those he came here to save,
all for whom he tasted death by the grace of God, all his
chosen brethren, are the gift of God to him. Not gifts, the
gift. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren in the midst of the church, will I sing praise unto
thee. Verse 13, And again I will put
my trust in him, and again behold I and the children which God
hath given me. Now the Apostle here quotes from
Psalm 22 and Isaiah 8 in order to validate what he has just
said in this 11th verse, that if we would be saved by Christ,
if he is to be our sanctifier, he must be one with us and us
one with him. Turn back to Isaiah, the passage
in Isaiah. The quotation in verse 12 is
taken from Psalm 22, clearly a Messianic psalm. The quotation
given in verse 13 is taken from Isaiah chapter 8. Look at this
text. for the Moose parts, wrote to
me late last night. He said, going through Genesis
has been astounding, just an astounding study. He said, I
never realized how fully the book spoke of Christ. And I wrote
back to him thinking the same things myself. I'm convinced
we cannot begin to grasp the fullness with which this book
speaks of Jesus Christ. Who could ever imagine that certain
passages, I cited a passage in Exodus chapter 3 where our Lord
spoke to the Sadducees and said, this is talking about the resurrection,
this is talking about me. Nobody under heaven would have ever
dreamed that except he told us that. And we look here in Isaiah
chapter 8, here is a clear prophecy, clear now since we have the light
of him declaring it, of what our Lord Jesus Christ has come
here to do. Isaiah chapter 8 verse 17. And I will wait upon the
Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will
look for him. Behold, I and the children which
the Lord hath given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from
the Lord of hosts which dwelleth in Mount Zion. These are the
children which the Lord gives These are the children which
the Lord my God gives me their substitute and charity. How is
it? How is it that Christ receives
his people as a gift from the Father? Let me tell you three
ways. I looked at Brother Mahan's commentaries this morning, and
this is what he says concerning this. He's exactly right. First,
he received his children as a gift from the Father, as a free gift. The Father gave them to him.
and the covenant of grace, he said, all that the Father hath
given me shall come to me. So that you and I who now are
in Christ's hands, you and I who have been given life and faith
in him, we who have come to him gladly and freely come to him,
were given to him in the covenant of grace before the world began,
given in his hands as sheep in the hands of the shepherd to
redeem and save us. Our Lord Jesus receives his people
from the Father as a purchase lawfully paid for by his blood
atonement. It's exactly right. Bobby Estes? When we stand before God Almighty
and stand accepted of God in heaven's glory, it will be as
much a matter of strict legal justice as it is of infinite
grace and mercy. You understand that? Christ paid
for us. He paid for us, and paid dear. Now those who teach otherwise,
those who would tell us that there are some for whom Christ
died, who finally perish at last under the wrath of God, whom
he shall never have, declare that there is no justice on the
throne of God. In other words, they declare
that God is not. They preach that which cannot
be concerning the character of God. Number three, he receives
his people from God the Holy Spirit as those who are called
by effectual grace and compelled to come to him. We now believe. We trust Christ. We come to him willingly, gladly,
because we want to. We love him because we want to.
We rejoice in Him because we want to. We seek Him because
we want to. We worship Him because we want
to. But there was a time when we didn't want to. There was
a time when we would not come. There was a time when we would
not worship Him. There was a time when we would not call on Him.
There was a time when we would not believe Him. There was a
time when we would not bow to Him. Well, what made the difference?
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest, and calls us to approach unto
thee. He by his grace, the Spirit of
God, calls his sinners to come to Christ, and the Lord Jesus
receives us as sinners called by almighty grace. All right,
that's the first reason why Christ came. That's the primary thing
I wanted to say this evening. He came here for the suffering
of death, that he by the grace of God should taste death for
us and bring us to glory. Secondly, the Lord Jesus came
into this world as a man so that he might crush the serpent's
head as the woman's promise see. Look at verse 14. For as much
then as the children are for takers of flesh and blood, since
we were flesh and blood, since we God's called chosen children
are flesh and blood. He also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death, that is for this purpose,
that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death,
that is the devil. Now this is what was promised
in the first gospel sermon way back yonder in Genesis 3.15.
when God spoke to the woman and spoke to the serpent and said,
I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy
seed and her seed, and it shall bruise thy head. It shall crush your head. And so the Lord Jesus Christ
came here to crush the serpent's head by the bruising of his heels. Since those whom he redeems are
of human nature, the Lord Jesus became a man. He assumed human
nature like ours. He took flesh and blood upon
himself and became subject to all the temptations, all the
infirmities, all the weaknesses, all the trials, all the necessities,
all the heartaches, all the pains that flesh and blood suffer in
this world, sin alone accepted. Now I've just told you more than
I can even think about beginning to fathom. Jesus Christ really
is a man. Oh my soul, He really is a man. The only difference between Him
and you and me is He knew no sin. The only difference between him
and us is we take our nature from a man. Like it or not, I
am Claude Fortner's son. And I've got his nature. And
he's got his daddy's nature. And folks, I think about tracing
family trees. Don't shake it hard, you won't
like what comes after. You're not going to like it.
