WHAT IS JESUS' END GAME?

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About a year ago, after spending lots of hours with a very uniquely gifted, young political aspirant, he unleashed an emotional outrage at me. He said, "I will not let anyone take away from me the substitutionary atonement of Christ!" For some reason this young man believed that I was threatening his theological belief of substitutionary atonement, then proceeded to separate himself from me as fast as he could. We had never ever discussed the subject. In fact, there are very few on the planet who have ever discussed this doctrine. There are only two verses from Paul, two from Peter and one from Isaiah that this doctrine is based upon. Jesus never mentioned it, but it is a mark of fellowship by a few.

Basically, those who hold this doctrine as sacred and holy, even higher than most other Biblical teachings believe that this is why Jesus came-to die for each individual's sin. Now, there is no doubt in my mind that Jesus' death on the cross means everything for you and for me. But to think that this is the reason Jesus came to earth misses the greater weight of the Scripture as what Jesus' end game really was and is.

John referenced Jesus as the lamb of God who came to take away the sins of the world. Let's check out what John said: The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel." Then John gave this testimony: "I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, 'The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.' I have seen and I testify that this is God's Chosen One." The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!"(John 1:29-36)

Then later Jesus prayed to the Father, giving us further insight into why He came-His end game. He said, "I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do." (John 17:4) Then, later on Jesus continued, "Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me." (John 17:11-12) What Jesus seems to indicate as the work He came to accomplish is to take care of and teach the twelve men the Father sent Him.

Jesus gives another indication of His end game in coming here, when He speaks of building His "church": "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of death will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18) Jesus came to build a church, a gathering of followers around Him, who together would be so powerful that nothing will be able to stop its spontaneous expansion. In John's letter later in life he made an interesting statement describing the reason Jesus appeared. He said, "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work." (I John 3:8) I think this gets us to the over-arching reason why Jesus came-His end game! He came to destroy the works of the devil. It's the great conflict between good and evil!

Paul expands on this reason and even spells out what we are all up against in this grand battle between good and evil-God and the devil. Paul uses a term "struggle" to describe what kind of battle we must wage. Struggle is only used here in the bible and means our wrestling match or personal battle against evil. He says, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:12)

No matter who you think your enemy is, you probably don't normally see the big picture of it all. You see, our struggle is not against flesh and blood-other people. Behind every flesh and blood person is a greater influence-a spiritual one. Our battle is against spiritual forces of evil and dark powers in heavenly places. In other words, when you are in a struggle with another person, you are not to be fighting against him, but you are struggling for him. Why? Because as a follower of Jesus you are to be in line with the end game of Jesus-why He came-and that is to be about destroying the works of evil not the people who are used by evil forces.

So, how are we to handle our personal struggle against the evil, spiritual forces of darkness? There are three action steps I suggest here:

FIRST-There's more to life than what you see. SECOND-Everything you do matters. THIRD-Jesus is the lens for all you see and Jesus is the key to all that matters.