Salvation: The 5 W’s and The H
Who: Jesus Christ, The son of God. The Prince of Peace, Wonderful, Counselor, Emmanuel, The Messiah, The Promised One.
Exactly who was Jesus? He was, and is the son of God, the Father.
He was mothered by Mary. His legal Father was Joseph. Though God was his Father, Joseph acted as his Father here on earth. I guess you could say that Joseph was the most notable step-fathers in the history of mankind!
Jesus was a carpenter by trade. This was Joseph’s trade as well.
We do not know a lot about the life of Christ between the ages of 3 and 30. We do however know the reason he came to earth. And so did he.
John 3: 17 says, “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved!”
He came to save the world. To save it from it’s own self. From our own sins. You see, he did not sin, we did. We burned that bridge, not him. And we needed a way to be forgiven for that sin. That bridge to be rebuilt! Before Jesus came, men used to have to sacrifice their lambs and their goats for their sins. He came as the permanent sacrifice for all of our sins!
What? What does this salvation do for us? Well, it saves us. From what? We are told that the wages of sin is death. Period. Salvation is God’s way of saving us and allowing us back in his grace. When we are out of his grace, life can be very trying.
When we are within his grace life can be even more trying! Think about it. When you are not saved, Satan does not have to work very hard to get to you. He tempts you with some very basic temptations. It is easy to justify succumbing to them. You do not have any one inside your heart saying that is wrong. But once you invite Christ into your heart, the Holy Spirit convicts you each and every time you are tempted. It’s because you now know the difference between right and wrong!
Now Satan has to try and trick you. He has to try different ways of “shaking your faith”. He whispers in your hearts ear things like, “Go ahead, it’s okay. You’re already forgiven! God loves you and he won’t mind!” He has to rock your world by causing more and more strife in it. But remember, God promised that Satan cannot give you any more than you can handle. Just stay firm in the Faith! You can actually command him to depart! Of course he will be coming right back.
If it were easier to be a Christian, everyone would be one. Though it may be hard sometimes, it is very rewarding! And I am not just talking about an eternity in heaven. Christianity has many benefits right here, in this imperfect world of ours. As a Christian, I have the best friend that I could ever hope for. Not only is he forgiving, but loving, understanding, compassionate, and patient.
When all others have fallen waist side his love is still in your heart. He never gives up on you. Never.
When? Now. Then . And forever. He came into this world to die for your sins. He did not die for just those people 2000 years ago. He died for all of mankind, past present and future.
I don’t want you to think that after the second coming of Christ that you will still be able to accept him. Then it will be too late! In John 3:18 we read, “Those who believe in him are not condemned: but those who do not believe are condemned already, Because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God!”
Jesus spent 3 years healing the sick, making the lame to walk, the blind to see. He told his people from early on what was to happen. He told them he would die and raise up 3 days later, and still they did not believe. That was Satan whispering again and again. In fact, his coming and his death and resurrection was prophesied by the prophets many years before. 247 prophesies were fulfilled by his life. We knew he was coming. He came. He died. And then he raised from the dead.! And still there are those that do not believe?!
It’s so easy to fall into the trap of complacency, of doing nothing, of ignoring the danger of being in a wrong relationship with God. There’s a legend where three demons are overheard planning how to get most victims for their master. The first said: "Tell the people ’There is no God’" "No, that won’t do," said the others, "There are too many evidences of his goodness to convince people." The second proposed: "Say ’There is no hell.’" The others replied, "That won’t convince people either because some of their fellows are there already." The third produced the most effective way, "Tell them ’There is no hurry.’" This brings to mind the Bible’s solemn words, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation?" (Heb 2.3). It’s a question that defies an answer.
Why? Why would God send his son to die for us? Well, John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only son that who ever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life!” God gave his son out of love.
And why did Jesus allow himself to be viciously crucified? With a simple word 10,000 angels would have came and saved him. Why didn’t he speak this word?
Most of us have a really hard time completely understanding just why our salvation came at the cost of Christ life. God in all his splendor could have just told us to ask for forgiveness, right? Wrong. Even after Christ gave his life for our own, 95% of this world do not acknowledge that he even lived, that alone came to save that which was lost. I read a story that sums just why salvationcould only done through the Christ.
One winter night the man heard an irregular thumping sound against the kitchen storm door. He went to a window and watched as tiny, shivering sparrows, attracted to the evident warmth inside, beat in vain against the glass.
Touched, the farmer bundled up and trudged through fresh snow to open the barn door for the struggling birds. He turned on the lights and tossed some hay in a corner. But the sparrows, which had scattered in all directions when he emerged from the house, hid in the darkness afraid.
The man tried various tactics to get them into the barn. He laid down a trail of Saltine cracker crumbs to direct them. He tried circling behind the birds to drive them toward the barn. Nothing worked. He, a huge, alien creature, had terrified them; the birds couldn’t comprehend that he actually desired to help.
The farmer withdrew to his house and watched the doomed sparrows through a window. As he stared, a thought hit him like lightning from a clear blue sky: “If only I could become a bird – one of them – just for a moment. Then I wouldn’t frighten them so. I could show them the way to warmth and safety.” At the same moment, another thought dawned on him. He had grasped the reason Jesus was born.
Where? On a hill faraway. On that old rugged cross. Christ gave his, life that we might have ours. Though it may have happened there, it lives in all Christians. His love. His salvation. His life. We are told that we need to bear our cross. Which takes me to how. How did our salvation come to be.
Consider this:
Jesus was nailed to a cross with heavy, square wrought-iron nails through His wrists and through His feet. He hung there for several hours. When His body slumped, excruciating, fiery pain would shoot along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain - the nails in the wrists were putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushed himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he placed the full weight on the nail through his feet. Again he felt the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of the feet. As the arms fatigue, cramps sweep through the muscles, knotting them in deep, relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath. Finally carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and in the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of this limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint rendering cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain as tissue is torn form his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber. Then another agony began: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly filled with serum and began to compress the heart. It is now almost over - the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level - the compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues - the tortured lungs are making a frantic effort to gasp in small gulps of air.
He then felt the chill of death creeping through his tissues... Finally He was able to allow his body to die. All this, for you. If you were the only person
in the world, he would have done this for you alone. He loves you, so do I.
Who? Jesus Christ. The son of God. What? A redeeming salvation. Forgiveness. A bridge to the Father. When? He died 2000 years ago for you, today. Why? Love. Agape Love. Perfect Love. Where? On a cross on Calvary. Golgatha, the place of the skulls. In your heart. How? By dying a cruel painfull death while hanging on a cross. How do you accept his salvation? Simply by accepting him as your personal Lord and Savior. By confessing that you are a sinner and believing in the son of God. This is the message that we as Christians need to pass on to others. We need to share this story of love so that others can accept him into their lives. He commanded us to spread this story of unparalleled love and sacrifice.
We , as Christians, will reward immensely from the Love of the father and the son. But there are those in the world that do not know his love and grace, and we need to carry this love to them. For he is now living in us. He has became that sparrow by coming as a man and living as a man. He shas shown us the way to warmth and safety.
Now it is our duty as His people to show the others to warmth and safety. To the warmth of his compassion and love. To the safety of redemption. Salvation. Let us go out into the world and let his light shine!
