The Message of the Cross (9) Why Is Jesus Our Only Savior? (2)
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March 01, 2020 |
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 “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
In the last issue of Manmin News, I said that according to the law on the redemption of the land (Leviticus 25:23-27), the Savior of mankind must first be a man with spirit, soul, and body; and second, He must not be a descendant of Adam who sinned.
Today let’s explore the third and fourth qualifications and the reasons why only the Lord Jesus could satisfy them to become our Savior.
1. It is because Jesus has the spiritual power to defeat the enemy devil
Rescuing fellow soldiers taken captive on a battlefield requires strength to defeat the enemy. By the same token, rescuing mankind, who have all become slaves to the enemy devil, requires spiritual power that can defeat the enemy. In the spiritual realm, power comes from being sinless. Just as the darkness is driven away by the light, when people dwell wholly in the light without any sin they can overcome evil spirits belonging to the darkness.
There are two kinds of sin: the original sin and self-committed sins. “The original sin” refers to sinful attributes passed down to us from Adam and our parents and “self-committed sins” refer to sins people commit during their lives in this world. People of this world determine that no matter how evil a person’s heart may be, as long as that evil heart does not produce evil deeds, that person is not deemed a “sinner.” In spiritual terms, however, a person is already a sinner if he harbors sin in his heart (1 John 3:15; Matthew 5:28). An individual who has sinned in deed or in heart even once does not have the power to save mankind.
Furthermore, all people born after Adam sinned are born with the original sin and commit sins during the course of their lives. On the other hand, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and is not a descendant of Adam. Thus, Jesus was born without the inherent original sin and as He wholly obeyed God’s Word from the moment of His birth, Jesus did not commit any sins during the course of His life on the earth (Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:22).
Therefore, Jesus possesses the power to save mankind from the enemy devil and is not bound to the curse of the Law, which dictates that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Since He was sinless, Jesus could save all sinners and with His spiritual authority, He could rule over everything in the universe.
This provision of the Law of the spiritual realm applies not only to Jesus, but also the children of God who believe in Jesus. Whoever loves God and lives by His Word possesses the spiritual power so that when he drives out the enemy devil and Satan in the name of Jesus Christ, they have no place before him, they must submit and leave.
I have had such experiences countless times. Before believing God, I always struggled to pay for medication and hospital visits as I had suffered from a variety of diseases for seven years. After accepting the Lord, however, I have lived by the Word and all my family has been kept safe and healthy without ever going to hospital.
Furthermore, when I commanded and prayed in the name of Jesus Christ, people suffering all sorts of incurable and terminal diseases including cancer, leukemia, AIDS, and many others have been healed, countless blind, deaf, and mute have been made whole, carbon-monoxide gas has been driven out, and evil spirits repulsed.
No one else in the history of mankind?with the exception of Jesus?can satisfy the qualifications for the Savior. All men such as Buddha, Confucius, and Socrates were born with the original sin as descendants of Adam; only Jesus is qualified to be mankind’s Savior.
2. It is because Jesus possesses love by which He can sacrifice His life
If a brother is to be punished by law for being delinquent in repayment of his debt, he can avoid punishment if his wealthy older brother pays back the debt on his behalf. All the wealth of his brother, however, would not mean a thing if he did not love his brother. His brother can pay back his debt only when he loves his brother enough to pay back the debt even if he is to sustain losses himself.
Land can be redeemed according to the law on the redemption of the land only when the nearest kinsman of the one who has sold the land is willing to help him in his love. The same can be said of redeeming mankind from their sins.
Even though Jesus satisfies the first three conditions for the Savior, without love He would not have redeemed the sinners from their sins. Becoming the Savior of mankind requires that He undergo a colossal amount of suffering and distress known as the “punishment by death” on behalf of all sinners. Towards this end, Jesus was treated as if He were the worst and the most evil of criminals, subject to all kinds of disdain and contempt, crucified on the cross, and left to shed all of His water and blood.
While there are many ways to execute criminals, according to the law of the spiritual realm, the Savior who was to redeem the sinners from their sins was not only to simply die but He had to be hung on the wooden cross and bleed to death. Galatians 3:13 reads, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us?for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’”
Here, “the curse of the Law” refers to a spiritual law saying in Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death.” As death, the curse of the Law, came upon a sinner according to the law of the spiritual realm, the way by which the Savior was to save mankind from their sins would have to be in accordance with the law of the spiritual realm as well. This meant that the Savior would have to be hung on a tree on behalf of cursed sinners.
The same applied to the Savior’s bleeding to death. Leviticus 17:14 reads, “The life of all flesh is its blood,” while Hebrews 9:22 reminds us, “And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” For “blood” is the same as “life” in spiritual terms, the blood of the Savior was necessary in order for sinners to be forgiven and receive life.
Yet, man could be redeemed from his sins not by the blood of just any man hanging on a tree but by the clean and pure blood that is without any traces of sinful attributes. For what, do you suppose, would a sinless man die such a brutal death on behalf of others?
Such a sacrifice can be made only when the individual loves the other person more than his own life. He can become the Savior only when He loves sinners much enough to take the miserable suffering on the cross on behalf of them. Showing mankind such love, Jesus became our Savior (Romans 5:7-8).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, the love of God does not change and is not self-seeking. By that love, God has given over His only begotten Son even for the disobedient sinners. It is a true love by which Jesus could sacrifice His own life for the very sinners who mocked and crucified their Savior.
I pray in the name of the Lord that each of you will realize plainly that only Jesus is our Savior, accept Jesus Christ, and not only receive salvation but also gain true faith and lead countless others back to the way of salvation.
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