#195 THE ONE WHO CAME FOR US 9-26-26

God came to us when we needed Him most and had no hope without Him. He came for you and for me as individuals. That makes life worth living.

When we were lost, Jesus came looking. When we were guilty, Jesus came with grace. When we were helpless, Jesus came with strength. When we were separated from God, Jesus came to bring us home.

He is someone we can look to, rely on, respect, and most of all follow. He is worth dedicating your life to.

“For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). Notice the movement in those words. He came. He came down from heaven. He came into our world. He came into our darkness. He came into our sorrow. He came knowing exactly what awaited Him at Calvary.

He came for us.

HE CAME TO FIND US

Jesus told the story of a shepherd who had one hundred sheep, but one wandered away. The shepherd did not shrug his shoulders and say, “I still have ninety-nine.” He went after the one until he found it (Luke 15:3–7).

That is the heart of Christ.

We sometimes imagine that we have to find our way back to God by our own wisdom, strength, or goodness. But that is not the gospel story. God took the initiative. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

The cross was not Jesus accidentally caught in the machinery of history. He came with purpose. He came to seek. He came to save. He came for the wandering, the broken, the guilty, and the helpless.

HE CAME TO FIGHT FOR US

Salvation was something we could never accomplish for ourselves. Jesus came to fight the battle for us. And it was Jesus who won the victory.

Isaiah looked forward to the coming Redeemer and said, “He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him” (Isaiah 59:16).

At the cross, Jesus confronted sin, death, and the powers of darkness. Colossians 2:15 says that He “disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.”

And then came the empty tomb.

Jesus did not remain in the grave. He conquered death and rose again. “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Corinthians 15:20).

Our hope rests not in our ability to fight our way to heaven, but in the finished work and living victory of Jesus Christ.

HE CAME TO BRING US HOME

Perhaps the sweetest part of the story is that Jesus did not come merely to rescue us from something. He came to bring us to Someone.

He came to bring us back to the Father.

“Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

There it is. That is the destination. Jesus came to bring us to God. And Jesus promised His disciples that He was going away to prepare a place for them, and He said, “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:3).

The One who came for us is the One who will ultimately bring us home.

So when you think about Jesus, do not think of Him merely as a teacher from Galilee or a religious figure from ancient history. Think of Him as the One who came looking for you. The One who stood in your place. The One who bore your sin. The One who conquered your enemy. The One who opened the way back to God.

We could not rescue ourselves.

So He came.

We could not pay our debt.

So He paid it.

We could not conquer death.

So He conquered it.

We could not find our way home.

So He came to bring us there.

The King came down.

The Savior came near.

The Shepherd found His sheep.

The Son gave Himself.

And the One who came for us is still the One we follow, trust, love, and worship.

Jesus is not merely the hero of our story.

Jesus is the reason our story can end well.

BDD