Study 5

JESUS CHRIST CAME TO SAVE US

 

Before we begin this study, let us pray.

 

Dear Father God,

                    We come before You in Jesus Christ’s Holy Name. Holy Father, as we go through this study please grant us the spiritual ears, eyes and heart so we can truly understand and receive Your tremendous gift for the forgiveness of our sins and the new life in the Holy Spirit.

Amen

 

INTRODUCTION

          In our previous study we saw that Jesus Christ is truly our Lord and God. We also discovered that through Mary, His human mother, Jesus took upon a human body. He walked and lived upon this earth. He died, was buried, rose alive from His grave and returned to His dwelling place in Heaven.

          With this in mind the following questions arise; “Why did Jesus do this?” Or “What was God’s purpose for Jesus Christ to spend time as a human being upon this earth?” To see this we will,

 

          1. Explore the fact that each and every one of us needs a Savior.

          2. Review a sample of the many Old Testament prophecies in which God promised to save us from our sins..

          3. See that in Jesus Christ, God has fulfilled His promise to save us.

 

With this introduction in mind we begin by seeing that,

 

WE ALL NEED A SAVIOR

          Unless we clearly understand that in our natural self we are sinners and have sinned, we can never truly appreciate and be grateful for all that Jesus Christ did for us. In other words, if I never believe that I am a sinner and need to be saved from my sins, I would have no reason to truly seek after God's wonderful Mercy and Grace that He extends to you and me in Jesus Christ.

          Thus, to be sure we realize we are all sinners and born with a nature to sin, we begin our study by reading about the fall or sin of Adam and Eve. The purpose of doing this is so we can understand how the sin of Adam and Eve became an integral part of our life and our very nature. With this in mind, let us begin by reading the portion of Genesis where God created man,

         

Genesis 1:26-27

"[26] Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground." [27] So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them."

 

Let us notice the following verse,

          27 … Adam and Eve were created in the image and likeness of God.

 

          After God created Adam and Eve, He then planted a garden in Eden where mankind was to live. To see this we go to,

 

Genesis 2:8-9

"[8] Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed. [9] And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground--trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil."

 

Let us notice the following verse in particular,

          9 … God had placed two special trees. One tree was the tree of life and the second was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

 

          After the garden was planted, God took the man He created and placed him in it. He then instructed the man to work and care for the garden but was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is found in,

 

Genesis 2:15-17

"[15] The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. [16] And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; [17] but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          17(a) … What is interesting to note is that God did not say he could not eat from the tree of life, which is to live forever. The command was to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Also note that Adam had the freedom to obey or disobey.

 

          17(b) … Also notice the consequence of eating from this tree would be that they would surely die. In other words, right after God created the earth, its inhabitants and mankind; He made it clear that the penalty of sin or disobedience against His commands would be death.

 

          As we reflect upon the above situation we come to realize that this was truly paradise. There was no death. There was no suffering, no sin, no pollution, no strife nor corruption. In fact, we also come to the understanding that both Adam and Eve were as innocent as can be and in constant harmony and fellowship with God their Creator … truly Paradise or eternal bliss!

          Unfortunately, this state was not to last. Satan in the form of a serpent enticed Eve, who then enticed Adam to disobey God’s command and eat the forbidden fruit. As we read about this encounter, it is noteworthy for us to recognize that the dialog Satan had with Eve contains similar thoughts that he places in our minds when he attempts to entice us to disobey God’s will and lead us into sin. With this in mind, let us now read from,

 

Genesis 3:1-7

"[1] Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" [2] The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, [3] but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" [4] "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. [5] "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." [6] When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. [7] Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          1 … Satan asked Eve if she really understood God’s command. How many times have we heard this same question; "Does God's Word really say that?"

 

          2-3 … Eve told Satan exactly what God said. It is the same with us. As we study His Word we pretty much know what God does or does not want us to do.

 

          4 … Satan suggested to Eve that God would not really allow you to die. How many times have we heard this type of argument? Sometimes it comes in the form of, “We know that God is loving and caring, surely He did not mean that people would be in the Lake of Fire.”

 

          5 … In addition to questioning the consequence, Satan now suggested to Eve that the reason God does not want her to eat of the fruit, is that if she did, she would then be like God, knowing good and evil. The implication is that Eve could make her own decisions and judgments and not be dependent upon God. How many times have we been tempted to rely upon our own feelings or knowledge or wisdom to make various decisions rather than seek out or follow God's will?

 

          6 … Unfortunately, Eve bought the argument. She saw the fruit as good, pleasing to the eye and desirable for gaining wisdom. Also notice that rather than obeying God, Adam listened to Eve and also ate the forbidden fruit.

 

          7 … Now both Adam and Eve were no longer innocent. Consequently, they now realized that they were naked.

 

          Given this sad situation, let us now read the consequences of Adam and Eve’s disobedience. They are recorded in,

 

Genesis 3:16-19

"[16] To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." [17] To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. [18] It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. [19] By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.""

