In Jesus Holy Name March 8, 2009
Lent II John 3:14,15,17 Redeemer
“Salvation Has an Object”
This morning we have before us one of the most famous bible verses in the bible. It is well known. I would guess that every Christian has even memorized it…”For God so loved the world….that he gave his one and only son that whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is an important verse….but it doesn’t say enough.
This famous verse is found in the middle of a discussion with Nicodemus, a Jewish theologian. Jesus has asked Nicodemus to remember an event from the wilderness journeys of the children of Israel under the leadership of Moses.
If you watch the movie the Ten Commandments, with Charlton Heston in the role of Moses you’ll remember that the children of Israel were set free from slavery in Egypt after a number of plagues attacked the validity and power of Egyptian gods. The children of Israel left Egypt in a joyous parade, loaded down with gifts of gold, animals and precious goods. They came to the Red Sea when a cloud of dust told them Pharaoh had changed his mind… his military might, horse and chariot army were in hot pursuit.
God rescued them… Moses raises he hands and the sea parted. They walked across on dry land. When the Egyptians followed, the seas swallowed them. At Mt. Sinai worshiped God and received the Ten Commandments. After leaving Mt. Sinai they traveled like nomads in the desert. For 40 years they traveled from oasis to oasis, their shoes never wore out, they had manna every day and God provided water from a rock. But as people are wont to do…. They “became impatient” on the way to the Promised land. “They spoke against God and against Moses,” saying, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! We detest this miserable food (manna)! Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them and many Israelites died. The people came crying to Moses… “We have sinned... Ask God to take away the snakes.”
God told Moses to make a Bronze snake and put it on a pole. Anyone who is bitten can look at the pole and live. And it was so.
Now, don’t ask me how this worked. I have no idea. Moses simply sees it as another “miracle of God.” No different than the crossing of the sea. No different than fresh water flowing from a rock. No different than manna for food every day. The point? God acted in love to save his people from the poison which resulted in death. God said look up and live.
The bite of sin is death. Listen to the words of the apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Rome. “Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death came to all (people) because all have sinned.” Our acts of disobedience bring death. We know it to be true. No one is righteous. No not one of us.
Jesus looks at Nicodemus and said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up…so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.”
What exactly does it mean to believe? Belief has an object. The culture would like to detach belief from an object….what counts is that you have believing feelings.
Example: I have faith that a chair will hold me. The object of my faith is the chair. Let me tell you a story about a home visit I had with a Senior Citizen who, because of failing health had to use a “walker/chair”. You know the kind. They have wheels, so you can hold on to the handles for extra support but have mobility. There are little hand brakes you can use to slow this mobile chair down if it is moving too fast. The “walker/chair” also has a seat so that the person can sit down.
While visiting the individual the chair was always at their side. They knew the chair would hold them. On one visit they were standing in front of their chair, holding in one hand a cup of coffee and something in the other hand. They turned to see if the chair was right behind them. It was. When the individual went to sit down the chair moved and they fell flat on their back, and the coffee flew. After helping the individual to their feet they said… “I knew the chair would hold me. I knew it was right behind me, but I forgot to grab the chair with my hand.”
Jesus has offered himself as the “way of salvation”. His death on the cross would bring forgiveness, and the promise of eternal life to those who would grab hold of Him. Hebrews 9:27 states: “Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many.” Jesus was telling Nicodemus that He must be the object of belief.
It is true that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross has satisfied God’s wrath against sin. Forgiveness is offered to all who believe, making Jesus the object of their faith. My friends this is called “objective salvation”. Like the walker/chair, the cross on which Jesus was lifted up is a historical fact. People can read about the cross, read about Jesus, see the cross…. It is available…. But to experience peace and harmony with God one must “grab hold” of Jesus.
Like my friend who had the “walker/chair” the chair was a visible, real object….ready to hold my friend. But only when his hands grabbed the handle bars did the walker/chair remain stable enough to hold him. The sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross must be grabbed, held onto by faith. This is “subjective justification.”
In the wilderness the people were dying because of their rebellion. They needed help. They turned back to God and God’s mercy gave them an object in which to place their trust and those who looked at the pole lived. So, Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert so the Son of Man must be lifted up so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son (that’s objective justification) so that whoever believes in him (that’s subjective justification) shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through.” Whoever believes in Jesus… will not be condemned but have eternal life.
