Salvation - Part Three

SALVATION - Part Three

 

Salvation includes:

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Object Lesson: A kaleidoscope can be found in many 5 and 10 cent stores.

Did you ever see a kaleidoscope? It is a little instrument into which you look, and see beautiful figures. Then you turn it and the shapes of the figures change. You can never see the same thing in it twice, turn and twist it as you may.

 

Our salvation is something like the kaleidoscope, for it is different every time you look at it. No matter how long you may be saved, you can never find out all the riches that God has for us in salvation.

 

The first is forgiveness. We know that we have all sinned. God says, All have sinned.” So you see we need forgiveness and that is why the Lord Jesus died on the cross. That was the only way our sins could be forgiven. It is by His blood that we are redeemed (Ephesians 1:7). The Lord Jesus saw faith in the heart of a very bad woman, and He forgave all her sins (Luke 7:48). He can forgive ours, too.

 

Another part of salvation is regeneration. That is a long word, but it means to be born again. To Nicodemus, a good man and a wise man, Jesus said, You must be born again(John 3:5-7). Everyone needs to be born again not to become a little baby again but to receive a new life from God. God cannot do anything with our old sinful life. He does not try to patch it. He gives us a new one.

 

It would be terrible, wouldn't it, to be saved today, and lost tomorrow? We could never be happy if that were the case. But it is not. When we have been born again by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, the new life that He gives us is not just life that will last for a day, or a week, or a year, or until we sin again, but life that will last forever, just as long as God is. It is called eternal life (Hebrews 5:9; John 3:16).

 

We have learned that those who do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ have Satan for their father. Those who are saved change their family right away. They become God's children (John 1:12; Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:2).

 

This means that we do not have to be afraid of God any more. He is our own Father, and He loves us more than we can imagine. We can trust Him to take care of us, and can come to Him with our troubles.

 

Since God is our Father, He has promised to keep us. He is not going to shut us out of Heaven at last. Satan can never get us back into his family again, for God Himself has promised to keep us safe.

 

Sometimes we wish that we could have been here when the Lord Jesus was on earth. It would have been wonderful to have seen Him; to have watched Him heal a deaf or a blind man; to have seen Lazarus come out of the grave, or to have been there by the seaside and have eaten some of the food that he made for the five thousand people from the five loaves and two fishes. But there is something more wonderful for us today. When the day was over, the five thousand people had to go home. They could not stay with Jesus for ever. But, so that we would not be lonely, when the Lord Jesus went back to Heaven, He sent the Holy Spirit to live in our hearts, if we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is always with us, and He gives us power and joy, and peace, and all good things, and tells us about the Lord Jesus (John 14:17; l Corinthians 6:19). And there are better things saved up for us in Heaven. There we shall be with the Lord Jesus in the place He has prepared for us (John 14:1-2). Can you imagine what it will be to see Jesus for the first time? That will be glorious. We shall be with Him for ever and shall share His glory in Heaven (John 17:24; Romans 8:30).

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STUDY QUESTIONS

• Why does our outlook on salvation always change?
• Why is it "more wonderful" to be a Christian today?
• What does it mean we will "share in His glory"?