Advent: Why did Jesus Come? (Part 3)

God revealed His love for us in that He sent His Son, Jesus, to save us and rescue us from hell, rather than misusing and misapplying His love to remove the seriousness of hell.

John 1:1-18 - ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

⁶ There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. ⁷ He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. ⁸ He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.

⁹ The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. ¹⁰ He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. ¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, ¹³ who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. ¹⁵ (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) ¹⁶ For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ No one has ever seen God; God the only Son, who is at the Father's side, he has made him known.

Did you know that about 85% of the world’s population identifies with a religion, and Christianity remains the largest percentage? Why do most people gravitate toward religion? Many say it’s emotional, logical, moral, or traditional, but at the core, it is a matter of identity. Humanity has always asked: “Who am I and where do I belong?” In all religions, people do all sorts of things to find the answer to that question, but in Christianity, God took on flesh in Jesus to be the answer.

The problem is that instead of receiving identity from God, many people spend their lives trying to build one through success, relationships, ethnicity, family name, morality, religion, or achievement. They need to know that, at best, those identities are fragile and can be lost. But Jesus came to give us an identity rooted in God Himself— secure, eternal, and unshakeable.

Last time, from John 1:1–18, we learned that Christmas is not only God coming near; it is God entering humanity so we might receive a new identity, a new birth, and a new family. The prologue of the gospel of John indicates the tragedy of the One who gave identity to mankind was rejected by the very people He created, and in love, He refuses to leave us in lostness.

The big idea is, if you are searching for the answer to the question, “Who am I and where do I belong?” then don’t search for the answer in success, relationships, ethnicity, morality, religion, or achievement, but rather in Jesus. For that, we need to understand why Jesus came. John 1:1-18 teaches that Jesus came to reveal God’s heart, redeem humanity, and rescue us from hell. The first two we have covered previously. Today, we explore the third reason for which Jesus came.

Jesus Came to Rescue Us from Hell

As we return to John 1:1-18, we must ask, if Jesus came to reveal God’s heart and redeem humanity, then a logical question is, to redeem us from what? Redemption implies danger we cannot escape. This danger in the Bible is the just judgment of God, its eternal darkness, and eternal separation from God; another name for that is hell.

In simple terms, Jesus came to rescue us from hell. This is an uncomfortable truth for many, especially in a culture where hell is softened or denied. Studies show 20–41% of those who profess to be Christian reject a literal or eternal hell; spiritual darkness clouds truth.

John 1:1-18 presents Jesus not as a sentimental gift from God but as a Rescuer on a mission. It shows three ways Jesus intervenes to rescue us from hell and to give us a new identity.

We Were Blinded by Darkness, so He Became Our Light (John 1:1–5)

John 1:1–5 reads, “¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. ⁴ In him was life, and the life was the light of men.⁵ The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John begins by describing the world as a place of profound darkness. So far, every time we have come to verse 5, we have focused on the Light with a special emphasis on the word, overcome. This time, as we look at verse 5, I want to draw our attention to the word, darkness, here. It is translated from the Greek word, skotia, and in verse 5, it is used twice.

In the Greek New Testament, it appears 16 times in different forms, but in all its forms, it contrasts the Light— the presence, purpose, and power of God. For example, in Matthew 27:45, it refers to physical darkness; in Romans 2:19, to intellectual darkness; in Acts 13:11, to blindness; in Romans 13:12, to evil works; in Ephesians 5:11, to the evil powers that dominate; in Luke 12:3 and Matthew 10:27, to secrecy in general; and in other places, as a metaphor of moral and spiritual darkness.

Now to illustrate, when we reject the eternal Light, Jesus, who came to cure us of our spiritual, intellectual, and moral blindness, skotia, how it leads to a place of punishment, in a culturally insensitive word, Hell, I want us to look at three portions of scripture.

First turn with me to Matthew 8:11-12 where Jesus is speaking, “¹¹ I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, ¹² while the sons of the kingdom [that is a reference to the unrepentant chosen people of God, Israel] will be thrown into the outer darkness [scotia]. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Now that also includes those who say they are Christian, but their hearts and lives are far from Jesus. They are the ones who would rather reinterpret the scripture to comfort their hearts than let the truth of God confront their sinful life that leads to hell.

Now turn with me to 2 Peter 2:17, calling such people waterless springs, Peter writes, “These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved.”

Finally, turn with me to Jude 1:12-13 to see what God’s Word has to say to those rebels of God’s grace, posers pretending to be Christians yet rejecting Christ in their words and actions, it reads, “¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.” So, this utter darkness and its punishment, as Jesus describes, does not end but is forever.

