THE BENEFITS OF THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST TO PLANET EARTH!

Some 2000 years ago, the Dayspring from on high, visited humanity. Jesus Christ came to this planet called earth.

In Luke 1:78, the Bible says, “…the Dayspring from on high has visited us. 

So, today I would like us to look at “THE BENEFITS OF THE COMING OF JESUS CHRIST TO PLANET EARTH!” 

First of all, the birth of Jesus Christ heralds (announces) the entrance of God into human history. 

Jesus is the greatest “Gift” of all times given to mankind. The Bible describes this “Gift” as “UNSPEAKABLE”

In 2 Corinthians 9:15, the Bible says, “Thanks be to God for the unspeakable (indescribable) Gift.” 

Now let’s look at some of the reasons why we actually ought to celebrate the coming of Jesus Christ to planet earth:

1. Christ came to initiate the love of the Father to us.

“We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 Jn. 4:19).

“In this was manifested the love of God (the Father) toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 

10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:9-10).

“For God (the Father) so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Rom. 8:37).

“But God commendeth (showed, demonstrated) His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

Here is the Good News: nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing in the entire universe can stop God from loving us. Hallelujah!

“For I am persuaded (convinced), that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39).

2. Christ came to save mankind from sin and hell (Matt. 1:20-21). The devil accuses us of sin ceaselessly before God. 

Revelations 12:10 says, “…for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.”

But Jesus came to take away our sins (the accusations) and present us faultless to God the Father (Eph. 5:27). 

Ephesians 5:27 says, “That He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.”

Colossians 2:14 says, “…He has moved away all the petitions the devil has written against us and nailed them to the cross.”

Salvation is only in Christ Jesus.

Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there SALVATION in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we MUST be saved.”

John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.”

3. Christ came to connect us back to the Father. Reconnection to God the Father is possible through Jesus Christ only.

In John 3:16-21 Jesus said, “For God SO LOVED THE WORLD, that HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, that WHOSOEVER believeth in Him should not perish, but HAVE EVERLASTING LIFE. 17 For God SENT not His Son into the world to condemn (judge) the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.18 He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned (judged) already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 And this is the condemnation (judgment), that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

From the moment you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Saviour, you started living the everlasting (eternal) life.

Realize that Jesus Christ is not just the BEST way to Heaven. He is not one of the ways to Heaven. Rather He is the ONLY way to Heaven. He is the ONLY way to the Father.

In John 14:6 Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one can come unto the Father except by Me.” 

Jesus is not just one of the mediators between God and men. Rather He is the ONLY mediator between God and men.

1 Timothy 2:5 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

Jesus Christ is the only answer to every one of your problems no matter what the problems are - drug addiction, health, financial, academic, or social. Jesus is the only answer. 

1 John 3:8 says, “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested that He might destroy the works of devil, which is to steal, to kill, and to destroy” (Jn. 10:10).

4. Christ came to make all that believe right with God. Christ came that He might take my sins in His own body (1 Pet. 2:24) and then give me the righteousness of God (2 Cor. 5:21). 

1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

2 Corinthians 5:21 says, “For He (God the Father) hath made Him (Christ) to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him (Christ).”

Romans 3:21-22 says, “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; 22 Even THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD WHICH IS BY FAITH OF JESUS CHRIST unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference.”

Romans 5:17 says, “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in (this) life by one, Jesus Christ.”

Romans 10:4 says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth.”

5. Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. 

In John 1:29 John the Baptist said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away THE SIN of the world!” 

Christ came to wipe away all our sins. “In whom we have the forgiveness of sins through His blood….” (Col. 1:14).

Christ came to nail all our sins to the Cross. Colossians 2:14 says, “…He has moved away ALL the petitions the devil has written against us and nailed them to His Cross” (NLT).

“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross” (Col. 2:14, KJV).

There is a record of charges in hell that the devil has written against you. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. 

Then God the Father made you alive with Christ, for He (God the Father) forgave ALL our sins. He canceled the record of the charges that the devil wrote against us and took it out of the way by nailing it to His Cross (Col. 2:13-15, NLT). 

6. Christ came to take our sins in His own body.

1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree (Cross), that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”

7. Christ came to redeem us from the curse of the law.

Galatians 3:13-14 says, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law (Spiritual death, sickness poverty), being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: 14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”

The curse of the law includes: a) Spiritual death, b) Sickness, disease, and c) Poverty.

Ephesians 1:7 says, “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

8. Christ came to redeem us from all iniquity. 

Titus 2:14b says, “Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity…”

9. Christ came to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. 

In Luke 1:78-79, the Bible says, “…the Dayspring from on high has visited us. (1) To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death..." 

Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

The Psalmist said, “Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105).

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (Jn. 8:12).

“In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (Jn. 1:4-6).

10. Christ came that we might enjoy life in abundance, to the full, until it overflows (Jn. 10:10). 

He came to give us abundant life. He came to give us a life of total prosperity (3 Jn. v 2). 

He came to die so that we might live. He came to become poor so that we through His poverty might become rich.

“For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Cor. 8:9).

11. Christ came to purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works (Titus 2:14c).

Titus 2:14c says, “Who gave Himself for us, that he might …purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

How does Jesus purify the saints? He does this through His Word (Jn. 15:3; Ps. 119:9, 11; Eph. 5:26-27). Jesus Himself is the living Word (Jn. 1:14).

12. Christ came to reveal the Father to humanity.

Jesus said, “All things are delivered to Me of (by) My Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will REVEAL Him” (Lk. 10:22).

John 1:18 says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him.”

Colossians 1:15 says, “Who is the image of the invisible God…”

Hebrews 1:3 says, “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the Word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.”

