Why was Jesus here?

I spent most of my life believing that God sent His son, Jesus, to die for our sins so we could acknowledge that He died to take our punishment, accept the gift of eternal life, and have a relationship with God forever. I have come to see the intense meaning for His visit prior to and beyond that ultimate act of sacrifice that none of us will ever be able to fully wrap our minds around. During His stay, He showed us, in a very hands on way, how to behave and how to treat others while living in less than charmed circumstances himself. Probably most amazing to me is that God loved us so much, that He not only gave His only begotten son to die for our sins, but to also have the human experience Himself. Living in these less than charmed circumstances allowed Him, as a man with human to human relationships, to fully experience, as we do, acts of mistreatment, prejudice, physical torture, humiliation, disrespect, and betrayal, as well as sharing pain in the lives of close friends. He loved us so much that He didn’t want to just understand from a distance, but He wanted to know first hand how it actually feels to experience some of those things. His desire to fully understand what human life is like and to show us by example how to act, adds so much more to His ultimate act of love.

The book that most affected my having a deeper understanding of God’s love and the meaning of the life of Jesus was The Jesus I Never Knew by Philip Yancey. Every book I have ever read by Philip Yancey has been full of new insights. I am currently reading his book, PRAYER Does It Make Any Difference?, which greatly influenced my PRAYER post earlier. A book of his that is very joy filled is What’s So Amazing About Grace?.

Another author I would recommend is Max Lucado. He has such an easy to read and understand writing style and relates biblical principles to things we can better understand. I have read many books by each of these authors and have never been disappointed.