In the Bible, darkness is more than just a lack of light; it is a spiritual condition and if not treated by the Word of God, and cured by the Light of Christ, it will most certainly lead to Hell described by Jesus as “outer darkness” in Matthew 22:13. That is the final, permanent state of being cut off from the Light of God's presence.

Application

Don’t reject Jesus and deny the reality of darkness. Without Jesus, we are not just “misguided;” we are lost in a darkness that we cannot light ourselves. This darkness is the shadow of death that leads to eternal separation from God, which is Hell.

We Were Bound for Rejection, so He Became Our Brother (John 1:11–12)

John 1:11-12 continues, “¹¹ He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. ¹² But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” The contrast of rejection and reception is critical to understanding the lasting power of our decision to accept or reject. Hell can also be defined as eternal rejection— being forever outside the family of God. The eternal rejection is the state of being outside of God’s family, forever separated by our own decision in this life.

Ironically, verse 11 shows Jesus, the master of the house, came home to His own people, but they locked the door. Tragically, when they shut Him out, they shut themselves out.

Imagine an orphan standing outside a palace— unworthy, without heritage. The king’s son steps out, removes his robe, puts on the orphan’s rags, and with his blood signs adoption papers saying, “You are family.” That is the gospel. But imagine if the orphan rip off the adoption paper and spat in the prince’s face. That’s what Jesus’ own people did to Him.

Application

Jesus took rejection so we could enter God’s family. Jesus rescued us from hell and gave us a new identity. Without Christ, we stand outside forever. With Christ, we become sons and daughters of God and brothers and sisters of Jesus. Because of Him, we belong to God’s family, and we have eternal identity.

We Were Burdened by Debt, so He Became Our Grace (John 1:17)

John 1:17 says, “For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” The Law exposed what we owed to God, but it could not cancel it. We owed a moral debt we could never repay.

God sent His Son to pay what we couldn’t and He paid it in full. Every rescue mission has a cost; in our case, rescuing us from Hell cost God everything— it cost Him His Only Son. Hell is an eternal debtor’s prison in which only God could descend to release the captives. The Apostles’ Creed declares He was crucified, died, buried, descended into hell, and rose victorious. You see, Jesus didn’t lower the standard; He fulfilled the requirement.

Imagine owing ten billion dollars. You could work a lifetime and never repay it. Then a benefactor appears and stamps your debt “Paid in full.” If you refuse the receipt, you will still be burdened by the debt. Many live that way spiritually—carrying guilt even though Christ has already paid the bill.

Application

Do not live trying to earn God’s favor. Your debt is paid. Replace “I must do” with “it is done.” Jesus rescued us from hell and made us a new family.

Closing Thought

As I close, I want to share with you about a progressive movement against the orthodox, historical view of hell. Recently, I wrote an article for Religious Studies Review in which I reviewed a book titled Holy Hell: A Case Against Eternal Damnation by Derek Ryan Kubilus. Derek’s book is a great example of a modern attempt to remove the fear of hell and make it equivalent to nothing but a place of temporary hold.

The attempt is to remove the traditional Christian doctrine of eternal conscious torment that has been taught by Jesus, the Apostles, early church fathers, and the church throughout history. The purpose of doing such a thing is to comfort believers who have lost their unbelieving loved ones who died in sin, without knowing and receiving Jesus Christ.

Their modified version of hell is based on an idea of universal salvation: that all souls— even those consigned to hell— will ultimately be reconciled to God, their sins purged through divine love rather than punished eternally. The dismissal of hell as an eternal state of suffering reveals a heart that desires reconciliation with loving God while rejecting the method and means by which God chose to reconcile and restore us.

Reinterpreting Scripture to soften the image of hell and to rehabilitate the image of God for those who find the concept of eternal damnation incompatible with divine love is not the solution to the problem of hell. The solution is Jesus, who came to reveal God’s heart, redeem humanity, and rescue us from hell.

When we step back and view John 1:1-18 as a whole, we see that Jesus came on a divine rescue mission. He entered our world to save us from judgment, darkness, and eternal separation from God; in other words, He came to rescue us from hell. That should reveal the love of God that He sent His Son to save us and rescue us from hell, rather than misusing and misapplying His love to remove the seriousness of hell.

This is why the first reason for Jesus coming into this world is to reveal God’s heart, the second reason was to redeem humanity, because God does not want anyone to perish, and the third reason was to rescue us from hell.

Action Step

Open your heart to Christ’s grace. To reject Him now is to choose utter darkness. Jesus did not bring a flashlight— He is the Light. To be rescued is to be transferred from darkness into His marvelous light of Christ.

Appeal

Before this year ends, make things right with God. Receive Christ. Start new. John 1:1–18 is God’s open hand— offering identity, family, and freedom. We were blinded, bound, and burdened— but Jesus came to rescue us.

Learn More

Hear the full message

Read more from First Baptist Metuchen