Jesus’ Purpose

Jesus came to earth for one purpose: to glorify God by offering Himself as a sacrifice to reconcile God’s people to Himself. That is the only reason why Christ came to earth: so we could be in a relationship with Him and with the Father.

This is what we were created for: to glorify God. In the beginning we were in perfect relationship, but we dug a great trench by means of our sin, and Jesus died so that we could come back into a relationship with the Father, and be with Him forever.

John 3:16-17 says, “God loved us in this way, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.”

The passage goes on to talk about judgment and redemption Catch this missing part of most of our John 3:16 evangelism: “He who belives in Him is not judged, he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifesting as having been wrought in God.”

Picture this: the Lord of the Rings orcs, fleeing from the light of Gandalf’s staff. Or how the cover of darkness proceeds them because they do not want to come into the light. Like cockroaches fleeing from the beams of a flashlight or the burning light of a lamp. So are those who remain in the world. They hate the light. Why? Because it reveals truth, it reveals who they are, it reveals their sin and their selfishness. It reveals the vileness of the world.

But the passage goes deeper and darker than the images of lovers of darkness fleeing from the light. It talks about judgment. Those who hate the light will be judged, and those who love it will be given mercy.

Christians this is a dark image. Most of our world will hide from the light. Most of the world will be judged because they did not come to the Light that is Jesus. It’s what the Bible says.

So what’s the solution? Well, what was Jesus’ purpose? “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Christians, that was His purpose, if we desire to be conformed to His image, should that not be our purpose as well? Save the world, ladies and gentlemen, and do it through being faithful to Jesus commands–do it through going into the world and spreading the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice–do it through making disciples of all nations.

Attributes of God

Attributes of God
Have you ever wondered about God’s true nature? A breakdown of His character, as revealed in the Bible, can be discovered.

The Meaning
God is a word that means different things to different people. What enters our minds when we think about God is considered to be the most important thing about us.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without him was not one thing made that has come into being.” (Gospel of John 1:1-3)

Characteristics

Wisdom
“Wisdom is the ability to devise perfect ends and to achieve these ends by the most perfect means.” (Dr. Fred R. Johnson, Ph.D.)

Infinitude
Infinitude impacts all of the others, and since God is infinite, everything else about Him must also be infinite.

Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the application of His other attributes of being all-knowing and all-powerful. Sovereignty makes Him absolutely free to do what He knows to be best.

Holiness
Holiness is what sets God apart from all other created beings, which is pure and righteous in all the universe.

Trinity
The Trinity consists of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all called God, given worship as God, exist eternally, and are involved in doing things only God could do.

Omniscience
Omniscience means all-knowing, which means God knows everything, and His knowledge is infinite.

Faithfulness
God’s Faithfulness guarantees everything that He has promised will come to pass. His faithfulness guarantees this fact, which has Jesus confirmed.

A Continuing Study

Love
Love simply means that God holds the well-being of others as His primary concern.

Omnipotence
Omnipotence means all-powerful, and since God is infinite and possesses power, He possesses infinite power.

Self-Existence
Self-Existence means God has no beginning or end; He just exists. Nothing else in all the universe is self-caused.

Self-Sufficiency
God is Self-Sufficient. He does not need our help with anything, but because of His grace and love, He allows us to be a part of advancing His plan on earth and being a blessing to others. We are the ones who change, but never God.

Justice
The Bible says that God is just, but it is His character that defines what being just really is. His justice is needed to be satisfied, but He took care of it for all who will believe in Jesus.

Immutability
It is why the Bible says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” This simply means that God never changes.

Mercy
“Mercy is the attribute of God which disposes Him to be actively compassionate.” Since God’s justice is satisfied in Jesus, He is free to show mercy to all those who have chosen to follow Him.

Eternal
God always has been and will forever be, because God dwells in eternity. It is why God can see the end from the beginning, and why He is never surprised by anything.

Goodness
Goodness is why He bestows all the blessing He does on His followers. God’s actions define what goodness is, and we can easily see it in the way Jesus related to the people around Him.

Gracious
God enjoys giving great gifts to those who love Him, even when they do not deserve it.  Jesus Christ is the channel through which His grace moves.

Omnipresence
Omnipresence means “always present.” Since God is infinite, His being knows no boundaries. This is certainly a comforting truth for all who follow Jesus.

The Conclusion
By learning the attributes of God, you may praise God for who He really is and for how each of His attributes impacts your life in a positive way.