Why did Jesus come to earth? Did he just come to improve our society?

Excellent question! Why did he come? What was his mission on this earth? He came to reconcile man to God, and to preach about this great news. In a word, his visit to our planet was about salvation. All talk of "improving society" that omits the number one "improvement" needed--salvation--is empty prattle.

The following passages are a list I compiled in the late 1970s. I remember the preacher, Chuck Lucas (currently serving in Thomasville, Georgia), making a comment that the Lord came to the earth to preach the message of salvation. I thought I would skim the New Testament and see if this statement was easily provable. (Boy, was it ever!)

Take some time and look up all these verses. Our own convictions about personal evangelism must flow from the scriptures, and from our personal relationship with Jesus himself--not from a system of external rules, requirements of leaders, or a guilty conscience.

Funny, isn't it, how often we share our faith so that we will feel better about ourselves. But who is the one in need: are we, or is it the individual we are reaching out to? Are we sharing our faith for his/her sake, or for our own? Good question.

Matthew 1:21, 10:34, 18:11, 20:28, 26:28
Mark 1:38, 2:17, 10:45
Luke 2:11, 2:30, 3:6, 4:18, 4:43, 5:32, 12:49, 19:10, 24:47
John 1:29, 4:34, 5:30, 6:38, 10:10, 12:47, 14:6, 17:4, 18:37
Acts 2:38, 3:26, 4:12, 10:43
Romans 3:24, 5:9, 8:3, 14:9, 15:9
1 Corinthians 1:30, 6:11, 15:3
2 Corinthians 5:15, 5:21
Galatians 1:4, 2:21, 3:24, 4:5
Ephesians 1:7, 2:16, 5:25
Philippians 2:10
Colossians 1:14, 1:20, 1:22
1 Thessalonians 1:10, 5:9-10
1 Timothy 1:15, 2:6
2 Timothy 1:10
Titus 2:14, 3:6
Hebrews 1:3, 2:9, 2:14, 2:17, 5:9, 7:27, 9:15, 9:26, 9:28, 10:7, 13:12
1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:21, 2:24, 3:18
1 John 2:2, 3:5, 3:8, 4:9, 4:10, 4:14
Revelation 1:5-6

This makes a total of 80 passages! The implication is clear: as we follow Jesus, we will assume the same mission, the same sense of urgency.

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