 

          As one reflects upon the above Scriptures we come to realize that today we too have inherited these very same consequences. Namely, death, pain and labor are still very much part of the human experience. As bad and as difficult these consequences are, the Bible also teaches us that because of Adam and Eve’s sin we lost much, much more.

          First of all, we find that we lost eternal life. We see this by reading how God removed both Adam and Eve and hence their offspring, that is you and me, from the Garden of Eden. He did this so that, apart from Him, we would not have access to the tree of life. To see this let us read from,

 

Genesis 3:22-24

"[22] And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever." [23] So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. [24] After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life."

 

          Secondly, in addition to all the above consequences, we also find that we have inherited Adam’s nature, which is the nature to sin. To see this, let us read about the birth of his son, Seth, in,

 

Genesis 5:3

"[3] When Adam had lived 130 years, he had a son in his own likeness, in his own image; and he named him Seth."

 

          Let us note that Adam and Eve were created in God’s image and likeness. However, Adam and Eve’s offspring, ultimately you and me, were born in the image and likeness of Adam. The significance of this comes to light by noting that because Adam and Eve sinned, we too are sinners. To see this let us read from,

 

Romans 5:19(a)

"[19] For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, …"

 

          In addition to the sentence of physical death, the Bible also teaches us that because we are sinners we are also spiritually dead. In other words we still only have Adam’s nature within us.

The Good news is,

 

GOD PROMISED TO SAVE US

          As we read the Old Testament one discovers that God promised there will come a time when He will come to save us. To read one example from the many prophecies God made concerning this promise let us read what God said and wrote through His prophet Ezekiel. The promise of interest is in,

 

Ezekiel 36:24-28

""'[24] For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. [25] I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. [26] I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. [27] And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. [28] You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God."

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          24 … He will gather us from the nations.

 

          25 … He will cleanse us from our impurities, which is our sins. In other words, God said He will forgive us of our sins. To see this let us read the following excerpt from God’s prophet Jeremiah,

 

Jeremiah 31:34b

[34b] … For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

 

Let us now return to Ezekiel and notice the following verses,

          26 … He will give us a new heart and put a new spirit within us. Notice, it will not be a repaired heart and spirit but will be NEW ones!

 

          27 … To move us to follow His decrees and laws, He will put the Holy Spirit in us. Just imagine, the Holy Spirit Himself will live within us.

         

          28 … Consequently, we will be His people and He will be our God!

 

                    The question arises as to; “How did God fulfill this wonderful promise?” The answer is,

 

IN JESUS CHRIST GOD FULFILLED HIS PROMISE TO SAVE US

To see this let us first read the following from the Gospel according to John,

 

John 3:16-17

[16] For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. [17] For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

 

          Let us notice that in verse 17 God assures us that He did not come to judge or condemn us; but in Jesus Christ He came to save us.

          This brings up the question as to; “What did Jesus do to save us?” The answer to this question is twofold. First of all,

 

JESUS PAID THE PENALTY FOR OUR SINS

          Let us recall that after God created the earth and all of its inhabitants, He told Adam that if he disobeyed His command (that is sin) they would die. To refresh our memory of this let us read from,

Romans 6:23

[23] For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

          To pay the penalty for our sins so we can have eternal life in Him, Jesus was crucified, died and was buried. To help us understand this, Jesus gave us the following example. To read it we go to,

 

John 3:14-15

[14] And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, [15] that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

 

          “What is Jesus talking about?” “What is He teaching you and me?” To find out we need to return to the Old Testament and read about,

 

The incident of Moses and the serpent

                    The incident concerning the snake occurred during the later portion of Israel's exodus from Egypt. At the time of the incident the people of Israel had been travelling in the desert for many years. In fact, by this time Aaron, Moses' brother, had already died. From a human perspective their journey had been a very difficult one. The majority of the time the only solid food they had for nourishment was the thin wafers of manna that each morning God miraculously provided for them. However, throughout their journey they moaned, complained and grumbled. With this background, let us now read what happened.

 

Numbers 21:4-9

[4] Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. [5] And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.” [6] So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and many of the people of Israel died.  [7] Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. [8] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” [9] So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          4-5 … The people grew impatient and sinned against God and Moses. Rather than believing and trusting that God delivered them from Egypt to save them from Pharaoh’s tyranny, they believed God brought them to the desert to kill them by starvation. Not only did they lose or not have faith in God, but also felt that He meant to harm them.

 

          6 … As a result of their terrible sin, God became angry and sent poisonous snakes to bite the people.

 

          7 … The people confessed their sin, that is admitted that they were in grave error, and asked Moses to ask God to have mercy and forgive them.

 

          8 … To save them God told Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. He also said Moses that whoever would look up at the snake would live.

 

          9 … Moses followed God’s command and God fulfilled His promise.

