Why Jesus Was BornExemplo

Why Jesus Came

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. (1 Timothy 1:15)

The letters to Timothy and Titus are called “The Pastoral Epistles” because Paul wrote to these young men in their roles as pastors in Ephesus and the island of Crete. Timothy and Titus represented the second generation of preachers, and as Paul prepared to hand the gospel baton over to them, he offered words of encouragement.

By the time Paul wrote these final letters, a number of “trustworthy sayings” had begun to circulate in the early church. Since no one had a copy of the Bible or any written materials, people had to memorize things that summed up the gospel in relatively few words. In all three of the Pastoral Epistles, Paul singles out some of those popular sayings and gives them his apostolic stamp of approval. In this early part of 1 Timothy, Paul quotes one such well-known saying: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

Let’s savor those words as the essence of the gospel. We don’t always think of how sinful we are at Christmastime. We like to keep things cheery and bright. But sin is why Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Jesus was born to save us from all that. That is what Christmas is all about.

Some of us know “The Jesus Prayer” and pray it often. It is simple: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” We know such mercy is available. Because “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

******

These devotionals are part of Words of Hope's month long Advent devotional series. To read more, subscribe to the Words of Hope devotional today !