Sermon Archives
Jesus Is Savior
Luke 1-2The Gospel of Luke Part I - Who is Jesus?
J. Josh Smith
March 29, 2015
Description:
Through all the various stories, books, authors, and genres, there is a single message that runs throughout the entire Bible: God loves to save people. Every jot and tittle of the biblical narrative in some way contributes to telling the story of how God, through the person of Jesus Christ, will save people from their sins. We could not fully answer the question, “Who is Jesus?” without seeing in Luke 1-3 that Jesus is the Savior. And not only did we see last Sunday that Jesus is the Savior, but we saw that He is exactly the Savior we need. The Savior you’ve been given is exactly the Savior you need.
The Israelites rejected God as their Leader because they wanted a king like the nations around them. The first century Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as their Savior because they wanted a Messiah who was a political revolutionary. This story could be told time and time again throughout the annals of time. As humans, the savior we want is oftentimes not the savior we actually need. What kind of a savior do we want? We want a savior who can deliver us from all our secondary problems: anxiety, financial pressure, emotional depression, marital strife, wayward children, etc. Now, to be clear, Christ is the only One who can deliver us from these problems, and it is not a bad thing to look to Him for help in these areas. The problem occurs when we fail to recognize our primary problem: the problem of sin. All of our other problems are the byproduct of this one fundamental problem mankind has. Unfortunately, mankind rarely seeks a Savior who can address this most basic problem. In fact, we often don’t want to admit that this is our primary problem at all. We simply seek a savior who can improve our self-image, 401K, and marital intimacy because in our minds these types of issues are as deep as our problem goes. Praise God that He did not send us the Savior we want; God sent us Jesus, the Savior who has defeated sin, Satan, and death. He is the Savior we need. And because He is the Savior we need, He will oftentimes leave us in circumstances we do not want. Why does He do this? In order to address the primary problem of sin in our own lives; He does it in order to conform us more into His image, which is ultimately what we need.
Jesus is the serving savior; He is the suffering Savior; He is the sufficient Savior. He was not sent to save you out of every uncomfortable scenario; He was sent to save you from your sin and through all of life’s uncomfortable scenarios see to it that you are progressively conformed into His image. He was sent to save you from sin’s power so that you can be spiritually victorious in the midst of depression, problems at home, and in times of financial difficulty. He may not be the savior you always want, but He is exactly the Savior you always need. So, whenever you are made aware of this most basic problem of sin, run to Jesus. As you encounter people who are plagued by this most deadly disease, talk to them about Jesus. And as you walk through the various seasons of life, both the peaceful and the turbulent, rejoice in Jesus. Jesus is exactly the Savior you need, and praise the Lord He is the Savior you have been given.
Keywords:
Salvation, Servanthood, Trust