Jesus saves:)
At one time or another, most people in the Western
world have heard the phrase
"Jesus saves"
What does this phrase really mean? Who is Jesus?
Why do we need to be saved? How does Jesus save? From what?
He saves us from what- eternal hell?
I don't believe God allows humans to spend eternity in hell, I believe he wants a relationship with us and spiritual security and peace for us
while we pass through this physical life. I personally believe saving means his
saving grace delivers us
from spiritual bondage in this earthly existence
Jesus's healing power is real,
and it's unseen!
It's available to all- especially sinners- go, be free!!
Unfortunately, the phrase "Jesus saves"
has undergone some cultural hijacking which has obscured
its meaning.
The truth is,
the words "Jesus saves" might be
the most important words you ever hear.
Jesus lived about 2,000 years ago in Israel.
He was a Jew, and lived and worked among Jews.
He was an unremarkable man from an unremarkable family.
When He was about thirty years old, He stood up
in the local temple and quoted a passage from a
Jewish prophet called Isaiah. He said:
"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor"
(Luke 4:18)
This prophecy was known by everyone in Jesus' audience
as a prophecy about the
Messiah--
Israel's future king who would set them free
and make their nation great. Jesus shocked them all by saying,
after He had quoted the passage,
"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing"
(Luke 4:21; see verses 16–30 for the full account).
This began a conflict between
Jesus
(who claimed to be Messiah)
and the Jews
(who eventually betrayed Him to the Romans and had Him
executed by crucifixion)
The Jewish Pharisees (the religious leaders of that day)
hated Jesus, mainly because He told them that their
understanding of God was all wrong.
They expected the Messiah to
be a ruler,
a king who would help them defeat the Romans
. (Aka the enemy/sin)
Jesus
was interested in forgiveness, healing the sick, and
lifting up those who were failing
(Mark 2:5; John 3:16–18; Mark 2:17).
Jesus claimed to be the Messiah, and
He claimed to be God
(John 1:1–3; John 8:58).
He backed up that claim
by
rising from the dead after three days
in the tomb, and
appearing to a crowd of witnesses and disciples
(Luke 24:1–12; 36–49),
many of whom would later
face a violent death rather than
deny
that Jesus had risen from the dead.
So, why does this matter to us, today?
So what does Savior mean?
Religion today is not much different
than it was back in Jesus' time.
There are a lot of rules to follow in order to appease a deity.
All religions relatively do the same thing.
When faced with religion... people usually either
a) delude themselves into thinking they can follow all the rules,
do the right thing, etc. and
then judge anyone who cannot do the same, or
b) turn away from religion because they realize they are
not able to follow the rules.
The words "Jesus saves" speak to this problem.
Jesus was the Creator God and displayed all of the
same character traits as God Himself (Hebrews 1:3).
He came to forgive the sins of men;
He came because "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick" and
He came "not to call the righteous, but sinners" (Mark 2:17 NIV).
What this means is that if you need salvation,
Jesus saves, he frees our minds and does
so much more-
he reveals deep and personal
truth for ALL of us..
he's the one!
The fact remains, however, that every person needs Him
whether they will admit it or not.
We are all prone to mistakes, to addictions, to choosing
the wrong path.
We are all sinners(Romans 3:23)
who have fallen short of God's standard(Romans 6:23).
We are all less than perfect.
And we all feel the moral burden.
That is why religion exists—it exists to give us the illusion of control, and to assuage the nagging feeling that we are not measuring up to what God wants.
"If we just follow these few rules," we think,
"God will be pleased and accept me."
But that is not the Gospel
message.
It is not possible to do everything that God requires,
because we are human and perfection is
not possible for us.
Does this mean God is cruel?
That He has set us up for failure?
Not at all--
Jesus saves!
God sent Jesus for this very purpose--
to put all the punishment for
sin on Him,
so that we would not have to bear it
(Isaiah 53:5).
Now that this free gift is available to us, the only way we can damn ourselves is if we actively choose NOT to take it!
Jesus saves anyone and everyone who wants to be saved,
but many of us say "no thanks" and
cling stubbornly to religion,
or to the delusion that we can somehow save ourselves,
or that we don't need saving,
or even that God doesn't exist... but he does, and his
deliverance is available for all..
We can pray something like this!...
"Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I can
never measure up to your standards on my own.
I also know that you have graciously
sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect
life and die in my place.
I believe in Him.
I believe He rose again and that He offers me the
gift of freedom."
We all have unique callings and purposes! Let us
serve his calling in our lives with a clear conscious, sincere heart,
true faith and love in his name, all for his glory.
It never ceases to amaze me to see the ordinary people Jesus used in the Bible. From cover to cover the Bible has ordinary men and women perceived as flawed, failures, weak and lowly. But they were able to meet the needs of others, were instruments of His peace, and shared His Good News.
God uses ordinary people in the most extraordinary ways!
God Works in Mysterious Ways
Sometimes I think God was looking for the people with the messiest lives.
That's the Gospel!
Jesus saves the heart and mind and
delivers peace of mind through his love and relationship!
That's exactly why we preach to prisons, prisoners aren't getting their finances, marriages, friendships and careers blessed-
no, they're getting spiritual peace,
freedom and deliverance in this physical existence
•Moses was a murderer and an outlaw who fled for his life to Midian where he became a lowly shepherd.
•David was an adulterer, arranged for the murder of his lover’s husband, and disobeyed God’s direction.
•Peter was outspoken and impulsive. When he had the chance to defend Jesus, he vehemently denied him 3 times.
•Paul was a vicious persecutor of Christians, set on destroying Christianity.
It almost seems like He was on the lookout for the
most unlikely to work out
His will.
What did God see in these men?
'Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge!
How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!
For who can know the Lord’s thoughts?"
Romans 11:33-34 NLT.
God Sees the Heart
God looked past
all these men’s shortcomings,
sins, and faults and saw
great faith and trust in their
hearts
•He saw Moses as a leader of His people
(his upbringing included being an Egyptian prince, after all.)
While it took some persuading on God’s part, Moses was
obedient and faithful even in his fear.
•God called David “a man after my own heart.”
Acts 13:22 (NIV) David,
for all his failures, had a firm faith in God and His forgiving nature.
He was quick to confess his sins from his heart
and became the greatest king of Israel.
•Peter was a leader among the disciples and showed great enthusiasm.
He boldly professed his faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
Jesus picked Peter as the rock on which He would build His church.
•God used Paul’s training as a Pharisee and his tenacity
to transform him into a great preacher of the Gospel.
When Paul personally met Jesus, he was a completely changed
man in his own heart and mind- because he
met the truth!
It gave him security and peace in spite of earthly troubles
and his shortcomings. No one is perfect, that's
why jesus came.
That's why the gospel needs preached,
he came to
deliver
You CAN know him! I PROMISE, he WILL
meet your spiritual needs
because there is so much more than what meets the eye-
there's eternal
peace, glory and hope!:)
The. Gospel....
is
available for everyone!
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