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Why Did Jesus Have To Be Born?

Why Did Jesus Have To Be Born?

Preston MacKell​ Scripture

1 Timothy 1:15-17​

Sunday – July 19, 2026

Introduction Rejoicing at Christmas has nothing to do with Bells ringing, Snow on the ground, Presents under the tree, or Visits by Santa. The True Joy of Christmas is found in knowing that Jesus is Born, and Brings A Message Of Life And Love And Victory Over Death. A few years back, CBS aired a program called “48 Hours Mystery, The Mystery of Christmas.” It was a show dedicated to finding and looking at historical evidence for the birth of Christ. Early in the show Maureen Mauer, the host, gave this disclaimer. “While there is much documented historical evidence that Jesus Christ lived and that he died on a cross, there is little historical documented evidence for His birth.” That’s a true statement. We don’t have any birth records from Bethlehem; we don’t have any first-person accounts from the shepherds or wise men. None of them wrote anything down, that we know of. But more than leading us to question Jesus’ birth I think that it speaks to God’s emphasis. He wanted us to focus more on the purpose for Jesus’ coming then He did on the entry. When you look at Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, all four gospels have accounts of Jesus’ death and resurrection but only two, Matthew and Luke have accounts of his birth. I think that’s telling. God wants us to know and appreciate the miraculous birth but what He wants us to know and appreciate more is the ultimate purpose behind this wondrous birth. The birth of Jesus was very important and necessary, But sadly many do not understand why Jesus had to be born.

