If we look back over Jesus' ministry, we see that Jesus' statement, "For this cause came I into the world," is the same thing He has been saying all along. Look at these words from earlier in His ministry, "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke 19:10). "I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Mark 2:17). "For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).
They tell me that in college some of the most difficult cases of psychological tensions come from young people who are brought up in ultrafundamentalist homes, and who have been taught that God Almighty created the earth in six twenty-four hour days, and that Adam and Eve were created on the fourth of November at three p.m. in 4004 B.c., according to Ussher's chronology. When they come to college and learn that this isn't true-and certainly it is not true-they say, "Well, then ... we have to throw away the whole Bible." What happened was that they took the Bible and a line of interpretation, and little by little they confused the two, and began to think that the line of interpretation was inspired instead of the Bible being inspired.
The Lord Jesus Christ says, "My kingship is not of this world." Let us never forget that the authority, the dominion, the sovereignty, of Christ is entirely a question of WHO HE IS. Who is He? Well, He claims Kingship. He says, "I am the King. My kingship is not of this world." If His kingship is not of this world, it's either from hell or from heaven. There is no third place where it might be from.
In John 18:37 we have, "To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world." This is Christ's announcement of the purpose of Christmas-Christmas as announced in Pilate's Judgment Hall, approximately six or eight hours before He was crucified. He tells why He came. Let's go back and look at the circumstances. Earlier in the chapter we read that Pilate said to Jesus, "'Are you the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered, 'Do you say this of your own accord, or did others say this to you about me?' Pilate answered, 'Am I a Jew? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me; what have you done?' Jesus answered, `My kingship is not of this world; if my kingship were of this world, my servants would fight, that I might not be handed over to the Jews; but my kingship is not from the world.' Pilate said to him, 'So you are a king.' Jesus answered, `You say that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice"' (John 18:33-37).
Now whenever you look in the Scriptures, you discover this tremendous contrast between the world and us. The world's standing is in Adam, our standing is in Christ. The world is under condemnation. We have been accepted in the beloved. The world is born of the flesh. We are born of the Spirit. They are evil and we are holy. The world has a different father-"Ye are of your father the devil." We are children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. The aim of the world is self, and the aim of the believer is to please Christ. The citizenship of the worldling is on earth and our citizenship is in heaven. And they have a different way of life from ours. They have a different destiny. Their destiny is the lake of fire. And our destiny is the Father's house, where there are many mansions.
