Jesus' Purpose?

     We all know that Jesus came to Earth because He loves us, right? He came to save us! A lot of us grew up singing "Jesus loves me this I know"! I am one of those who grew up with those words in my heart and they did help me through a lot of hard times in life. There wasn't a lot else I knew about Jesus' purpose other than He was God's Son and came to Earth to die and shed His blood for me.
     I have been striving to come into a deeper, more mature relationship with all that God is and believe that Jesus had a little more on His mind than just me when He came to Earth. and so today when I read a word about what Jesus came here to do, it really grabbed my attention!

The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

     Wait, do you mean that He was doing battle with the devil when He came to Earth? Do you mean He was here to destroy something, not just to die for my sins? Wow, that stops you for a moment, doesn't it? 

     There are many people who are more greatly "learned" than I am and have spent their lives studying scripture from top to bottom so I am not going to attempt to do an indepth study or blog on this....I simply want to say that there is more to Jesus' mission to Earth than just my forgiveness. 

     His Father was and is His greatest love....always has been and always will be...do you think maybe He came to restore what His Father had created and the enemy destroyed? Maybe His Father's desires were top most in His mind? Try to imagine a scenario with a Father that had created a paradise and an enemy came and ruined it...wouldn't a Son that loved and honored His Father long to restore everything to His Father that was in His power to do? I believe so! I believe we leave out a very important part of the picture when we think that it's all about us! 

     If we want to be more than extras in this scenario then we need to see what we can do to aid Jesus in His desire to restore to His and our Father what was destroyed! We are His kingdom on Earth, we do have a job! Jesus told us to go into all of the world and spread the Kingdom! Make disciples! 

     Now don't get upset, I'm not saying that Jesus didn't come to save you and I'm not saying that He doesn't love you....I'm saying don't be immature and let His mission to Earth stop there....that was just the beginning! 

     .....and don't forget, His Father loved us and "sent" His Son.....