Seriously, would you go somewhere knowing that by going there you would die? There is only one person I know who did just that… His name is Jesus! Leaving the security and perfection of Heaven, Jesus came into our sin-affected world two millenniums ago to die! The question asked in Part I of this topic was “why” … why did Jesus choose to do this?
 
Two of the five reasons already given for Jesus’ coming are; He became our substitute and He pioneered our salvation.
 
The third reason – He sanctified His people!
 
Sanctified means to make holy–to perfect. The Book of Hebrews says, “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters.” (2:11). This text says that Jesus Christ is holy and that He can make us holy–make us perfect in every way!
 
A wonderful facet of holiness is that we can never be marred! Hebrews says, “For by one offering He (Jesus) has perfected for all time those who are sanctified” (10:14). Friends, once we have received the “imputed” holiness of Jesus Christ, nothing in this universe can take it away! In Christ; we are holy… like Him, we are part of the same family, we have the same Heavenly Father, and Christ calls us brothers and sisters without shame.
 
The fourth reason – He conquered Satan! 
 
The primary reason for the incarnation of Christ was to deliver a death blow to Satan. Hebrews says, “Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death” (2:14).
 
The first prophesy ever given about Jesus is in the Book of Genesis… It predicted that Jesus would crush the serpent’s head (Satan) (3:15). It is here in the New Testament that the proclamation of the ancient prophesy was fulfilled!
 
Satan’s great power is death! He is the paymaster for the wages of sin. If Satan can keep a person living in sin, until death, he has that person forever with him in hell.
 
Someone had to conquer death to destroy Satan’s power, and, that’s exactly what Jesus did. Jesus came out of the grave, broke-free from the shackles of death and announced, “Because I live, you shall live also” (Jn. 14:19).
 
The fifth reason – To became our High Priest!
 
Sinful human beings cannot come directly into the presence of a holy God without a High Priest acting as a mediator on their behalf. Our Hebrews text says, Therefore, it was necessary for him (Jesus) to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested (2:17-18).
 
Friends, a suitable high priest would have to understand the mind of God and also the minds of human beings. The Perfect High Priest would be God and Man. That is exactly who Jesus is – the Perfect Mediator between God and mankind. 
 
Jesus was made “human” like us in all things. He was tempted, but without sin.  He was like us in every way–He was hungry and thirsty, He was overcome with fatigue, He was glad, He was grieved, He slept, He became angry, He grew, He was persecuted, He loved, He prayed, He was astonished, He was rejected, He marvelled, and He wept.
 
Jesus is one of us, our Perfect Sympathizer, and God, our Perfect High Priest.
 
When Jesus died for you and me; He bore our sins, He purchased our salvation, He guaranteed our sanctification, He destroyed our enemy, and He became our sympathetic High Priest. We must look beyond the tender scene of Bethlehem’s manger to the Cross of Calvary to discover and appreciate that Jesus came to die for you, me… the whole of humanity!
 
To benefit from Jesus’ death a person must; surrender their lives to Jesus, repent of their sins, believe in Him, be baptised, and receive the Holy Spirit.     
 
This coming Friday, millions of people world-wide will attend special church services to observe Good Friday for a number of reasons. Should they leave their place of service ignorant of the ultimate reason for Jesus’ coming into our world, their ignorance will rob them of the essential truth that Jesus came to die for them, for you, and for me. Friends, it was deliberate, Jesus was born to die!
 
Bill