Why He Came
II Corinthians 1:10
CHCC: December 12, 2010
INTRODUCTION:
We’re reached that time of year when we focus on the birth of Christ. We think a lot about HOW He came --- and the details about HOW Christ came to earth give us probably the most beautiful and surprising story in the Bible. But today, instead of focusing on HOW he came, I want us to focus on WHY He came.
About 30 years after his birth, Jesus answered that question in Luke 19:10 when He said, "I have come to seek and to save that which is lost." Jesus came to be our Savior. He came to offer salvation to everyone who will believe.
Have you ever seen signs like these? (pictures on screen of "Are you Saved?") Do you remember singing the old hymn, “We have heard the joyful sound, Jesus Saves, Jesus Saves!” Has anyone ever asked you the question: “Are you saved?”
There’s a story that years ago in England the Bishop of Durham was riding on a train when a young girl wearing a Salvation Army uniform sat down across from him.
She was a new convert and was eager to witness to someone, so after a few minutes, she blurted out, “Excuse me, sir. Are you saved?”
The Bishop was caught off guard by the unexpected question and he said, “Am I saved?”
“Yes!” She repeated, “Are you saved?”
“Well, my dear,” the Bishop answered with a smile, “Which kind of saved do you mean? Do you mean esosen or sodzomenois?
or sothaysometha?"
Then for the rest of the trip, the Bishop explained to the new Christian the wonder of God’s salvation in 3 tenses – past, present, and future.
Today we’re going to look at what it means when we say "Jesus Saves." The full meaning is found in the word soteria (salvation) which speaks of deliverance, preservation from danger, wholeness, and soundness.
When the Bible talks about our salvation through Jesus, it speaks in 3 tenses: Past, Present, and Future. II Corinthians 1:10 shows all three tenses in one verse: God has saved us (past) from so great a death, and He does save us (present); and we trust that He will yet save us (future.) (paraphrase of KJV )
The salvation Jesus offers us is EVERYTHING we need.
• He has saved us from the guilt of our sins – this is called JUSTIFICATION – it means Jesus saves us from the PENALTY of our sins. The picture here is Jesus as the LAMB who was slain for our sins.
• He is saving us minute-by-minute as we live our lives – this is called SANCTIFICATION – it means Jesus saves us from the POWER of sin in our daily life. The picture here is Jesus as LORD of our lives.
• and He will save us on that future great Day of Judgment – this is called GLORIFICATION – it means Jesus will one day set us entirely free from the PRESENCE of sin. The picture here is Jesus as the source of eternal LIFE.
1. esosen (Gr.) – Past Justification – freedom from the Penalty of sin - Jesus, the LAMB
Titus 3:5 says, He saved us (esosen) not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
There is, first of all, a sense in which Salvation is an accomplished fact. We know that Jesus paid the full price for our sins 2,000 years ago on Calvary’s cross. Jesus before his death, Jesus cried out, “It is finished!” (Tetelestai in the Greek being a book keeper’s term that means “Paid in full.”)
Jesus, the LAMB of God who took away the sin of the world, has offered us complete JUSTIFICATION. We are able to stand before God just as if we had never sinned.
On the day that you first put your trust in Jesus as your Savior, you can look at salvation in the past tense. The penalty of sin has been erased; the weight of sin’s guilt has been lifted from our shoulders. In its place, the perfection of Jesus Christ covers you. At that moment you received the gift of the Holy Spirit who brings your spirit to life and who stamps you with the guarantee of all these promises.
Example: (give an example of a life that was changed by conversion to Christ)
2. sodzomenois (Gr.) – Present Sanctification – freedom from the Power of sin – Jesus, the LORD
I Corinthians 1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved (sodzomenois) it is the power of God.
Most Christians get the PAST and the FUTURE meaning of salvation, but too many of us miss the experience of our PRESENT, progressive salvation. Just as it is true that we are saved from the penalty of our past sins, it is equally true that we are being saved daily from the power of sin in our lives.
In Matthew 7:14, Jesus spoke about the straight gate and the narrow way. We enter the gate, and then we walk in the way! We believe in Jesus as the Lamb of God who took away the Penalty of our sin. Then we learn how to let Jesus be the LORD of our lives … we need to believe that He can overcome the Power of sin in our lives.
Now, I know we’re in the middle of the sermon, so some of you have probably tuned out --- if that’s the case, this is a good time to wake up for a few minutes! This is the part that most of us NEED to hear, because PRESENT salvation is the tense many Christians don’t understand.
