15 Things Jesus Accomplished on Earth

God can use anything to encourage us when we are looking for Him. It was just a stray sandal. I saw it lying in the road, missing its mate, as I drove to work this week. It looked like the kind Jesus would have worn. It made me think of Jesus walking this earth and the purposes He fulfilled. 

That simple sandal was kind of like God’s message to me, “I was there. I walked the earth in human flesh. I changed everything.” 

Jesus does change everything. He was here physically. And He is still here, living inside every believer through the Holy Spirit. The redemption of mankind is His greatest gift to us, the greatest gift anyone could ever give us. But have you ever thought about the fact that He came for even more than that incredible gift?

Why did the God of all creation leave heaven, dress Himself in humanity, and humble Himself to experience our struggles, to suffer, and to die? Could He not have just come and died for us right away? To technically fit the description of a spotless sin offering, He could have died at a younger age, as a child or in adolescence. What was significant about His thirty-three years? What else was He accomplishing? The following is definitely not an all-inclusive list, but it is a reminder that Jesus came to earth to accomplish many things. Yes, He changed everything.

                         15 THINGS JESUS ACCOMPLISHED ON EARTH

1. TO TEACH- (Mark 6:34) “When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”
2. TO HEAL THE SICK- (Matthew 15:30) “And large crowds came to Him, bringing with them those who were lame, crippled, blind, mute, and many others, and they laid them down at His feet; and he healed them.”
3. TO EXPERIENCE TEMPTATIONS AND STRUGGLES IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND OURS- (Hebrews 4:15) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” 
4. TO BRING ABUNDANT LIFE- (John 10:10) “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” 
5. TO BUILD THE CHURCH- (Matthew 16:18) “And on this rock I will build my church.” 
6. TO DESTROY THE WORK OF THE DEVIL- (1 John 3:8) “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
7. TO REVEAL HYPOCRISY AND TEACH TRUE WORSHIP- (Mark 7:6b,7) “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”
8. TO OPEN EYES THAT ARE BLIND- (Isaiah 42:7) “I will make you…to open eyes that are blind.” 
9. TO SET THE CAPTIVES FREE- (Isaiah 42:7) “I will make you…to free captives from prison.” 
10. TO SET AN EXAMPLE FOR US- (Mark 1:35) “Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.” 
11. TO REACH OUT TO THE GENTILES- ( Acts 28:28) “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” 
12. TO ESTABLISH HIS AUTHORITY OVER ALL CREATION- (Matthew 8:27) “The men were amazed and asked, ‘What kind of man is this? Even the winds and waves obey him!’ ”
13. TO SHOW US WHAT GOD IS LIKE- (Colossians 1:15) “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” 
14. TO GIVE US HOPE IN ETERNAL LIFE- (Romans 6:8,9) “Now if we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.” 
15. TO RECONCILE A BROKEN WORLD- (2 Corinthians 5:19) “That God was reconciling       the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” 

God has commissioned believers as His ambassadors to this same ministry of reconciliation. “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:20). 

“Implore” is a strong word. It means to beg or plead. Are we just as strongly begging people to come to Christ as if their very life depended on it? Because their eternal life does. 

Are we telling people about all the things that Jesus did? We certainly are quick to update our friends on the latest accomplishments of our kids or what someone did on reality tv. Do we talk about Jesus just as much?

Are we imploring people to agree with our political party or to take/not take a vaccine? What would the world be like if, in the same way, we were imploring them to be changed completely by a God who loves them? 

What are we talking to people about? We talk about what we think about it. Are we thinking about our Savior throughout the day? Are we thinking about what He is doing now through His Holy Spirit? (See the blog post on July 19, 2021, entitled “10 Ways the Holy Spirit Helps us Rebuild our Lives”). 

 Are we really telling people about Jesus? He did many things. John 21:25 says “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” 

The lost world doesn’t need to know every little thing that Jesus did. But they do need to know that Jesus is the only way for sinful man to go from being alienated from God to becoming an heir of God. And THAT is what we should be talking about.