My God Alphabet— S: Savior
When I was just a toddler, my dad took our family of 8 to the lake home of his employer for a large company picnic. I don’t remember any of this, but I was told that while with a group of children who played near the shore of the lake, I ventured out onto the dock by myself. I must have been intrigued by the water because I continued walking to the end of the dock and then jumped into the lake—alone and unable to swim. No one saw me except one person—my oldest brother Tom, who went into the lake, found me and pulled me out to safety.
He literally saved me from certain death.
This is a picture of what Jesus does for us: He is the one who saves us from eternal spiritual death and separation from God. Scripture uses the word “Savior” to describe Jesus.
You see, we’re all drowning in the sea of human failures, sins, and a seriously flawed spiritual DNA. Some people wrongly believe we can work our way into God’s good favor by attempting to outweigh our failures with good deeds. All our efforts, however, are like flailing our arms in deep, troubled spiritual waters as we continue to sink under the weight of our flawed life and existence. The first truth we need to embrace is this: We are totally unable to pull ourselves out of a hopeless eternity apart from God. The Bible reminds us that all of us have failed and fallen short of God’s glorious perfection and standard for being in His presence. (See Romans 3:23)
But here comes the great news: There is someone who saw you—and more importantly, SEES you today as you desperately sink into the dark ocean apart from God. His name is Jesus Christ.
Even more desperately than you want to be saved, Jesus longs to save you! Jesus said that He came to seek and save lost people (See Luke 19:1) and is the perfect bridge that enables you to cross into a new, forgiven, forever-secure relationship with God.
Jesus is able to save us because He is “God in the flesh”— the Son of God born into this world to live a perfect life and take all the sins and failings you and I have ever or will ever know to the cross. It was there that the greatest exchange took place: Jesus’ death in place of our eternal death, His life implanted into our life, His perfection and righteousness covering all our sins and failures. But there’s more: The good news didn’t end at the cross! Jesus rose from the dead and right now sits with the Father until He returns someday to inaugurate a new heaven and earth. In the meantime, Jesus promises to be with us even as He advocates for us in the very presence of our Father God. It’s a free gift, given by God apart from anything we could do, as the Scripture states:
“The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
The starting point of being saved is not trying harder to make yourself right with God or become more religious. Instead, from the depths of your heart, turn to Jesus, admit you are a flawed, sinful person, and invite Him into your very being.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9)
We are all born spiritually drowning and without hope, but I thank God there is a Savior—Jesus Christ—who saved my soul and can save yours as well!
“[Jesus] has saved us and called us to a holy life, not because of anything we have done, but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,” (2 Timothy 1:9)
God bless you!
Chris Atkins