The Passion of Christ
God Showed His Love For Us
When He Saves Us
April 18, 2004
Genesis 1:1; Revelation 21:5-7
We want to continue in this message as we have done over the last few weeks by
thinking about some of the ways that God Has Shown His Love For Us.
We’ve thought about how
- God Showed His Love For Us In The Eternal Past.
- God Showed His Love For Us When He Came To This Earth.
- God Showed His Love For Us When He Died For Our Sins.
- And how God Showed His Love For Us When He Raised From The Dead.
We’ve looked at many Old Testament prophecies and how our Lord fulfilled them one
after the other. And yet, with all the good that Jesus had done and all the
miracles he had performed, almost everyone had now turned against him. Judas, just
as the Scriptures had prophesied some 500 years before, sold our precious Lord for
the paltry sum of only thirty pieces of silver. (Zechariah 11:12-13; Matthew
26:14-15)
I shared with you some of the things that our Lord voluntarily endured as he paid
the horrible price for our sins. (Isaiah 52:14) The tremendous love he had for us
drove him to suffer at the hands of the religious leaders, the government leaders,
and yes, even his own people. Yes, they crucified him and there is no doubt about
it, to die upon "The Old Rugged Cross" was to die the most horrible death that has
ever been devised by sinful men. They placed him in a borrowed tomb, sealed it,
set their watch, and no doubt, the forces of the Devil rejoiced and thought they
were finally rid of this Jesus of Nazareth. But they received the greatest shock
of their lives when three full days and nights later he marched forth in total
victory over sin death hell and the grave!
Why did he suffer all these horrible things?
Why would he allow ungodly sinners to beat him, to nail him to an "Old Rugged
Cross", to mock him, and to treat him in so many horrible ways?
Why would he die for sinners like you and me?
Why would he die for sinners like us when it seemed that the entire world had
turned against him and wanted nothing to do with him?
I believe Bill Lakey explained it well when he wrote the song "Love Is Why."
I was astray full of sin with its shame,
There was no peace within, I was to blame;
Tho’ undeserving, My life so defiled,
Now to my God I have been reconciled.
Sin stained the Cross with the blood of my Lord;
Yet He permitted it without a word;
Why, tell me why He redeemed you and me?
LOVE IS WHY you and I are free.
Oh yes my friend, God has shown His love for us in so many ways, but let’s think
for the next few minutes about how "God Shows His Love For Us When He Saves Us."
What was the real purpose for which Jesus would willingly give his life on the
cross of Calvary, lie in the grave for three days and three nights, and then rise
triumphantly over death hell and the grave? Let’s ask the Lord to show us the
answer to this question as we read some verses that the Holy Spirit inspired Paul
to write in Romans 10:8-11 "But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy
mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation." Verse 13 "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved." Verse 17 "So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of
God."
Paul pointed out many things as he wrote here to the Lord’s church in the city of
Rome. He talked about faith, preaching, confessing, believing, calling, the
gospel, and the word of God. Certainly we couldn’t even begin to cover all these
truths in one service, but they will be included in our thoughts today.
One thing we can easily see is that a person can never know the Lord Jesus Christ
as their own personal Lord and Saviour, unless they somehow learn about him, and
can then put their faith in him.
But how can we learn about him?
Paul tells us in these verses that "faith comes by hearing the word of God." He
also tells us that if anyone will call upon the Lord, in other words, if we put
our faith and trust in him, we shall be instantly saved. The bible is literally
filled with passages teaching us how we can be in the right relationship with God,
have eternal life, and live with him eternally. When Jesus taught about us being
in the right relationship with him, he used many simple illustrations. He tells us
that being saved, or receiving eternal salvation, is like walking through a door,
or like believing the truth, or like receiving new life. The Apostle John told us
it was like believing a faithful witness. And Paul tells us in verse 13 of our
text "for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
(Romans 10:13)
So I would invite you to keep your Bible open and follow along with me as we
consider how "God Shows His Love For Us When He Saves Us."
The first thing that we see is that the Lord offers His salvation to everyone. We
see that in the word "whosoever", simply because that’s what the word means -
everyone. The word whosoever means the Jews as well as the Gentiles because there
are no national restrictions with God. He loves each and every person that will
ever will live upon this earth. Thank God we have many different nationalities
and heritages in our church. The Lord doesn’t place any national or material
restrictions upon on the salvation he gives us, because the ground is always level
at the foot of the cross. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be presented
to the rich, the poor, the young, and the old, because it is, as Paul tells us in
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
Oh dear friends, all of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God:
- from the king on the throne to the murderer in the execution chamber.
