Jesus Came to Earth to Change Lives

Jesus told us the reason that He came to this Earth - it simply was to change lives. He told us that: "To see me is to see God, to know me is to know God, to believe in me is to believe in God, to reject me is to reject God. No one comes to the Father but through me."
Jesus' claim to be God are underscored by over 300 prophecies, written hundreds of years before Jesus came, that were very specific about his birth, death and resurrection and were 100% accurate. When you take a look at Jesus’ character. He had such a consistent, congruent personality, no human being, as sinful and messed up as we are could invent a guy with this kind of character. There are the miracles He did, and the resurrection that is evidenced by our own calendar system today. Time is separated into BC (Before Christ); and AD (Latin for the year of our Lord). The most incredible evidences for Jesus' claim to be God are the countless changed lives of people who have encountered Jesus through the centuries. I am one of those lives - how about you? Countless lives of people have been changed and will never be the same because they have encountered Jesus Christ. Matthew 11:5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.Jesus touches people at their deepest point of need. That place is the need for forgiveness, the need for freedom from destructive behaviors and the need for life focus and purpose. God can take our lives and negativity and give us hope. He can take what is broken and hurt and make it right. He came to Earth to change lives.
As people share their stories with me and as I think of my own life, I marvel at how great our God is. I know there are people here who are dealing with great guilt. Nothing in the world can remove that guilt, no matter how much you say to yourself, "I shouldn't feel guilty, I shouldn't feel guilty." God has done everything necessary to cleanse you of guilt in Jesus Christ. His birth was a miracle, His life was even more miraculous and His death and resurrection, even greater still. As I mentioned this past Sunday - the greatest miracle was not the immaculate conception but rather the fact that God could come and live among us, in the flesh. Take all those miracles and realize there is nothing you have done that has gone too far and that God cannot redeem and forgive! Jesus has the power to not only leave his throne and come to Earth but the ability to come into our hearts. With some presents hidden ( so the kids or the spouse won't find them) we should be reminded that we are all pretty good at hiding stuff even from those who are closest to us. Carl Jung, the famous Swiss psychologist said, "The central neurosis of our time is emptiness." Jesus Christ gives each person purpose and comes to expose those things which we believe we have hid so well. While He does not want to make open spectacle of them and embarrass us in front of our family and peers - He does want to bring to the surface the things we have hid - not dealt with or simply believed would no longer effect us. One of the greatest changes I have seen Jesus make in lives is an understanding of who life is about. All of us with this brokenness suffer from selfishness - it's all about me. Jesus came to Earth to reveal to us that life works best through Him and by Him and with Him - not apart from Him. It is amazing because all of a sudden His purpose becomes your purpose, His interests become your interests, His passions become your passions. It is why He came to Earth. You see, the call at Christmas is not only to worship Jesus; the call is to serve Jesus. The call is to follow Jesus, to live for Jesus not just with our words but with our lives. It is to have Him change our lives so that we might live for Him. This is not just for those who are unsaved but for all of us - the Lord is still transforming people who come to Him.
I fell compelled to ask you a question: What are you doing with Jesus? Are you using Him to advance your career or business or to gain a certain blessing now and then or are you embracing His life and surrendering yourself to Him and His power to change your life? Nothing else will matter; everything else will pass away, The only thing that remains constant since the birth of Jesus is the question, "Who do you say I am?" and what you are doing about it. The Shepherds, Wise Men, those in Bethlehem and those later who would meet Jesus had to come to grips with who He was and is. Years later, He would ask Peter the question He asks us:
Matthew 16:15-16“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
If we believe that He is Christ - the Son of the Living God, let's give Him the proper place in our lives. Let's obey His words and ways and follow Him in surrender to who He is and all He desires. To trade who you are for who He is. Allow Him to change you from the inside out. This Weeks Prayer: Lord Jesus,, come into me and do Your will. Help me where I am helpless. I thank You for Your forgiveness. I pray for freedom from the things that lock me up. Lord, help me to live out the purpose for which I have been created and give me the courage to allow you to transform me from the inside out. We pray this in Jesus' name, Amen.