The True Reason Christ Came So Long Ago - But Has Been "Lost"

Merry Christmas!  It is Christmas day.  God became flesh, blood and bone so long ago in the incarnate Christ, but is still here along side of us, through the indwelling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  Today we celebrate His coming at Christmastime, and for His amazing gift of salvation to us.  It is, however, important to remember that our salvation was not the only reason He came. 

In fact, many wise and knowing theologians even say what many of us have never realized: that what He did for us in salvation was not the most important reason He came.  We are so self-centered to think He came only to save us.  The scriptures point to a very different reason:  He came because of an on-going war between the Kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of darkness, and he was addressing that cosmic war by coming to earth.  His coming was a benefit to us by what He did, by conquering Satan and freeing the cosmos from Lucifer's bondage.  However, the end is "not yet."  What Christ did allows us a path to freedom and an escape from bondage - but only if we choose that path.  The victory is ours in Christ, but it is up to us to appropriate it.

Both reasons for his coming are true and important to understand, but only one side (the benefit to humans) is what we always hear.  Such as: 

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”   -Isaiah 9:6

What we do not focus upon, and what I am calling attention to here in this post, is the real and deeper reason of why Christ came.  He came to set up His Kingdom.  That Kingdom was to oppose and destroy the kingdom of Satan. In his important work God at War, Gregory Boyd cites Kallas:

This world [in Jesus' view] was a demon-infested world in need of liberation, and the advance of God's sovereignty was in direct proportion to the rout of the demons...Exorcisms of demons was the central thrust of the message and activity of Jesus.

A few of the scriptures citing the real reason Christ came:

"The son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil."   - 1 John 3:8

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword."   -Matthew 10:34

"If it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."    -Luke 11:20

Those of us in the S.O.R./Demonology Unit would just like to remind us all of the above fact, that his coming was, as C.S. Lewis said, "A raid behind enemy lines."  We leave you with the verse below, which is available to us - our ability only in Christ to join the cosmic war for souls, of our power over the evil ones with Christ indwelling us, and to live without fear - because of who Christ was and what Christ did.

"I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."  -Luke 10:19

And because of all of that, we can truly say: Merry Christmas!