July 26, 2015
Hymn 344 - Jesus, my Saviour, to Bethlehem came
Prayer
Today we are going to start a new series. I want to begin by telling you a story. It’s about a woman who lived somewhere in Scotland. This poor lady made her meagre living by washing clothes for people. This happened such along time ago that she used a tub and a washboard to clean the clothes. She would scrub the clothes in the tub, then rinse them in the river. One day, while working, she fell into the river. The river was deep and fast and she couldn’t swim. Thankfully, there was a swimmer nearby, and he jumped in to save her. It was a hard struggle, but he was finally able to get her to shore. She was unconscious when he laid her on the ground. Others had gathered, and they worked on her and finally were able to bring her to consciousness. The first thing she said was, “I want to see the man that saved my life.” When he came to her, she thanked him very much, and then said, “I don’t have a lot, but if you want my washtub, you can have it.” But that young man, seeing her poverty, took his hat off and went around collecting money from the crowd that had gathered, and gave it to her.
This is an example of how the Lord is our Saviour. It is one thing to say that somebody saved your life; it a different thing to say that you have a personal relationship with them. The Lord not only saved me, but He walks with me every day. Our new series is called “Jesus is my …” Today we will cover “Jesus is my Saviour.”
In the story, not only did the swimmer save the lady’s life, but he also went on to provide her with a great blessing. We can be thankful Jesus died on Calvary, but we can also rejoice greatly in the fact that He rose from the dead.
Romans 5:8-10
Jesus died for us when we were sinners. Then we read the phrase “much more then.” Wasn’t it enough that He died for us? But we are also saved by His life. Sins can effect us even after we are saved. We can still sin, but those sins can’t condemn us. The Lord wants us to try not to sin, but we always need His help. I can say that Jesus is my Saviour and I live with Him all the time.
We know that we have been saved from the penalty of sin. That penalty is death. “The wages of sin is death.” But Jesus has paid the price for us. This happened in the past.
We have also been saved from the power of sin. We have an enemy who likes to tempt us. It’s not wrong to be tempted, but it is wrong to yield to the temptation. We need the Lord’s help every day, in the present. We need to go to the Lord for strength and help.
Romans 6: 11-13
Paul is not talking to people who aren’t saved. He’s telling us not to let sin reign in our life. We have to reckon ourselves dead to sin. When a Christian named Charlie was offered a cigarette, he would ask, “Who are you offering that cigarette to?” They would say, “Well, to you, Charlie.” He replied, “Charlie’s dead!” He reckoned himself dead to sin.
In the future, when the Lord comes, we will be saved from the presence of sin. There will be a day when we will no longer be tempted to sin. We will be in the presence of Christ, where sin is not allowed.
Ephesians 2:11-22
Verses 11 and 12 are the middle verses of Ephesians 2. Verses 1-10 tell what we were in times past, and what God has now made us. The end of the chapter shows how God has brought Jews and Gentiles together in oneness and closeness to Christ; but let’s look at these middle verses first.
These verses show us the big difference that lay between Jews and Gentiles. The Jews were given divine ordinances—a picture of cutting off the flesh—but the Gentiles went on living in the flesh. They were “without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world.” What a condition! The Jews had the precious promises of God, but not the Gentiles. Those unsaved are like that: they have no hope. We, on the other hand, have hope, Christ, God, and everything. What a position!
The Gentiles were aliens to the Commonwealth of Israel, and we were aliens to God. However, Christ has reconciled us to God through His death.
Verse 13 starts with, “But now.” First we had, “In times past,” then, “at that time,” and finally, “now”. It’s interesting to see the timeline. We were far off, but now are near to God. We are like the prodigal son in the far country and the father’s house, and like Joseph’s brothers.
These are truths that we need to enjoy; they are our privilege and blessing. We were once so far from God, and now are so near. Christ’s blood is credited for this; but why? Because there was a barrier of sin between us and God, and the only thing that could remove that was the blood of Christ. Now we are “cleansed and made nigh.” It was the blood of a slain animal that brought back communion after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. God “restored that which He took not away.” He restored our fellowship with Himself on the ground of the blood of Christ.
Not only did Christ make peace for us; He is our peace. By His work He has made peace by breaking down the wall between Jew and Gentile. Nothing can destroy the peace that work has won.
The Jew had the law, but the Gentile didn’t. The Gentile was distant from God, and the Jew couldn’t keep the law. So there were two camps: one had nothing; and the other had everything, but couldn’t keep it. The cross met the needs of both, even though those needs were so different.
Originally, it was God who put the wall between Jews and Gentiles—with rules about not marrying, etc—because of the enmity between them. Now He has pulled it down, and brought peace and harmony through Calvary. He didn’t bring one party to the position of the other, though: He has given both one new position. The Jew gets saved the same way as the Gentile.
The Jews were privileged, but they rejected the people—the prophets, Jesus, etc—that God sent to them. Many Gentiles, on the other hand, were faithful to God—like Job, or Rahab—and were accepted because of the work Christ would accomplish.
Hymn 74 appendix, Little Flock — “Behold the Lamb” enthroned on high
Prayer