“Jesus Came To Be Our Example”

I Corinthians 15:16-20

16) For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17) And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

18) Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

19) If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

20) But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

Preface

W

e have been examining the purpose for which Jesus came. We have heard a message entitled “The Purpose of Jesus’ Coming” as well as one entitled “The Dilemma of a One-Sided Love Affair.”

From what we have already examined in our previous series, it should be clear to us that the life of salvation is all about Jesus! It has to be, for try as he might, man cannot change. This is significant because if he is saved, he will have to change.

Unfortunately, in these “last days” Man has become more insincere than ever. Instead of being willing to “take God at His Word” and accept His “standard,” he attempts to take the word of God and “break it down” so that he can understand it. The only problem is when it comes to God and His Word, if one would benefit from it, he must accept it.

If “getting the hang of” salvation were about understanding the Word, there would be no excuse for anyone to be without understanding. After all, there is no lack of “translations” of the Bible, all designed to make it “understandable” to its readers. However, what one needs to remember is that because its authorship is spiritual, so is its message. Therefore, no matter the translation, the key to understanding will be found in the spiritual acceptance rather than the natural understanding of the words used.

Basically, “the man who would be spiritual” suffers from the same “malady—that is, once he has done all that he thinks is necessary, he does not want to be told that he is still a sinner. But, if one really does desire to a spiritual relationship with the Lord, if he is never told that he is wrong, how will he ever change?

Main Thought

If it were not for the example of Jesus, we would have no idea of the requirement of God. You see, from birth, Mankind is depraved of spiritual understanding. So, since its attainment is the reason that Man is allowed to exist, Someone had to come Who would “right this wrong.” Herein, lies a large part of Man’s “problem,” for after all, who really wants to admit that he knows virtually nothing of what he is supposed to know?

Scripture tells us that Man is born “blind,” meaning basically, that he cannot “see” that which is spiritual. This being the case, he has no way of having any knowledge of God’s plan of salvation. All too often, though Man is aware that he has a “problem,” it seems as if we would rather have a natural solution to a spiritual problem than have to be “stretched” and sensitized” into accepting the Word of God. If we are to have any help, at some point we must be honest, accept that we make no “headway” on our own and agree to accept the Word of God.

In churches today, scriptures that are written to those who are saved are often being applied “across the board.” Sometimes, it is scriptures such as “…all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” The lie that the devil would have perpetuated is that living “sin free” is not even possible!

Because of the fact of the original sin committed by Adam and passed down to all coming after, it is impossible that a human being can change his spiritual state of being. It is much like the law of physics stating that an object at rests remains way unless affected by an opposite force. In our case, that “opposite Force” is the “force” of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God. He is the One to Whom we must appeal to step into our situation and breathe into us the breath of “spiritual” life!

While Jesus equips us with the “tools of change,” no one can “make” us live saved. We are creatures of “free will” that we might decide to serve God, thereby returning to Him freely the love that He has invested in us, making us then, “slaves” not of obligation, but rather, appreciation.

“Jesus came to be our example” in the most important way possible—that of teaching us how we must live for and serve God. For selfish creatures such as us, this requires “something outside of” ourselves and for this reason alone, the saving of our souls should never have been left up to us.