John 17:1-8

TEXT What does it mean that Jesus came from God and that God sent him to us? The Incarnation is a beautiful thing. God coming down to earth to walk, talk, eat, and sleep with humanity is too much for me to fully comprehend. Why would one choose to leave the splendor of heaven for the depravity of earth? For most of my life I have been taught that this world is not my home and I am just passing through. Everything was geared towards going to heaven when you die. All focus and attention of church was about leaving the depravity for the splendor. Don't get me wrong I want to go heaven and I want you to be there with me, but when I read passages like John 17:4 ("...by completing the work you gave me to do") I start to ask why did God send Jesus? Did he just send him so I could go to heaven or was there more to the plan? If the answer is just heaven then what "work" had Jesus completed, because he had yet to go to the cross? Jesus came from and was sent by God for reasons that go beyond just making sure we "go to Heaven when we die". He was sent into this depravity to teach a new way of life. Jesus came from God to be the visible form of an invisible God...a God in whose image we are made.