And you're just like them. You got your father's nature.
The Lord Jesus didn't take his nature from a man, he took his
nature from a woman. He took his nature without a
man's seed. without the corruption of man's
seed being passed along because the corruption of humanity is
passed along from generation to generation through the seed
of man, through Adam's fallen seed. Our Lord Jesus was born
of the Virgin and took his nature from God the Holy Spirit who
created that holy thing in the womb of the Virgin by which he
would suffer the wrath of God for us. He did so that he might
destroy him that had power over death. That is the devil. Now
why on earth does the Holy Spirit here describe Satan as him that
has power over death when God says plainly, I kill and I make
alive? When God tells us plainly that
he is the one who has the power over life and death and he alone.
Satan is called him that has power over death, sort of like
the court would take a fellow You find somebody's found guilty
of murder back in days when laws had some semblance of justice.
And the judge says, I sentence you to be hanged by the neck
till you're dead. And then on the appointed day,
they'd take him out to the gallows, and there'd be a black hooded
fellow standing there beside him. And as he snipped another
black hood over the face of that fellow who was about to be hung,
he'd pull the lever and down he'd go. And that black-hooded
hangman had the power of death, because justice gave it to him.
And so it is that the Lord God Almighty gives Satan certain
powers, but he has no power to do anything except that which
God Almighty has given him to do. He can't kill or destroy
a worm, much less a man, except by God's permission. He is said
to have the power of death also because he's the one who caused
it. He's the one who introduced sin
and brought death. The sting of death is sin and
sin is the force and power of Satan's kingdom. The Lord Jesus
has come to destroy him. He said, now is the prince of
this world cast out. He's that angel described in
Revelation 20 who comes down here with the chain of his omnipotence
and binds Satan. and cast him into the pit, so
that Satan can't sink his things into any of God's elect. He can
roar like a lion, but he can do no harm. He has no power against
God's people. Now look at the third thing in
verse 15. The Lord Jesus came down here.
to suffer death for us, that he might save us, to deliver,
to break the power of Satan, to crush the serpent's head.
And in verse 15, he came here to deliver us from the fear of
death. And deliver them who through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. Since Christ has taken away our
sin and our guilt, since he has fulfilled all the righteousness
of the law for us, since he has paid all our debts, since he
has destroyed Satan, since he's taken possession of heaven for
us as our forerunner. Believers have no reason to fear
death. Children of God, we just don't. We just don't. I know Job calls
death the king of terrors, and it still is. in measure because
we live in this body of flesh and because we're so filled with
unbelief, but there's no reason. There's no reason. For those
who are in Christ, death is the dawn of eternal day. For the unbeliever, it's punishment. It's punishment. Punishment for
sin. The unbeliever is going to die
and then he's going to die. Punishment for sin. But for the
believer, death is not a punishment for sin, but rather it's the
annihilation of sin. That's going to be the end of
it. Death for ransomed souls is the door to eternal bliss,
the gate to glory. Old John Trapp put it this way,
as Christ took away not sin, but the guilt of it, so he took
not away death, but the sting of it. So that for the believer,
death has no stand. Christ has taken the sting away.
I don't understand, I've seen it happen, I don't understand
how any sinner can leave this world in his right
senses without Christ. Though most do. Most do. Talk like, well, if a man doesn't
have any hope when he comes to die, he'll just be pulling his
hair out. No, he'll convince himself he's
got some hope. But I'll tell you this, for you
and I who are in Christ, the fear of death is the most unreasonable
thing in the world. There are a lot of things we
ought to fear more than that. It's the most unreasonable thing. Fourthly, the Lord Jesus came
down here. He became a man, became one of
us. Because before the world began, he had become surety for
God's elect, and assumed total responsibility for our salvation. Verse 16. For verily he took
not on him, that is, he didn't take hold of, the nature of angels,
But it took on him, he took hold of the seed of Abraham. He passed
by the fallen angels, Jude tells us in Jude verse 6. He passed
by the multitude of Adam's fallen race, but he would not, he could
not, he did not pass by Abraham's seed, God's elect, God's chosen,
but rather he laid hold of us to save us. And save us he shall. Look at verse 17 and 18, and
here's the last thing. The Lord Jesus Christ came down
here in flesh and blood, lived and died and rose again so that
as a man, just exactly like us, he could be the kind of Savior
we need. Now this is the kind I need. Wherefore in all things
it behooved him. There's that word again. It was
necessary for him to be made like his brethren. that he might
be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to
God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Had he
not become a man, he couldn't have become a priest. He couldn't
have had a sacrifice, no blood to shed. He could not have the
perfect righteousness of a man with which to plead our cause
before Only by becoming a man could the Lord of glory become
our great High Priest, who is himself one who has endured and
prevailed over all the temptations we face. For in that he himself
hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that
are tempted. This is the message. Since Christ
became what we are, to make us what he is, children of God,
while you walk in this world, Jesus Christ bids you cast your
care on him. For he cares for you and he knows. He knows. He knows by experience. everything you're going through. And He can help you. He can help
you. And He will. Amen.