         

          “How does all this relate to us and Jesus?” To see the analogy, let us remember that because of the people’s sin, they were bitten by a snake and would die. The same with us when we are bitten or fall into sin … we will die.

 

          In the above incident, after the people confessed their sin and asked for mercy, Moses was told to put a snake, which was a symbol of their sin, on a pole for the people to look at. When Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross and lifted up, it was our sin that was placed upon His flesh for us, by faith, to see. To confirm this let us read the following Scripture,

 

1 Peter 2:24

[24] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree …

 

          In returning to the incident with Israel, remember that when they looked upon the snake they were healed. It is the same with us. When, through faith, you and I see that Jesus Christ took upon Himself our own personal sins to the cross we too are healed, that is forgiven. Another way to see this is by reading the instruction given in.

 

1 John 1:8-9

[8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

 

          It must be noted that as glorious as it is to have God forgive us for our past and our occasional future times of disobedience and sin, without a new nature, we would still be in the same condition. In other words we would still be left with our same old nature. This brings us to,

 

THE NEW BIRTH OR BEING BORN AGAIN

          Thus the second gift Jesus makes available to us is that He will send God the Holy Spirit to live and dwell within us. In doing, this Jesus fulfills the promise God made, through His prophet Ezekiel, to give us a new heart and place a new spirit within us.

          To see this let us read what Jesus once said to prepare His disciples for His return to Heaven. To do this we go to,

 

John 16:7

[7] … I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. 

 

To see who this Helper is, let us begin by reading from,

 

John 16:13-15

[13] However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. [14] He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. [15] All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

 

          In other words, the Helper Jesus will send to us is God the Holy Spirit to live and dwell within us.

 

          It is for this very reason Jesus told Nicodemus that in order for man to see the kingdom of God he must be born again. In other words, Jesus told Nicodemus and now is telling us that we must receive a “new” nature. To see this, let us read the conversation Jesus had with Nicodemus from,

 

John 3:1-7

"[1] Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. [2] He came to Jesus at night and said, "Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him." [3] In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." [4] "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" [5] Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. [6] Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. [7] You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          1 … Nicodemus, being a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council, was a very learned man in the Jewish faith and a much respected teacher of the Scriptures.

 

          3 … Jesus avoided Nicodemus’ observation and immediately addressed the issue of eternal life. Namely, to enter the Kingdom of God you must be born again.

 

          4 … Nicodemus did not understand.

 

          6 … Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. In other words, in the normal course of things, we are flesh descended from Adam. However, the Holy Spirit gives birth to spirit. Namely, it is only the Holy Spirit, God Himself, who imparts His divine nature in us and makes us spiritually alive. This is the new birth or being born again.

 

          Now the question arises as to; “How does this happen?” Or “What must I do to receive my new nature?” The answer to this question is that,

         

The New Birth Comes by Faith in Jesus Christ

          To see this, let us carefully consider what Jesus said to the Jewish people on the last day of the feast of Tabernacles as recorded in,

 

John 7:37-39

"[37] On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. [38] Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." [39] By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified."

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          37 … If you are thirsty for righteousness and want to be right with God, confess to Jesus your sins and ask Him for forgiveness and to be born again of God the Holy Spirit. This is what is meant to go to Jesus and drink.

 

          38 … Streams of living water will flow from within you, that is you will no longer be spiritually dead but made alive and will live a whole new life.

 

          39 … Jesus used the term living water as an analogy for the Holy Spirit Who will be given to those who believe in Him.

 

          As we reflect upon what we have just read, we see that it is through Jesus Christ we receive the Holy Spirit, which is the new nature we so desperately need to counter and combat our sin nature and Satan’s influence in our lives.

 

CLOSING

          Let us close this study by reading what Jesus also said to prepare His disciples for His upcoming death, resurrection and return to Heaven as it is recorded in.

 

John 14:1-6

""[1] Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God ; trust also in me. [2] In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. [3] And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. [4] You know the way to the place where I am going." [5] Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" [6] Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

 

Let us notice the following verses,

          2 … There are many mansions in the Father's House. Jesus also told His disciples then and now us that the reason He was going to leave them was to prepare a place for those who are His.

 

          4 … Jesus told the disciples that they know where He is going and the way to get there.

 

          5 … Thomas responded by stating that they do not know where He is going or the way to get there. We now know that Jesus was returning to Heaven to be with the Father.  However, let us now go to verse 6 and read what Jesus said about how to get there.

 

          6(a) … Jesus stated that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

 

          6(b) … No one comes to the Father except through Jesus. In other words, it is only through Jesus Christ that we can come to God the Father.

 

          This truth is made even clearer to us when we read the following excerpt from what the Apostle Peter said to the Jewish Sanhedrin, which was the ruling priesthood of the Jewish religion. The statement of interest is recorded in,

 

Acts 4:12

"[12] Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by whom we must be saved."

 

Blessed be the Lord forever!

AMEN and AMEN

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