- from the queen in the palace to the homeless woman on the street.
- from the philosopher in the university to the pauper that has no place to lay
his head.
To all of us, the Holy Sprit had Paul write "all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God." You see, God’s eternal plan of salvation is for the child that is
old enough to understand the simple truths of God’s word. It’s for the
underprivileged that roam the streets of our city trying to survive. It’s for
those who live in the deepest jungles of the world who have never once heard the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s for the most refined and the most educated
person who has ever walked the face of this earth. Just as there are no national
restrictions and no material restrictions, neither are there any mental
restrictions. To put it simply, anyone who will call upon the Lord can be saved.
Then, there are no moral restrictions. The eternal God of the heavens has devised
a plan so that regardless of how dark and horrible people’s sins may be, He is
abundantly able to save them to the uttermost. The Lord’s cry is still the same as
it was in Isaiah’s day when he had that great prophet to cry out to his people in
Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like
crimson, they shall be as wool." There is no sin that is so ingrained within a
soul and no habit that is so embedded in a person’s conduct, that the Lord can’t
forgive and take it away. And praise God, the Devil has no power upon a person
that the eternal God of heaven can’t break, if we will only look to and trust him.
Hell has no claim upon us that the precious blood of Jesus Christ God’s Son can’t
redeem and the law has no unpaid bill against us that Jesus hasn’t already paid.
So, we should thank God today that there are no national restrictions, no material
restrictions, no mental restrictions, and no age or gender restrictions. That’s
the wonderful thing about the salvation that God offers us. It sounds forth like
the blast of a mighty trumpet and echoes like thunder in a giant canyon for the
whole world to hear "for whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be saved."
Not only does the Lord offer his salvation to everyone, but the condition Of the
Lord’s salvation is the same to everyone. The Lord makes the condition very clear,
very simple, very definite, and very easy for us to understand. He is teaching us
that our opinions, our theories, the church that we may belong to, the ordinances
that we practice, and the good works that we may do, are simply not enough to
bring us into a right relationship with him.
Notice that verse with me again, "whosoever shall call upon the Lord shall be
saved."
What does it mean to call upon the Lord?
What does it involve to call upon the Lord?
How must a person call upon him?
First of all, there is the call to repentance. There were a lot of self-righteous
people that came to Jesus in his day trying to justify themselves by something
they were doing, thinking it would guarantee them a place in heaven when they
died. So Jesus gave them a parable in Luke 18:9-14 "And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:
Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a
publican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that
I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess. And the
publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you,
this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one
that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be
exalted."
Jesus was telling his listeners that there were certain people that trusted in
themselves and believed that they were righteous in the sight of God because
- They were honest and just in their business dealings.
- They were not adulterers.
- They fasted twice a week.
- They gave a 10% tithe of everything they possessed and besides that they also
gave other offerings to the Lord.
- They could thank God that they were not like this publican that collected the
Jewish people’s money and passed some of it along to the Roman government.
With all the credentials that this Pharisee had, he thought that, because he lived
a good moral life in the eyes of the world, surely what he was doing was also
right in the sight of the Lord. But Jesus pointed out that this publican, this tax
collector, realized as he came to the court of the temple, that he had sinned
against God. He didn’t try to make some great showing so everyone would see him,
but he stood a great way off. In fact he wouldn’t even lift up his eyes toward
heaven, but smote upon his breast and prayed that God would have mercy upon him as
a sinner. Let’s look again at what Jesus said in Luke 18:14 "I tell you, this man
went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that
exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."
If people are ever going to be truly saved and enjoy the right relationship with
the Lord, they must ask his forgiveness for their sins, believe his precious
promises, and ask him to save them. Paul tells us in Romans 10:9-13 "That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that
God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man
believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto
salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved."
This publican, ashamed of the sins he had committed against the Lord, called out,
believing that he would forgive him of his sins, and guess what? God did forgive
him!