Too many Christians see salvation as a one-time event. We think that once the decision’s made, then that’s the end of it --- until we one day get to go to Heaven. In the meantime, we muddle along, trying to be good if we can. Feeling guilty when they mess up.
We know that we were saved by FAITH … because we couldn’t save ourselves. But then we try to live the Christian life on our own power … as if we could do it on our own. This is a very frustrating way to live!
That’s exactly what the Apostle Paul was talking about in Galatians 3:2-3: I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
By faith we were saved from the penalty of sin. And by faith we can live a New Life in Christ. That is the Gospel message. The New Testament talks about this truth in so many different ways.
We live by faith. We abide in Christ. We are filled with the Spirit. We walk in the Spirit. We put our mind on the Spirit. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices. We renew our minds daily.
We are being changed from one degree of glory to another until finally Christ is fully formed in us. Christ is not just there to HELP us live life --- Christ IS our life.
Example: (Watchman Nee is an example of a person who experienced the profound discovery of what it meant to be dead to sin but alive to Christ. The day he fully realized his condition he ran through his house shouting, "I'm dead! I'm dead! Don't you see, I'm really dead!" (Nee's biography, "Against the Tide")
Present salvation is yours … don’t miss it by trying to live life on your own power. You can experience this Saving Power in your life the same way you were Saved in the first place. You were saved by faith, now you can live by faith.
This is not something to be understood intellectually as much as it is something to be experienced by revelation and obedience. Ask God to reveal to you what it means to truly abide in Christ. THIS is our salvation in the present tense.
3. sothaysometha (Gr.) – Future Glorification – freedom from the Presence of sin – Jesus is the LIFE
Romans 5:9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved (sothaysometha) from God's wrath through him!
Future tense salvation is the kind of salvation most people are thinking of when they hear the word “saved” in the Christian context. We think of that future day when we will enter heaven’s gates and walk the streets of gold. We think of that day when we will see Jesus face to face and hear the singing of the angels around the throne of God. This is all about that future day when we will shed worn out bodies for eternal resurrection bodies.
Salvation in the future tense is a forward look at all that we will inherit as children of God. And the Holy Spirit’s presence within us is the down-payment on all that we will someday inherit (Eph. 1:13-14).
Sadly, there are some who assume that because we are not yet physically in the heavenly places, we cannot know for sure if we will be saved or not until we actually enter through the pearly gates.
Example: At a former church, a youth leader came up to me one day and said, "I'm trying to figure out the way God judges sin. The best I can figure it, I assume he grades on the curve like they do at school. You know, 70% good is a passing grade."
I had bad news for him. God has a standard and it's not 70%. James 2:10 tells us, "For whoever keeps whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." This means we can be like Ivory soap, 99 and 44/100% pure, and still miss the mark if being graded on who we are and what we've done is our plan for justification. This is precisely why salvation by grace is so necessary.
People with this misunderstanding are living in eternal insecurity, hoping … but never knowing for sure --- that they are saved.
Years back, I learned the Evangelism Explosion outline for sharing my faith. A scripture that I memorized forever changed my perspective on salvation. John wrote in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” Give that some time to sink in…. Are you aware that you can actually know that you are saved – Past, Present, and Future?
Here’s another exciting verse about salvation. Let this one sink in along with the First John 5 passage. “Hebrews 7:25 "He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them." “Saved to the uttermost!” It kind of reminds me of an exclamation by Buzz Lightyear in the movie, Toy Story, “To infinity and beyond!” “Saved to the uttermost!” Just how saved is that? Well, I would assume that it is saved beyond the amount of salvation needed to enter heaven’s gates. Anyone saved to the uttermost has nothing to fear or doubt about his salvation. This is to infinity and beyond being graded on the curve.
Example: The last time I spoke with Dick Geib (just before his death) … In his hospital bed, he quoted, II Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I’ve committed unto Him against that day.”
What a beautiful testimony of full Salvation! And Dick is now experiencing the completion of his Salvation.
CONCLUSION:
For all of us who have put our faith in Jesus, the day will come when our Salvation --- past, present, and future --- will be complete. That is why He came.
Jesus came to SAVE us in every way - esosen, sodzomenois and sothaysometha – Past Present and Future. Jesus came to save us from the Penalty of Sin; to save us from the Power of Sin; and one day we will be saved from even the Presence of Sin!
The most important question you will ever answer is the one the young girl asked the Bishop in the story I told at the beginning of this sermon. She asked three simple words: "Are you saved?"
It is the only question that will matter on that Day when we stand before God’s judgment throne. And it is the only question that really matters today.