  1. WHY DIDN’T GOD JUST SEND INSTRUCTIONS FROM HEAVEN ON HOW TO BE SAVED INSTEAD OF SENDING JESUS?
  1. The Foundation of Salvation Salvation is grace based, not perfect works based Tit. 2:11, 3:4-7. There are only two ways man can make it to heaven… Keep the law with perfection. The grace of God. Man cannot earn salvation by perfect works; “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Rom. 3:23 Sinners need forgiveness of sins Rom. 4:7-8. Forgiveness of sins requires grace and sacrifice. GRACE - “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” Eph. 1:7. SACRIFICE - “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Heb. 9:22. The need of grace and sacrifice required a Savior, Jesus, to be born!
  2. Salvation Is a Personal, Relational Act God’s desire is for us to be adopted as His children (Gal. 4:4-5). Because Jesus was born, Paul writes, we may “receive the adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Salvation is more than forgiveness of sin. It is more than being spared from condemnation. Salvation is a complete change of status. We are adopted into God’s family with all of its rights of inheritance. “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God” (Galatians 4:6-7). “Abba, Father!” is the cry of sonship. It is what Jesus cried out in the garden as He yielded Himself to the will of the Father in going to the cross (Mark 14:36). Because Jesus did this, we become God’s children in a special way that will provide the inheritance of life. We have been “born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you…” (I Peter 1:3-4). Because Jesus was born, we may be born again to hope, life, and the inheritance that belongs to the children of God. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are” (I. John 3:1).
  1. THE SAVIOR HAD TO BE BORN INTO THIS WORLD
  1. What His Coming Really Means While the Gospels of Matthew and Luke give considerable space to the birth of Jesus and the surrounding events, the rest of the New Testament shows us what His coming into this world really means. He came into this world not merely to be born and be a man, but with a greater purpose of bringing redemption and salvation.
  2. To Destroy the Works of Satan Paul points out in Galatians 4 that Jesus was born at the right time and with great purpose. The phrase, “born of a woman,” may seem obvious as a physical fact, but I believe it underlines the connection back to Genesis 3:15 where the promise was made to the woman that her seed would bruise the head of the serpent (a fatal strike). In other words, as John would put it, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (I John 3:8). The Hebrews writer shows that Jesus partook of flesh and blood “that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives” (Hebrews 2:14-15). The serpent’s head is crushed by the Seed of woman who also is the one true Seed of Abraham (Galatians 3:15-18).
  3. To Fulfill the Law and Set Men Free Though Jesus was “born under the Law,” His purpose was to fulfill the Law (Matthew 5:17) and thereby “redeem those who were under the Law.” The Law could not do what Jesus came to do. The Law accomplished what God intended for it, but it was never meant to be the end goal of God’s plans. It was a vehicle through which God would bring about the ultimate fulfillment of His plan in the Son (cf. Galatians 3:23-25). This would make it possible, then, that those who are in Christ would be set free from sin and death: (Romans 8:1-3). Paul said in 1st Tim. 1:15, “Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst.” The reason Jesus was here was because we are sinners. And what’s the problem with being a sinner? Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Spiritual death, hell, is what we have to look forward to as a sinner. And everyone is a sinner. Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Therefore, we are all in the same boat; and it’s sinking, and we’re all drowning. We need a savior. We needed Jesus to come into the world so we could be saved and have the gift of eternal life through His death on the cross. Because Jesus was born into this world to die and rise again, we can live confidently in Him knowing that there is no condemnation. We are forgiven, redeemed, and sanctified unto Him.
  4. So we could have peace with God Col. 1:19-21. Jesus came and died on the cross to bring peace between us and God. Through sin, there was no peace. We were God’s enemies because of our sin. We were against him. Therefore, we had no peace. But because Jesus was willing to pay the penalty for our sin, God’s wrath toward sin was appeased so now there could be peace between us and God. 1st John 3:8b, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” The devil’s work brought sin. The devil’s work brought enmity between us and God. The devil’s work is to steal, kill and destroy. But Jesus came to destroy the destroyer! He came to destroy the death grip that Satan had on us. Jesus came that we would be free and there could be peace between us and God.
  5. So we could live for God 1st Peter 2:24-25, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” Jesus bore our sins at the cross so that as Jesus died for sin, we would in turn die to sin and therefore live for God; doing the things of God. Titus 2:11-14. Jesus died so we would respond to that gift of grace by turning away from our ungodliness and live a godly life. Jesus gave himself up for us, died in our place, not only to redeem us, but also to purify us [make us like him] and that we would actually be eager to do good and live for God as a proper response to the death of Jesus.
  6. To give us an example of how to live We CAN overcome and resist temptation – 1 Cor. 10:13 gives us assurance that we can overcome temptation (to sin). We have Jesus as an example – Heb. 4:14 notes that through Jesus we are to hold fast our confession, For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. If we study how Jesus lived, we know that we can overcome whatever temptations come our way. Remember how He overcame the temptations of Satan – Matt. 1:1-11 – He knew and answered him with scripture each time. We can forgive – as we have noted on many occasions, forgiveness is crucial to our standing before God. How we forgive is how we are going to be forgiven – Matt. 6:14-15. Eph. 4:32 – And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. We can serve others – Galatians 5:13 calls for us to through love serve one another. God is watching to see how we treat each other. John 13:12-17, after washing their feet, Jesus said, “I have given you an example…”; Luke 22:24-27 – as Jesus dealt with disputing apostles, He noted, “I am among you as one who serves.” Again, He is calling for them to be servants. And again, Matthew 20:25-28 on another occasion with more disputes. We can endure sufferings and trials – I Peter 2:21-24. We will never outdo Jesus considering the sufferings He endured for us! But we can learn from Him if we are called upon to suffer for His cause.
  7. Because Jesus Was Born We Are Recipients of His great mercy When Mary was expecting, she praised God for His mercy which is “upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him” (Luke 1:50). Because Jesus was born, we are the recipients of His great mercy shown throughout the generations. We receive salvation and redemption by His grace, and more, we receive the adoption as sons and the grand inheritance provided by Him. The blessing of being able to cry out, “Abba, Father!” is beyond words. Conclusion Why did Jesus need to die? There is no salvation in Jesus’ birth. There could only be salvation in His death. This was to be the greatest achievement He could do for us; the event that would mean the most. This is why Jesus was born to die. At Christmas time we sing “What Child is This”. Within this song about the baby Jesus we see attention given to what would become of the Babe, the Son of Mary. The author understood that in reflecting on the birth of Christ there also needed to be lyrics that brought attention to the ultimate purpose for His arrival. Therefore, the purpose for His birth was revealed in His death. Jesus was born to die. Thank God for His great gift of Jesus, the true Seed “born of a woman” to redeem us all from the curse of sin and provide the means of adoption through which we become God’s heirs!