For you see, not only must there be a call of repentance and faith, but there must
also be the call of confession. When the thief on the cross cried out to Jesus
"Lord be merciful to me a sinner." He was confessing his sins and trusting him as
his Lord and Saviour. And without a doubt, he believed Jesus when he told him in
Luke 23:43 "To day shalt thou be with me in paradise." When Saul was struck down
on the Damascus road and was blinded by the light that shown from heaven, his
first words in Acts 9:6 were "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" This man Saul
is the same one that told us in the verses that we read earlier in Romans 10:9-10
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." The Lord made it very plain in these verses that if any person
will call upon him by repenting of his sins, placing his faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ as his Lord and Saviour, and confessing him before men, he shall be saved.
To this point we’ve thought about how the Lord offers his salvation to everyone
and how the condition of the Lord’s salvation is the same to everyone. So let’s
think about this third thing - The Lord’s promise of salvation.
Could I tell you today that of some 30,000 promises that the Lord has made in his
word, he has never broken a one of them, as long as we meet the conditions of the
promise. We can depend up God’s promises, we can step out on God’s promises, we
can build our lives upon God’s promises, and Praise God, we can stake the welfare
of our eternal souls upon the promise of salvation that he has given us, if we are
willing to meet his conditions.
Moses wrote in Numbers 23:19 "God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the
son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? Or hath
he spoken, and shall he not make it good?" Friends, today God’s promise is his
100% ironclad guarantee when he says "Whosoever shall call upon the name of the
Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
Not only are his promises supported by his absolute, unchangeable, everlasting
word, but they are also supported by the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, cried out that day from his pulpit on
the cross "It is finished", he had paid the full debt that was held against us by
both the law of God and by sin itself. How then could he ignore anyone that he has
created and brought into this world if they cried out to him repenting of their
sins, putting their trust in him to save them, and confessing him as their Lord
and Saviour? The simple answer to that question is that he will not!
This is the hope of anyone that realizes that he has sinned against the Lord. This
is the path that leads to the old rugged cross that the very Son of God hung upon
and gave his life for sinners like you and me. This is the path that winds it way
past the garden tomb where he lay for three days and three nights, but burst forth
in victory on that resurrection morning. It is also the unshakable promise of God
in which we can put our faith with absolute confidence that it will lead us all
the way to our eternal home in heaven where we shall forever be with the Lord.
The Bible makes this promise over and over again. Listen to the words of that
verse in John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life." Again let me read where Jesus said in John 5:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto
you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting
life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
The Lord offers his salvation to everyone. The condition of the Lord’s salvation
is the same to everyone. The Lord’s promise of salvation is for everyone.
Dear friend, if you have never called upon the Lord and trusted him as your only
Lord and Saviour, why not call upon him today? "For whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13)
What greater way could God show his love for us than to:
- die for us on the cross of Calvary
- forgive us of our sins
- give us eternal life
- let us live with him through all eternity
- reunite us with our loved ones that have already crossed over into his presence
And what greater way could God show his love for us than to take old sinners like
you and me, and spare us from all the horrible things that are going to happen one
day. But rather that me just telling you about them, let me read it to you where
the Lord had John write in the Book of Revelation in Revelation 20:10-15 "And the
devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and
ever. And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the
sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire."
Oh beloved, this will be a horrible time because our lost friends and relatives,
and every other person who has never trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their very
own personal Lord and Saviour, will be cast like a ball into this eternal lake of
fire to suffer and be tormented throughout all eternity. But praise God, none of
us really have to go to this horrible place. All we have to do is to repent of our
sins and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as our very own personal Lord and Saviour.
Jesus is our ticket to heaven, my friend, and once he forgives our sins they are
forgiven forever. We are exempt from suffering in an eternal lake of fire and
brimstone. (Read about this place in Revelation 21:8.)
Yes, it comes done to simply this. God has shown his love for us in so many ways
and he wants to show his love to each of us by giving us eternal life. But while
God is a loving God, he will never force anyone to receive his precious Son as
their Lord and Saviour.
What will be your choice today? Will you reject his love and trample under your
feet the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ? Or will you repent of your sins,
receive him as your very own personal Lord and Saviour, and let him give you
everlasting life?
Of all the wonderful ways that "God Has Shown His Love Toward Us", I believe we
would have to say that it is the most wonderful thing in all the world when "God
Shows His Love For Us When He Saves Us".
Have you received his wonderful love gift of salvation? If not will you receive it
today?
Copyright © 2004 by Dr. Kennith Atkison
This material is provided for personal study or for use in preparation of sermons,
Sunday school classes, or other oral communication. This material may be quoted in
written form with appropriate credit and may be copied or reprinted for distribution
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It may not be reprinted for commercial publication.
