Our Great Salvation Hebrews 2:1-4
I want to talk to you today about our Great Salvation
V3 refers to salvation as a great salvation. We have a great, wonderful, marvelous salvation.
It is great because it was given to us by our GREAT God and Savior. Salvation is of the Lord. God wrote the book on salvation. V3 says salvation was first spoken of by the Lord. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith.
Second, our salvation is great because it has brought the GREATEST change in our life. At salvation we were born again. We became a new creation in Christ; old things passed away, all things become new.
Salvation is great because of it reaches the GREATEST number of people. The whole world. Jesus died for the sins of the whole world. Whosoever calls on him will be saved.
Salvation is great because it lasts the GREATEST period of time, eternity. At salvation we received eternal life; life that goes on forever.
It is great because it was paid for with the GREATEST price; the death of Christ. The pure, spotless, Lamb of God was the sacrifice given to provide our salvation. This alone makes it GREAT!
Our salvation is great because it is the most important part of our life. Our relationship with Christ is the most important part of our life. Jesus said whoever loves father, mother, brother, sister, children, or wife more than me is not worthy of me.
Our salvation is great because it is FREE. Salvation is the free gift of God to all that believe.
Salvation is a Transformation
Romans 12:1-2 Paul is speaking about our salvation and he says our salvation transforms us by the renewing of our minds.
The word translated “transformed” speaks of a change, a conversion.
This same word is used in Matthew 17 and Mark 9 to speak of the transfiguration of Christ. Jesus took Peter, James and John to the Mount of Transfiguration and he was transformed/transfigured before them. The Bible says His clothes became as white as light and his face was as bright as the noon day sun.
The word is also found in 2 Cor 3 where the Bible says, “We are being transformed into the likeness of the Lord from one level of glory to another.”
Salvation is a transformation in which God changes us from who we were into the image and likeness of Christ.
Salvation is the greatest transformation a person can experience.
I can personally testify to the fact that the greatest transformation I’ve ever experienced in life has been salvation. I say the greatest, because I’ve experienced other transformations.
Another transformation I experienced is marriage. Marriage is a transformation.
The Bible says in marriage 2 become one flesh. The Bible says you are no longer 2, but one. In marriage you become one with your spouse. Joined together in the Lord. That’s a transformation.
It’s a wonderful transformation. I highly recommend it.
Another transformation I’ve experienced was becoming a parent. My life changed when I became a parent. When my first born came into the world, I became a father. I had never been a father before.
It was a transformation. I became a proud poppa. I was easy to spot in the hospital that day. I was the guy with the biggest head. I walked around the hospital with my head held high and my chest poked out.
It happened again 4 years later with the birth of twins; identical twins. My life took on an even greater transformation. Becoming a father transformed my life.
The greatest transformation is salvation. It brings about the greatest change in a person’s life.
How can a great big God come into a little bitty heart, and not make a huge difference? He will. He will make a huge difference. Our great big, awesome, powerful God makes a great, big, huge, change when he comes into a person’s life. He will change your life. Salvation changes a person’s life.
You are born again. You become a new creation. This is a transformation.
It is a transformation of the soul and of the mind. You began to think differently, talk differently, live differently. You’re not the same person. You’re transformed.
Second, salvation is A Transition
A transition is a change from one status or condition to another. It’s a passage. Think of it in terms of a dead man coming back to life. Think of it in terms of going from a room filled with total complete black pitch darkness to a room filled with white bright radiant light.
Think of it in terms of Israel in Egypt, in slavery and bondage, crossing the Red Sea to a land flowing with milk and honey, fullness and freedom.
That’s a transition. That’s salvation.
In salvation God becomes our father, Jesus becomes our savior, our body become the temple of the Spirit of God.
In salvation we go from sinner to saint. Unholy to holy.
We transition from darkness to light, from death to life.
From slavery to sin to freedom from sin.
From hell to heaven, from sorrow to joy.
From having no hope to having eternal hope.
From the grave to glory.
From eternal death to eternal life
From blindness to sight “I was once blind but now I see.” 2 cor 4/4
From living by what is seen to living by what is not seen. “the just shall live by faith, not by sight.” 2 cor 4/18; 5/7
From nakedness to being clothed.
From being absent from the Lord to being present with the Lord. 2 cor 5/8
Alienated from God now reconciled.
From perdition to paradise.
From gloomy destruction to glorious destiny.
From living for the world, to living for Christ.
From being unrighteous, to being declared righteous.
From old to new.
From condemned to no condemnation.
Debt paid in full. He paid a debt we could not pay. He paid a debt he did not owe.
That’s a transition. That’s salvation. Glorious, great salvation.
Third, salvation is A Turning.
A turning from sin to the Savior. A 180. A turnaround.
The Bible word for it is REPENT. Repentance.
Jesus’ first sermon was “repent for the kingdom of God has arrived.”
He told a story illustrating repentance.
He said there are 2 roads in life. The broad road that leads to destruction and the narrow road that leads to life.
Repentance is realizing you are on the broad road to destruction and you repent and go in the opposite direction on the straight and narrow road.
Paul told the Christians at the church of Thessalonica, you turned from idols to God. 1 Thess 1:9
An idol is anything you put before God. They repented from putting other things ahead of God and put him first.
That’s repentance that brings salvation.
Repentance is a turning from self to savior. Jesus said whoever does not deny himself take up his cross he cannot be my disciple.
2 Cor 4:2 says it means to renounce secret, shameful things deceitful things.
It’s rejecting the ways of this world. In Acts 19 Paul went to Ephesus. V17 says those who were saved who practiced witchcraft brought their books and burned them in the city square.
That’s repentance. It’s pouring out all your liquor.
It’s throwing all your illegal drugs away. Throwing your cigarettes, electronic cigarettes in the garbage.
Quit listening to worldly, ungodly, explicit music.
Quit watching X rated, R rated movies / shows / porn.
Making the most of your time in productive work. Quit wasting your time in laziness, idleness, and indulgences.
Salvation is a transformation. It’s a transition. It’s a turning.
Salvation changes your life. If it hasn’t then you don’t have it.
It will change your desires, your direction, your destiny.
It will change what you do, how you live, how you act, how you behave, how you think, where you go, what you do, who you hang around, what you watch, how you spend your time. What you read. What websites you visit. What social media apps you have.
Salvation changes your priorities, your purpose, your parties, your person.
Salvation is the greatest thing that has ever happened to us.
Look at v3 it says we are not to neglect our great salvation. Don’t neglect your salvation. It cost the Son of God his life to provide us salvation.
Don’t neglect it. Instead cherish it, nourish it, grow it, share it.
How do we nourish it? We nourish it in worship, fellowship, prayer, and Bible. Do you have salvation? You can today. Let's pray.
