Born to Die

The last TV show I saw that tried to proclaim the “real meaning of Christmas” was a typical failure. Someone stammered, “Getting the family together, that’s what Christmas is all about.” You would think that the first six letters in the word Christmas would be a big hint, but apparently not.

In my opinion the best verse on the real meaning of Christmas is 1 Timothy 1:15. This verse is tragically underused. But here the Apostle Paul absolutely nails what Christmas is all about. He writes:

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.”

Christmas is about Christ. But even more, Christmas is when we celebrate the Son of God coming into this world and becoming a genuine human being—without ceasing to be fully God. Jesus did this in order to glorify Himself by saving sinners, and to do that He had to live the perfect human life that none of us lived and then die the death that we deserved, in our place.

The reason for Christmas is that Jesus came into this world to save sinners like you and me. The reason for Christmas is Good Friday and Easter. Jesus was born to die.

It is amazing that God would come into this world.

Think about this verse. We should be amazed even if it just said, “Jesus Christ came into the world…” and stopped right there. Think about who this was who came. The person who came into this world was the eternal God, the Creator of all things, and the One for whom all things were created. (See Colossians 1:15-16) He is the One who came into this world with all of its problems, and sickness, and suffering. And He didn’t even come to modern America. He came to the Near East two thousand years ago—when there was no modern indoor plumbing, or air-conditioning, or aspirin.

It is amazing that God would come into this world to die for sinners.  

What if this verse didn’t tell us why Jesus came into the world? A lot of people know that Christmas has something to do with Jesus, but that’s about it. I think a lot of people assume that Jesus wanted to come into this world to tell us how wonderful we are. It’s like He is stopping by with a pan of brownies because he just likes us so much. You see, we are very deluded about how wonderful we are. The reality is that we are all sinners. (Romans 3:23) We are born with hearts that are in open rebellion to God. That is what sin is at its core: rebellion against God. That is what makes it so terrible. It isn’t like we just accidently broke a few technical rules. Sin is not insignificant. You can tell how significant a crime is by the penalty attached to it. Romans 6:23 tells us that the wages of sin is eternal death. That is not insignificant.

It is amazing that God would come into this world to die for really bad sinners!

Even the “smallest” sin is a sin against an infinitely holy God. Therefore, in a sense, even the “smallest” sin is infinitely terrible. Paul realized this. He described himself as the worst of all sinners, or as the KJV puts it, the “chief” of all sinners. Paul realized that Jesus didn’t come into this world to save “nice” people. There are none. Sure, we may be nice to one another, but we’re not nice to God. But Jesus came to save even the worst of sinners. As the Reformer Martin Luther said, Christ saves even “hard-boiled” sinners. If you think that you are too big of a sinner for Jesus to save, you’re not. Paul used to hunt down Christians to have them killed. The blood of Christ is valuable enough to save Paul, and it is valuable enough to save you. In the very next verse Paul writes:

But for this very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of all sinners, Christ Jesus might display His immense patience as an example for those who would believe on Him and receive eternal life.

This is why Christ came. Believe on Him and have eternal life. 

Bowling and Heaven

Bowling can help us understand the Bible’s message about salvation. A perfect score in bowling is 300. To get this you need to throw a strike in all ten frames plus the two extra balls at the end. If you leave any pins standing, your hope of a perfect game is shot.

Now, imagine that you’re in a bowling contest and the prize for bowling a perfect 300 in one game is a million dollars. If you find yourself in the middle of the game with several open frames and gutter balls, you have no hope of a 300. At that point it won’t help to get serious and bowl perfectly from then on out. You can improve your score, but your chance of winning the prize is totally gone.

Many people treat their lives like a bowling game they are trying to salvage. We look back on our lives and realize that we have thrown a lot of gutter balls and left a lot of pins standing. We get convicted and realize that this isn’t a score that we would want to bring before God one day. So we decide that from here on out were going to turn over a new leaf. We think that if we can get very serious and try for perfection from this time forward, we can salvage the final score and please God in the end.

We can’t.

The truth is, God demands perfection. Jesus actually said this. He didn’t say, “Try your best and it will be okay.” Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). James 2:10 states, "whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking it all." Only perfect is perfect. Yet, we have not been perfect. We’ve sinned, and trying hard from here on out can never erase the gutter balls in the frames of life we’ve already played. 

Think of it another way. What if each of the ten frames were one of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17).  If that were the case, would you have a 300 game going? I know I don’t. In fact, when I really think about God’s commands, I don’t think I’ve had a strike in any of them. Have you? Have you consistently kept God number one in your life (commandment #1)? Have you always honored Him with your words (#3) and your time (#4)? Have you ever told a lie, even a small one (#8)?  

Maybe you’re proud because you have a few strikes because you have never murdered someone (#6) or committed adultery (#7).  Okay, but Jesus taught that if you hate someone you have murdered them in your heart (Matthew 5:21-22). As far as adultery, Jesus also said, “everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28). There go those strikes.

This is bad news because not only does our score fail to win the prize, but it also earns us a penalty. The Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). What we earn—what we deserve—from our life of sin is spiritual death—eternal punishment and separation from God.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Romans 6:23 goes on to say, “…but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God demands perfection, but he knows that we’re not going to be able to give it. We come into this life with a bad score from the first frame. To be right with God, He needed to make another way. That is why God came into this world.

Jesus Christ is the only human being to ever throw strikes in all ten frames. The Bible says that Jesus was tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He always knocked down every pin and never left any standing. Jesus, the Son of God, was the only person to ever get the perfect 300. He is the only one to win the prize rather than the penalty.

When we look at the score board, we see our gutter balls and Christ’s perfect game. The amazing thing is what Jesus offers to do for us. Jesus offers to switch scores.

The Bible states, “We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20b-21). In effect, Jesus offers to erase His name from His score and to put your name there. In exchange, He agrees to claim your failed score. You get His prize. He takes your penalty. That is what the sinless Son of God was doing on the cross. The Lord died on the cross in the place of everyone who will trust Him as their substitute. Because of what Christ did, God is willing to look at you and see Christ’s 300 rather than what you threw.

Will you turn to Him and accept Christ’s offer? Or will you keep trying to get your own perfect score?