JESUS CHRIST - THE WORLD'S ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR

[Frank Walton]

JESUS CHRIST -- THE WORLD'S ONE AND ONLY SAVIOR

In a world of sorrow and sin, of conflicts and catastrophes, there is one singular figure that rises above all as the world's only Savior -- Jesus Christ the Son of God.

Note the emphasis Scripture gives to the perfect person and sinless work of the divine Messiah who alone can save a soul from eternal death and give hope of everlasting life. He alone is the dividing point of human destiny!

“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29).

"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matt. 20:28).

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me'" (Jn. 14:6).

“The one who believes in the Son has eternal life; but the one who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn. 3:36).

"There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

"The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life" (1 Jn. 5:12).

Mankind's greatest problem is not poverty, wars, violence, disease or any other physical malady -- it is rather the sickness of the soul called sin, of rebelling against God's will to live for sin and self. "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). "All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way" (Isa. 53:6). Sin is the only thing that can separate a soul from God forever in hell. "The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

Justice demands the guilty to be punished to uphold the just holiness of God. In unfathomable love, God graciously and mercifully sent His perfect Son to bridge the gap between heaven and earth (Jn. 3:16). "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus" (Rom. 3:24-26). In Christ, God did for us what we could not do for ourselves -- atone for our sins by being punished in our place at the cross to pay the debt of our sins, which is separation from God. Jesus, as the unique God-man (both the Son of God (divine) and the Son of Man (human), He alone is the unique Savior and mediator between heaven and earth.

The justice of God is satisfied, and grace offers forgiveness and a new life in Jesus Christ by "obedient faith" in Christ (Rom. 1:5, 16:26). Such faith in Christ alone as Lord and Savior includes turning away from sin or repentance (Rom. 2:4, Lk 13:3, Acts 2:38), confessing Christ as Lord of your life (Rom. 10:9-10) and baptism into Christ for the remission of sins, in order to be raised up to a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:3-6, Jn. 3:5, Acts 22:16, 1 Pet. 3:21).

Faith in Christ is a trusting response to follow Jesus to heaven by believing and obeying His Word. Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd....there will be one flock with one Shepherd...My sheep listen to My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me" (Jn. 10:14,16,21).The Lord's one church is the Lord's people patterned after the Lord's Word (Matt. 16:18, Acts 2:42). The goal of a Christ is to become more like Jesus Christ, our perfect example, in thought, word and deed (Phil. 2:5, 1 Jn. 2:6). God's eternal purpose for our lives is for us to be transformed into the image of His Son (Rom. 8:29, 2 Cor. 3:17-18). For the Christian who loves and adores Jesus as their Lord and Savior, "Christ is all...that He might have the preeminence in all things" (Col. 3:11, 1:18).

As born-again, adopted child of God into heaven's kingdom, we are heirs of all the spiritual riches of God (Acts 3:19, Eph. 1:18). It is for us, the body of Christ, to know Him and make Him known to a lost and dying world as the world's one and only Savior. “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you” (Mk. 5:19). "You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9).

In sharing the GOOD NEWS of God's gracious salvation in Christ by obedient faith, let us remember that the center and circumference of the Gospel's power to save is the glorious person and work of Jesus Christ, the world's one and only Savior. He is the object of faith, the ground of hope and focus of love. "God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Col. 1:13-14).

- By Frank Walton

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil. 4:13).