Salvation

Please know… this testimony, this word I am going to share with you, is going to reach out to you and I want you to seriously think about what God is saying to you.  Let your mind choose to see His perspective.

Your life is incomprehensibly important to God.  Not only because He created you, but because He loves you and knows that your life completely depends upon Him.

Have you ever thought about the breath you breathe?  Your life depends on it and yet it is something you do not give to yourself.  Every single breath is given to you by God.

Now, not only are you dependent upon Him for your very breath, but every single day of your life is given to you by Him.  Have you ever thought about that?  I’m sure you have heard people say that life is a gift, or we aren’t promised tomorrow, or life is short (indicating that we should focus on what is important).  All these point to someone greater than ourselves.  It points to a greater being who is in control of our lives.  It points to our Creator.  It points to God.  It points to Jesus Christ.

The Psalmist in the Bible (Psalm 139:13) says, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.”  That speaks of someone who cares for us and is intimate with us.  He uniquely and intentionally made us.  Will you ponder that for a minute?

You might be wondering why I am referring to the Scriptures to explain all this to you.  The truth is, that God, in His wisdom, knew that we needed a way to know Him and find Him.  Without His Word, we would be lost… not knowing the truth and not knowing Him.  He wants a relationship with us and there is no other way to get to know someone than by listening to them and hearing what they say.  When Jesus was being tempted by the Devil in the wilderness, He said to him, three times “It is written.”  That is saying that Jesus, being God, referred to the Scriptures - -He refers to these same Old Testament Scriptures thirty times in the New Testament.

Do you WANT to know the truth?  Do you want to know who your Creator says He is?... the One who made you and gives you life?  He wants to know you.  When I say that, I’m talking about sharing your life with Him, opening your life to Him.  Since He created you and He is omniscient (knows all things), nothing is hidden from Him…He knows you, inside and out.  Even to the very core of your being, He knows you.  He knows your strengths, He knows your weaknesses, He knows your challenges, He knows your kindnesses, He knows the things you think, even before a word leaves your mouth, He knows what you’ve been through in your life, He knows the hurts, He knows the doubts, He knows what you hang onto and what you turn to in your life, and He even knows the things in the very deepest recesses of your mind.  He knows who you are… and He loves you.  He has compassion on you.

Now the question is… Do you know Him?  Do you know these things I am telling you?  Do you know that He is your Father in Heaven?  Do you know that He is the One True God?  Do you know that He is your hope in this life and in the next?  Do you know that He has designed every moment of your life?...before you were even born??  Nothing gets past Him nor happens without His foreknowledge.  Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”

He is God and there is no other.  (Isaiah 45:21)

Now, Scripture tells us that this same God, who created us and the heavens (sun, moon, stars), sent His Son into the world.  John 3:16-17 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”

The Son He is speaking of is Jesus Christ.  The Bible (God’s Word to us) tells us in John 1:1-4, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.”  Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made.  In Him was life, and that life was the light of men.”  Do you see?  This is saying that Jesus Christ is your Creator.  “Through Him all things were made.”

Now we also know from Scripture that Jesus is the promised Messiah.  Throughout the Old Testament, God promised to save His people from their sin.

(Psalm 130:7-8, Jeremiah 31:33-34, Daniel 9:24).

God also tells us in Jeremiah 23:5,6 that “He will raise up for David a Righteous Branch.  He will reign wisely as King and will administer justice and righteousness in the land.  In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell securely.  And this is His name by which He will be called:  The LORD Our Righteousness.”

Romans 9:5 tells us that from the Jews came the human decent of Jesus Christ, who is God over all.

Matthew 1:1-17 Traces Joseph’s legal lineage through David’s son Solomon.

Luke 3:23-38 Traces Mary’s lineage back through David’s son Nathan.

Romans 1:3 tells us that, Jesus was “born of the seed of David according to the flesh.”

In 2 Timothy 2:8 Paul emphasizes Jesus is risen from the dead, “the offspring of David.”

In Revelation 22:16 Jesus declares, “I am the Root and the Offspring of David.”

Micah 5:2 predicted the ruler would come from Bethlehem.

He was born in Bethlehem.

Fulfilled in Matthew 2:1 and Luke 2:4-7.

Isaiah 7:14 predicted the Messiah would be born to a virgin and He would be named Immanuel- “God with us”.

Matthew 1:23 tells us He was born of a virgin, Mary.

Zechariah 9:9 reminds us that Jesus would enter Jerusalem on a donkey.

All four Gospels confess that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  

(Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-11, Luke 19:28-40, and John 12:12-19)

Isaiah 53 is a prophecy, foretold 700 years before Christ was born, which reveals God’s Son, (our Creator) Jesus, and what He came for, as we see how God sent Him to suffer and die in our place, for all of our sins.  These sins were placed on Him as He offered up His life to God, as a sacrifice, for the salvation of all mankind.

(John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, 1 Timothy 2;5-6, 1 John 2:2).

But Jesus didn’t stay in the grave.  On the third day, He rose again!  And in the following verses, we see that He predicted his resurrection AND He told His disciples before it happened!

John 2:19 says, "Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."

In Luke 24:46 He says, "This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day."

1 Corinthians 15:2-4 says, “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Salvation is for all people.

For everyone who believes – (Romans 1:16, John 3:16)

God desires all to be saved – (2 Peter 3:9, 1 Timothy 4:10)

Whosoever calls – (Romans 10:13 declares, “Everyone who calls on the Name of the

Lord will be saved.”)

No distinction – Romans 10:12 tells us that there is no difference between Jew and

Gentile; the same Lord is Lord of all and gives richly to all who call on Him.

In Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:15, Jesus commissioned His followers to preach the

Gospel to “every creature” and to “all Nations.”

His Kingdom will reign forever!

Salvation is in no other (Acts 4:12)

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."