Why Is Jesus Important to Us?

The past two weeks, I’ve provided evidence that Jesus was a real person who lived in Palestine and I’ve provided evidence supporting the legitimacy of his claim to be the Son of God. This leads me to ask, “Why is Jesus important to us?” Let’s take a look.

Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?

Does it seem kind of strange that God, the creator of the universe, would incarnate himself in human form on this earth? After all, he is so much greater and more powerful than any human being, meaning that it would take great humility for him to lower himself to the same level as something he created. The Israelites, the ones to whom God had chosen to reveal himself up until that point, would’ve expected him to come to earth in order to judge the world. But John, one Jesus’s twelve disciples, gave us an eyewitness answer to this question that is different from what the Israelites would’ve naturally concluded:

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. – John 3:17

John said Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save the world. This naturally leads us to ask another question: From what did the world need to be saved?

From What Did the World Need to Be Saved?

All of us innately believe that we are free people who have the ability to do whatever we want. How many times have we heard it said, “You can be whatever you want”? For example, the mantra of the American Dream is that if we pull up our bootstraps and work hard enough, we can achieve anything we want. But is it really true? Are we really free people?

According to Jesus, who claimed to be the Truth,[1] every single person isn’t born as a free man or woman, but as a slave; a slave to the devil.[2] The picture this claim paints is one in which every human is inherently like a princess who is imprisoned by a dragon in the tower of his castle. This is what the world needs to be saved from; it needs to be saved from its captivity to the dragon.

What Did Jesus Do to Set His People Free?

Just when things look hopeless for the princess, Jesus, the king of kings, comes riding in on his white horse, slays the dragon, sweeps the princess off her feet, and rides off with her into the sunset where they live happily ever after. I’m dead serious!

I know, this all sounds like fantasy stuff. It all sounds too good to be true. These are the stories in which many young boys envision themselves as the prince on the white horse who is going to rescue the princess. And these are the stories upon which many young girls place their hopes and dreams in prince charming. But the boys soon find out that they can’t even fight the temptation to look at porn, let alone slay some massive dragon that’s twenty feet tall and breathes fire from his mouth. And the girls soon find out that the prince charming who came riding in on his white horse doesn’t complete her the way she thought he would.

But this is the story which is communicated to us throughout the Bible. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, humanity, which was once free, fell into captivity to the devil who is also known as the dragon.[3] Jesus then came to earth as a human being and suffered the punishment, the divine wrath of God, which was due to his princess for her sins.[4] He then rose from the dead three days later, walked the earth for another forty days, and then ascended to heaven.[5] At some point in the future, he will come back riding on his white horse and triumphantly defeat the dragon once and for all.[6] Then he will sweep his bride off her feet and ride off into the sunset where they will live happily ever after.[7]

Why Would Someone Want to Be with Jesus for All of Eternity?

This story sounds amazing, but it still leaves us with one final question: Why would someone want to be with Jesus for all of eternity? After all, wasn’t Jesus kind of an uptight guy who enjoys telling everyone how bad of sinners they are and doesn’t want us to have any fun? For clarification, the Bible doesn’t actually say that Jesus was uptight nor does it say that he walked around telling everyone how bad of sinners they were nor does it say that he doesn’t want us to have any fun. Instead, the Bible tells us that Jesus actually wants us to experience the utmost amount of joy.[8] And the way we can experience this joy is to gain him, the greatest treasure we could ever find. Jesus claimed that he was so great of a treasure that we’d be stupid (my words) not to give up everything in which we trust in order to gain him.[9] He is so great of a treasure that he can do what no one and nothing else could ever do: completely satisfy us.

So what is the benefit of the princess gaining Jesus? The benefit is that the princess will get Jesus, the most valuable treasure in the whole world, for all of eternity. She will be completely satisfied in him for all of eternity!

Conclusion

Jesus is important because he rescues his people from their captivity to the devil and draws them into a personal relationship with him. As hard as we may try to save ourselves, only Jesus can perform this supernatural feat.

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[1] Refer to John 14:6.

[2] Refer to John 8:31-47, 2 Timothy 2:25-26, and Ephesians 2:1-3.

[3] Refer to Genesis 3 and Revelation 12.

[4] Refer to Jeremiah 25:15 and Matthew 26:36-46.

[5] Refer to Matthew 28:1-20 and Acts 1:1-11.

[6] Refer to Revelation 19 and 20.

[7] Refer to Revelation 21 and 22.

[8] Refer to Galatians 5:22.

[9] Refer to Matthew 13:44-46.