A Journey Through His Life, Teachings, and Eternal Purpose
He Came Near — God With Us
The Life of Jesus Christ | Part Two
Introduction
When we think about the birth of Jesus Christ, our minds naturally go to Bethlehem, Mary and Joseph, the shepherds, and that baby lying in a manger. We know the story so well that it can be easy to move past just how extraordinary that moment really was. This wasn’t simply the birth of a baby. The eternal Son of God, the One who had existed before Bethlehem and through whom all things were created, had now entered the world as a human being. The King of glory came into the world in a way that looked nothing like what we might expect from a king. He came as a baby, born into a world that desperately needed a Savior.
In our first teaching, we learned that Jesus Christ did not begin His existence in Bethlehem. He existed long before Mary gave birth to Him. Now we’re going to look at what happened when the eternal Son of God took on human flesh and came to live among us.
Why did Jesus come? What did it mean for the Son of God to become human? And what does His coming reveal about the heart of God toward us? These aren’t small questions. When we understand what God was doing through the coming of Jesus Christ, we begin to see the Christmas story differently. We see more than a baby in a manger. We see God coming near to us in a way that changed everything.
01 | The Word Became Human
John 1:14 (NLT) tells us, “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.” Think about what John is telling us. The One who had always existed with the Father became human and lived among us. Jesus didn’t stop being God when He came into the world. He took on humanity. He experienced life in a human body. He became tired. He became hungry and thirsty. He experienced sorrow and pain. He knew what it was to be rejected. Yet through it all, He remained without sin.
Hebrews 4:15 tells us that Jesus faced temptation just as we do, yet He did not sin. We are not following a Savior who remained distant from the human experience. He entered it. He knows what it is to live in this world, to experience suffering, and to face temptation without giving in to it. Jesus knows what it means to be human, yet He never stopped being God.
02 | Immanuel — God With Us
That is part of what makes the name given to Him in Matthew 1:23 so powerful: Immanuel—God with us. God did not simply send help from a distance. He came to us. He stepped into the world He created and experienced life as a human being. Jesus didn’t become human because He needed to learn about us. He became human to accomplish the Father’s Will, entering fully into the human experience while remaining the eternal Son of God.
03 | He Came to Save
Jesus didn’t come into the world without a purpose. His birth was part of God’s plan of salvation that had been unfolding long before Mary and Joseph ever traveled to Bethlehem. When the angel appeared to Joseph, he told him exactly why Mary’s Son was coming. Matthew 1:21 (NLT) says, “And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
Jesus came to save.
Even His name pointed to His mission. He came because sin had separated humanity from God, and we could not restore that relationship on our own. From the beginning of His earthly life, the Cross was ahead of Him. The baby Mary held would grow into the Man who willingly gave His life for us.
04 | He Came to Reveal the Father
But Jesus didn’t simply come to die. His life also showed us the Father. In John 14:9, Jesus told Philip that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father. Through Jesus, people saw the character of God lived out before them. They saw His compassion for people others overlooked. They saw His holiness and truth. They saw His mercy toward sinners and His unwillingness to compromise with sin. Jesus showed us what God is like.
And He also showed us what a life completely submitted to the Father looks like. Everything Jesus did was in obedience to the Father. He lived what He would later call His followers to live.
Conclusion | The Eternal Son Came Near
Jesus Christ came to reveal the Father, to accomplish His Will, and to save us from our sins. The eternal Son of God entered our world, not as a distant observer, but as Immanuel—God with us. And everything He did during His earthly life would lead toward the fulfillment of the Father’s plan of salvation.
IN THIS TEACHING
04 He Came to Reveal the Father
✓ Conclusion | The Eternal Son Came Near
THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST
PREVIOUS TEACHING
01 — Before Bethlehem — He Already Was
CURRENT TEACHING
02 — He Came Near — God With Us
COMING NEXT
SCRIPTURES IN THIS TEACHING
John 1:14
Hebrews 4:15
Matthew 1:23
Matthew 1:21
John 14:9
Scripture references from the New Living Translation (NLT).
NEXT TEACHING · PART THREE
Look at How He Lived
Jesus Christ didn’t simply tell people how to live. He demonstrated a life of complete obedience to the Father. In our next teaching, we’ll look more closely at His character, His compassion, His humility, and the way He lived among the people He came to save.
He Came Near — And Everything Changed
Jesus Christ didn’t remain distant from the world He created. He came to live among us, revealing the Father’s love, holiness, mercy, and truth. He was fully God and fully human, and every moment of His earthly life was lived in obedience to the Father. To understand more about who Jesus Christ is, we need to look closely at how He lived.