In John 14:8-10 Philip said unto Him, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of Myself: but the Father that dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works.”

13. Christ came to justify us from all things. Jesus came that all that believe in Him will be declared “discharged and acquitted” by the court of Heaven.

Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

14. Christ came to empower us to reign in (this) life. 

In Genesis 1:26, 28 God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth…28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”

Because I have received the gift of righteousness I shall reign in this life by Jesus Christ. 

Romans 5:17 says, “For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.”

If you suffer with Him, you shall also reign with Him. 2 Timothy 2:12 says, “If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us:”

Where shall we reign? In Heaven? No! We shall reign here on earth. 

Revelation 5:10 says, “And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”

For how long shall we reign? We shall reign forever and ever. In Revelation 22:5 the Scriptures say, “And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever.”

15. Christ came to bring grace and truth. 

John 1:17 says, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For BY GRACE are ye saved THROUGH FAITH; and that not of yourselves: it (that grace) is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Titus 2:11-14 says, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”

Grace means the unmerited favour of God. Some people get into a position because they are qualified. But His grace brings you to a position you will never be able to qualify for. You read English, but you are the manager of an oil company. You did not go to school but you are speaking Queen’s English. You are nothing to write home about, but today you are the righteousness of God because of Christ. 

This grace can be multiplied. 2 Peter 1:2 says, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.”

16. Christ came to destroy the works of the devil in our lives. 

1 John 3:8 says, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this PURPOSE the Son of God was manifested [revealed], that He might destroy the works of the devil.”

Which works did He come to destroy? In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for (1) to steal, and (2) to kill, and (3) to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”

As He declared His mission statement Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me; because the LORD hath anointed Me to preach good tidings unto the meek (poor); He hath sent Me to bind up (heal) the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives (to preach deliverance to the captives), and the opening of the prison to them that are bound (to preach the recovering of sight to the blind); to set at liberty them that are bruised, 

2 To proclaim (preach) the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To all who mourn in Zion (Israel), He will give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (despair); that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified” (Isa. 61:1-3).

17. Christ came to guide our feet in the way of peace. 

In Luke 1:79, the Bible says, “…the Dayspring from on high has visited us…to guide our feet into the way of peace." 

The Psalmist said, “…He leadeth me beside the still waters. 3 …He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake” (Ps. 23:2-3).

18. Christ came to deliver us from the power of darkness. 

Colossians 1:13 says, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.”

Colossians 2:14-15 says, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross; 15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.”

In Zephaniah 3:14-15 God said, “Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all the [your] heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15 (1) The Lord hath taken away thy judgments,(2) He hath cast out thine enemy: the king of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee: thou shalt not see evil anymore.” 

You shall see disaster no more. The people of God are called to sing and rejoice with all their heart. Why? Because their deliverance (salvation) has come. 

What kind of judgment has He taken away? Satan has concluded over many of you that you are not going to succeed, you are not going to make it in life but as far God is concerned, He says, “I have taken away your judgment.” 

Satan’s judgment against you is that you will weep from day to day, from month to month, from year to year. But God says, “He has taken away this judgment.” 

Notice that the LORD has not only taken away your judgment but He has also cast away your enemy. This is to say that God is doing a permanent work in our lives. If He had removed the judgment and allowed the enemy [your judge] to remain, he will still judge you again.

19. Christ came to give us Identity (Eph. 1:11). As a New Creation you have a standing (an identity), a position, an inheritance and an ability. 

To discover the package you have in Christ, you must go to the Word of God. Go to the New Testament, primarily the epistles written to the Church, and underline every Scripture that has the expression, “in Him,” “in Christ,” “in Whom,” “through Whom” etc. 

These Scriptures tell you (1) who you are in Christ (Your Standing/Identity), (2) where you are in Christ (Your Position) (3) what you have [possess] in Christ (Your Inheritance), and (4) what you can do because you are in Christ (Your Empowering and Ability). 

They show you your position as a believer. They show you your legal standing in Christ. They show you your place in the family of God. They show you your place in God’s purpose and plan.

As for your identity: For instance, when a lady gets married, she assumes a new status. This new status has some rights and privileges attached to it. If you ask her, “Who are you?” She will no longer say I am Miss Ngozi Odikemere (the name of her father; her maiden name), but she will say, “I am Mrs. Ngozi Nwa-Jesus (the name of the husband).” This is her new identity - HER STANDING.

20. Christ came to give us Position (Eph. 1:11). For instance, when a lady gets married, she assumes a new status. If you ask her, “What is your position in your husband?” She will tell you, “I and my husband are one; we both have the same position; my husband is the Head of State so also am I the Head of State. At least I am the first lady.” This is HER POSITION.

21. Christ came to give us Inheritance (Eph. 1:11). For instance, when a lady gets married, she assumes a new status. If you ask her, “What are the things that belong to you because you are Mrs. Nwa-Jesus?” She will tell you, “I am a joint-heir with my husband; everything my husband owns belong to me. We run a joint account.” This is HER INHERITANCE.

Ephesians 1:11 says, “In whom also we have obtained AN INHERITANCE, being predestinated according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will”

This inheritance is incorruptible! “To AN INHERITANCE incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you” (1 Pet. 1:4).

22. Christ came to give us Ability (Phil. 4:13). For instance, when a lady gets married, she assumes a new status. If you ask her, “What can you do because you are married to his Excellency?” She will tell you, “I can do everything my husband can do.” This is HER ABILITY. 

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13; Eph. 3:20).

What a wealth of privileges we have just because Christ came to planet earth! Glory to the King of kings and the Lord of lords!

Watch out for the New Year edition of Good News from the Pulpit! 

• • Your friend, I. I. MADUBUNYI (Head Pastor) Dec. 29^th, 2019