May 24, 2015
Scripture:
Scripture:
Hymn 332 - Christ the Saviour of sinners came
Prayer
So far with the “Christian Blessings” we have had forgiveness, justification, redemption, and reconciliation. Today we will continue with number five, which is Salvation. You might think that we have been talking about salvation all along, but if we take a closer look, we’ll see how deep this salvation goes.
The Son of Man (Jesus Christ) came from heaven to seek and save that which was lost. Why did He need to seek? We were lost and couldn’t find the way, but Jesus is the way the truth and the life.
The salvation spoken of in Luke 19:10 is the salvation of our soul; this is what we usually mean when we talk of salvation.
In Hebrews, it says He goes on saving to the uttermost. And in Philippians, it says we must work out our salvation. This is not the salvation of our soul, but the salvation of our life. When we receive salvation, we must work it out: we must shine for the Lord. Our life should reflect the salvation of our soul.
Our citizenship is in heaven, and we should look for our Saviour to take us there. This is the salvation of our body. When He comes again, our bodies will be changed to be like His. This is part of the wonder of salvation.
We all know the three-part parable in the Luke 15. In this parable, the shepherd is a type of Jesus looking for and saving the lost sheep. The woman is a picture of the Holy Ghost shining the light. And the Father is a type of God receiving the prodigal with open arms. Here we have the trinity all playing a part in the plan of salvation. We can see from this chapter that all three members of the trinity are involved in our salvation.
When we receive salvation we are saved from the penalty of sin: death. We are also saved from the power of sin, and from the pleasure of sin.
It’s wonderful when you get saved. You have a desire of read the Bible, and you delight in what God wants to do. It brings you into the presence of God, and gives you the promise of a new body when Christ comes again.
Ephesians 1:3-14
Israel was blessed with earthly blessings in earthly places. We, on the other hand, have been blessed with spiritual blessings in heavenly places!
We walk through this world, but before we were made, we were chosen. That heads the list of our spiritual blessings. Chosen means we were called to be His, while predestined refers to our position, destination, and election.
Not only were we chosen, but we were chosen in Christ. He was involved, and it all happened before Genesis one. Before sin arrived He chose us to be “holy and without blame”.
Some of our writers believe that Lucifer fell from Heaven before this present world was created. The conflict between God and Satan certainly appears almost immediately in the garden of Eden in Genesis. Did God envision a fallen earth, though? He must have, because when Adam and Eve sinned the coats of skins typifying Christ were there immediately. Christ would have been chosen to be the Saviour before that time. All had been planned.
Did God create evil? He allowed it, but Satan was the one who began it. God isn’t capable of creating evil. We were chosen to be holy and without blame before Him because that is His character. He knew we would fall, but chose Christ beforehand to redeem us. “Holy” describes God’s character, while “blameless” describes his behaviour.
Sin entered this world by man. It wasn’t created by man; it was in the universe already, and was allowed in by the fall.
Some of these concepts—like predestination—are hard to understand. God chose us, but does that mean he didn’t chose others? All saved have been predestined for heaven, but God has destined no one for Hell. God is just, and all He does is therefore just. It’s above our understanding; we haven’t been given the power to grasp it.
We have been predestined, but specifically we have been predestined to adoption. Before God, we are sons. There are so many glorious heavenly creations that praise God and do His will, yet He passed them all by and brought us close to Himself. None of the others needed redemption, yet He chose a creature that had fallen so far that it needed to be rescued. It needed the involvement of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to do it, too. They had to do so much to bring us into His love, but that brought Him the greatest pleasure. Angels and other creatures say things in Revelation, but it is the four and twenty elders—the saved—that sing.
This is one of our greatest blessings: we are part of God’s family! We have been brought into relationship with Him. Christ is the Bridegroom and we are the Bride!
It’s neat to see the Father and Son talk over their plans. In John 17, Jesus talks to His Father as if the cross was already past. John 17:4-5. He asked the Father to glorify Him—as a man—with the glory that He had before He was a man. Vv 6a, 24. It’s incredible the way Jesus could switch between that world and this; but He and His Father were from that world. It’s above our understanding. Vv 25-26. We are to set our minds on things above, and these things are definitely above.
Hymn 361 - There is a happy land
Prayer