What we believe about salvation really matters because only Jesus could take our place on the cross so that we could have the opportunity to take our place in the relationship with God that we were created for...

This week we have been looking at the fifth statement that comprises our doctrinal statement as a church, which addresses what we believe as a church about the concept of salvation. This statement summarizes the answer to the question “How can we be rescued from the selfishness and rebellion that separates us from God? How can I be restored to the relationship with God that I was created for, but walked away from?’

Wednesday, we looked at a section of a letter in the New Testament of the bible called the book of 2 Corinthians, where we discovered that as a result of what God has done for us through Jesus life, death, and resurrection, we receive a new heart and a new spirit, as the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our lives. As followers of Jesus we have been transformed by Jesus so that we can experience a relationship with God through Jesus.

You see, when God the Father looks at us as followers of Jesus, He does not simply see us. Instead, He sees us in Christ. Right now, in a mystical and spiritual way, God the Father sees you, in Christ, in Heaven. As followers of Jesus we are part of the church, which is the body of Christ here on earth. But even now, we are mystically and spiritually a part of the body of Christ in Heaven. Our old lives prior to Jesus are fading away in the rearview mirror of our lives. We now have a new life that provides us a new hope and a new future with God as a result of our relationship with Jesus.

Today, we will see Paul reveal this reality for us beginning in 2 Corinthians 5:18:

 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now what is so interesting here is that the word reconciled here, in the language that this letter was originally written in, means to exchange hostility for a friendly relationship. So if Paul was writing this letter in the language that we use in our culture today, these verses might sound something like this:

 “This new life that we have with God is all a result of what God has done for us. Because when we were hostile to God and at odds with God, God chose to exchange that hostility for a friendly relationship through Jesus death on the cross for our selfishness and rebellion. As a result of all that Jesus had done to selflessly place humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place, we have been given the opportunity to be the vehicle that he uses to reestablish a broken relationship between those around us who are far from God and God. We have been given the opportunity to proclaim that God’s transformational activity through Jesus provides all humanity the opportunity to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God. By believing, trusting, and following Jesus, God no longer counts our rebellion against us because Jesus has already paid the penalty that was counted against us. And if that was not enough, God has also entrusted us with the responsibility to proclaim to the world that God desires to exchange hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God through what He has done for us through Jesus.”

Paul then hammers home how the love of Jesus compelled and motivated Paul and other early followers of Jesus to engage in the kingdom mission that they had been given by Jesus in verse 20:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”?

Here we see Paul paint a powerful word picture for the members of the church at Corinth when it come to the kingdom mission that they had been given and were now passing on to followers of Jesus throughout history: “We are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us.”

 Now in the first century, just as it is today, an ambassador is a representative of someone who speaks or acts on that their behalf. If you are a follower of Jesus, do you realize that that you are an ambassador for Him? As followers of Jesus we are to live our lives in a way that speaks and acts on Jesus behalf.

Paul then proclaimed to the members of the church at Corinth, and humanity throughout history, the message that he was to deliver from Jesus as an ambassador that was representing Jesus. Paul, acting on Jesus behalf, appealed and begged that those who would read this letter would exchange their hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God.

Paul then provided the reason why they could have the opportunity to exchange their hostility toward God for a friendly relationship with God: “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” In other words, God gave Jesus, who was without sin, the kingdom mission to enter into humanity so the He could live the life we were created to live but refused to live, and then willingly allow Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so God the Father could treat us as though we lived Jesus perfect life and enter into a right relationship with Him.

Now this leads us back to the question that will run throughout this series, which is “Dave does what we believe about salvation really matter?” And the answer to that question leads us to a timeless truth about why it really matters. And that timeless truth is this: What we believe about salvation really matters because only Jesus could take our place on the cross so that we could have the opportunity to take our place in the relationship with God that we were created for.

Only Jesus death on the cross in our place could provide, once and for all, the opportunity for all humanity to receive the forgiveness of their selfishness and rebellion and the relationship with God that they were created for. Only Jesus death on the cross, in our place, can satisfy God’s justice when it comes to the punishment for selfishness and rebellion and remove the guilt that results from our selfishness, sin, and rebellion.

Only Jesus resurrection and ascension provide the proof that God the Father accepted Jesus sacrificial willingness to live the life that all humanity refuses to live and die the death that all humanity deserves to die for our selfish rebellion. Only Jesus death and resurrection provides us the opportunity to be rescued from an eternity separated from God as a result of our selfish rebellion, because Jesus selflessly placed humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in our place.

So here is the question to consider: How are you responding to Jesus selflessly placing humanity before Himself as He placed Himself on the cross in your place? And what makes the answer to this question such good news is how simple it is to have a relationship with Jesus. Receiving the forgiveness for sin and entering into the relationship with God that you were created for can summarized in three simple words: believe, trust, and follow.

First, you need to believe that you have done selfish things that have hurt God and others and are in need of forgiveness and that Jesus was who He said He was; that Jesus was God in a bod, who entered into humanity and allowed Himself to be treated as though He lived our selfish and sinful lives so that God the Father could treat us as though we lived His perfect life. Second, you need to trust that Jesus life, death, and resurrection provides forgiveness of sin and the relationship with God you were created for. And third, you need to follow Jesus as Lord and Leader. It’s as simple as that. 

And because of that reality, my hope and my prayer is that we would respond to the reality that what we believe about salvation really matters because only Jesus could take our place on the cross so that we could have the opportunity to take our place in the relationship with God that we were created for, so that we would experience forgiveness and the relationship with God that we were created for and live lives that God can use to reveal and reflect Jesus to those around us who are far from God.