Jesus must be the object of our faith. The tangible result of our belief in Jesus is forgiveness & peace with God and eternal life.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” Those are strong words when you live in a pluralistic culture. Comments will be made: “How arrogant to believe that Christians alone have the only true religion.”
Our neighbors, co-workers, and friends come from many different religious background, They seem just as moral and religious as we are. We also live in a climate of relativism, which means that many people assume that truth, morality and religion are relative. According to this way of thinking, people can construct their own morality and create their own beliefs about God. Just saying someone believes in God no longer means that they know the God of the bible who took upon himself human flesh and bone in the person of Jesus.
The result is that we hear statements like: “That may be true for you, but it isn’t for me.” Morality is a matter of my values….rather than a matter of objective truths set out by The Divine Creator of the world. Religion is perfectly acceptable as long as it is kept private.
Jesus was clear to Nicodemus. When people believed in his death on the cross they would find forgiveness. When Jesus said, “I am the way”, he meant that he was the “only road” one can travel if one wants to be with God.
In our culture we hear… “There are different roads, but they all arrive at the same destination.” But different roads do not always go to the same destination. If you are trying to get to the Grand Canyon, if you head north on I-5 you will never get there, no matter how sincere you are in your drive.
Similarly the various religions in the world do not claim to arrive at the same destination. Ravi Zacharias in his book “Jesus Among Other Gods” states: “All religions are not the same. All religions do not point to God.” “All religions, plainly and simply can not be true. So it does no good to put a halo on the notion of tolerance as if everything could be equally true.”# (Jesus Among Other Gods by Ravi Zacharias p. 4 & 5)
All religions do not state that they are “paths to heaven.” Most Eastern religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism and the Westernized New Age versions… all reject that the final destination of a believer is heaven. In Hinduism souls are “reincarnated into other individuals until they are purged of their distinctions and merge all together into a vast cosmic oneness. One of the metaphors of Hinduism states: “when a drop of water# falls into the ocean, the individual drop ceases to exist. ((from the Lutheran Witness September 2007 by Edward Vieth)
The destination of Buddhism is “Nirvana”, meaning “nothingness”. Buddhism is popular in Hollywood these days and is often described as a religion of compassion and ethics. It begins with 4 noble truths on suffering….then adds an 8 fold path on how to end suffering. Once you enter the 8 fold path there are literally 100’s of rules to keep. The goal after meditation and reincarnation is to experience eternal “nothingness”.
The very concept of “heaven”, the place where the individual soul and resurrected body dwells in a state of perfect joy for all eternity with God, living forever is distinctly a Christian belief.
Jesus revealed himself as the Living God who came to seek and to save lost humanity. Islam considers that claim to be blasphemous… God could never have a Son! In John 10 the Jews questioned Jesus. “How long will you keep us in suspense? Are you the Messiah? Jesus said, “I did tell you. My miracles confirm my words. I and the Father are one.” The Jews tried to stone him to death….for blasphemy because “you a mere man” they said, “claim to be God.”
They would have been happy had Jesus only been a miracle worker or entertainer.
It is said there are only two religions in the world. Those that teach that we are saved by our own efforts or a combination of our own good works and some help from God. And only one that teaches we are saved by God’s grace. If religion just has to do with good works, then all of the religions of the world are pretty much the same.
Unfortunately there is no security for the heart nor soul for people who feel guilty for violating the teachings of their own religion. In Islam….It is Allah who forgives, based on the believers ability to keep the rules…but even then you can never be sure….it’s Allah’s option….
Only Jesus offers forgiveness for sin and bad ethical behavior against a holy and righteous God. His death on the cross and confirmed by his physical resurrection from death guarantees that God the Father has “opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.”
Belief has a tangible result. When the children of Israel trusted the words of Moses and believing, looked at the pole on which a bronze snake had been placed, they were saved from death. Jesus said, “all who look to him, lifted up on the cross and believe, they shall be saved from eternal death and receive eternal life.
Hold on to Jesus. Hold on to the promises of God that forgiveness is offered at the cross of Jesus. For on that cross “God nailed all of our sins, all of the commandments that we have broken and left them there….” Through the blood of Jesus God sees us “holy and without blemish free to stand before his holy throne.” There is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved…. There is only one road.
