I often ask my students at Eastern [University], why did Jesus come

into the world? Why did he leave the glories of heaven and break into

history? What was he out to do? If he were to write out his mission

statement, how would it read? Good question! Everybody is writing out

mission statements. What would be his?

I get a lot of good answers. People tell me he came to bring a

revelation of God, he came to die on the cross to take the punishment

for our sins, he came that we might have joy, that his joy might be in

us. It goes on and on and on. But they seldom come up with what Jesus

really would have said. I do know what Jesus would have said and did

say. The first thing out of Jesus¡¯ mouth when he started his

ministry¡ªMatthew, Mark, Luke, check it out¡ªthe first thing he says is,

¡°I have come to declare the kingdom of God is at hand.¡± Jesus came

declaring the kingdom of God. All of his parables are about the

kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is like a man who does this or a

woman who does that. When he told his disciples how to pray he said,

¡°Pray for the kingdom. Pray: thy kingdom come, thy will be done on

Earth as it is in heaven.¡± Note: no pie in the sky when you die! He¡¯s

talking about a kingdom in this world. He wants to change this world

into the kind of world that it ought to be. That¡¯s why Jesus came, to

create transformed people who in turn will live in a transformed

world.