“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was (a) God.  All things were made by the Word, and without Him was not anything made that was made.  In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness does not comprehend it” (Jn. 1:1-5).  The question is WHY DID HALF OF THE ETERNAL GODHEAD DESCEND FROM THE HOLY LIGHT OF HEAVEN TO THE UNHOLY DARKNESS OF EARTH?  The answer to that question is multi-facited and is approached from multiple directions.  In this series we will examine several of the reasons for the Word’s entrance into the wickedness that man had created and continues to create on the once-perfect planet called earth.  Simply put, the Word came to earth to offer those who created the mess the opportunity to clean it up.  So far only a few of those people have responded positively to His offer.  By obeying Him, these people keep their small part of the world in good spiritual condition.                                                                                   Before coming to earth the Word, Who would become Jesus of Nazareth, knew that the vast majority of mankind would reject Him outright, and that a smaller number profess Him but refuse to obey Him, and that a minutely few would embrace Him totally by entering His strait gate (church) and walking His narrow one-way-only path (Mat. 7:13,14).  He knew up front that those who professed Him would form two diametrically opposed entities using the same Rules of Conduct that would come to be known as The Holy Bible.  Nevertheless, the Word left paradise and came to live, work and die on planet earth.                                                                                                  Having divested Himself of all of the powers of His former Godship (Phil. 2:5-8), the Word came to earth as a man like all other men, having none of the advantages of His former life.  He was tempted, tried and tested as no other man.  He did not fail once, thereby EARNING the right to become the Savior of those who, like Himself, would voluntarily obey His Father in the face of Satan’s all-out offensive against them.  The central reason He came to live among mankind was to offer them the opportunity to spend eternity with Him in paradise.  This series will examine some of the other reasons He came to earth, each of which plays an important role in helping believers EARN that most cherished of promises–eternal life.  In this study we will examine some of the other reasons for His First Advent.  They will be presented in no particular order.  All reasons are of equal importance in that all were necessary for the salvation of the Godhead’s most important creation–man.                                                                                                                                                            First and foremost we must understand that the Word–the God who was co-equal with the other God Who would become His Father upon His (the Word’s) human birth–came to earth as a mortal man having no advantage over his fellow human beings.  As the series titled Jesus of Nazareth: God, Man or God-man?–key word God-man–proves, Jesus came as a mortal (capable of death) man in order to prove that man can indeed “walk as He walked” (1 Jn. 2:6) and “… overcome even as I (He) overcame (Satan)” thereby EARNING the right to “sit with Me (Jesus) on My throne” in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21).  Each of the reasons for His coming presented in this series has its place in the call of man back to his Creator.  In summary, Jesus came to show believers what they must DO (how they must walk) in order to EARN the right to live with Him in an earthly paradise for eternity.  Understand this: JESUS DID NOT BECOME RIGHTEOUS AND HOLY SO THAT MAN WOULD NOT NEED TO.   RATHER, HE LIVED AND DIED IN A STATE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND HOLINESS TO SHOW MAN HOW TO OBEY GOD AND MANIFEST THOSE QUALITIES WHICH ARE REQUIRED IN ORDER TO JOIN HIM IN HIS KINGDOM.  This is what is meant by His command to “walk as He walked” (in holiness) and to “overcome as He overcame” (Satan).  NOTICE THAT MAN MUST DO THE WALKING AND THE OVERCOMING, AS DID THE MAN KNOWN AS JESUS OF NAZARETH.  As we will see, by dying He made available the Holy Spirit by which the walker walks and the overcomer overcomes, JUST AS HE DID AS A MAN.                                   The ONLY difference between Jesus and His fellow men was the Holy Spirit by whose power He walked in obedience to His heavenly Father.  His death enabled other mortals to receive that same Spirit and to walk that same walk of obedience that had resulted in His holiness and righteousness.  Jesus had to EARN His place in the Kingdom of God by WORKS of righteousness and holiness (obedience to God’s Law).  He did so as a man in order to show us that we can–and must–follow in His spiritual footsteps in order to receive the same reward–eternity in the presence of God in His earthy kingdom.  Read The Kingdom of God and God’s Very Elect–Future Caretakers of the Universe.  Key words–Kingdom and Caretakers respectively.  Also read John’s Baptism and Apollos–the Way More Perfect.  Key words–Baptism and Apollos respectively.                  An indication of the importance of receiving the Holy Spirit is summed up by the Apostle Paul in Romans 8:13 and 14 where we find the Lord telling us through him that “they who are led by the Spirit of God, (only) they are the sons of God.”  These are they “who mortify (put to death) the deeds of the flesh” and thereby EARN the right to eternal life.  He also points out that this is possible only “through the (Holy) Spirit” which is available to “whosoever will” obey Him.  True conversion is accompanied by the reception of the “promise of the Father”–the Holy Spirit, which is the power of God (Acts 1:4,8).  This is the focal (“fine print”) message God has ordained me to proclaim to the Institutional Church.  It is only through believing and obeying that message that a believer can be saved.  L.J.