Jesus, Our Savior

Our focus today is on the message the Angel of the Lord gave to the shepherds in the field. That message is recorded in Luke 2:11, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." We are going to look at the phrase, "Unto you" and the name "Savior" in order to understand the message as it applied to the Shepherds and to us today.

The phrase "unto us" means it is a personal message. Therefore, each of us should not think of this as a general message but as one specifically meant for each one of us.

The name "Savior" is one that we need to study. In the New Testament the name Savior means "an agent sent by God to bring deliverance." Base on this definition, we all need a savior and we also need to understand what we need to be saved from.

First of all, let us consider why we need a savior. Romans 3:10-11 explains that all who are without Jesus are not righteous, we do not understand God and we do not seek after Him. Ephesians 2:1 we are told that we are "dead in the trespasses and sins." This refers to the spiritual condition we are in without Jesus Christ as our Savior.

The next issue to consider is, "What do we need to be saved from?" John 3:36 tells us that the wrath of God abides on everyone who is not a Believer. This means anyone without Christ as their Savior has God's wrath on them all the time. Romans 1:18 instructs us that the wrath of God in going to be revealed against all ungodliness.

As we reflect on these four passages of Scripture, those without Jesus as their Savior has no hope of escaping God's condemnation an wrath. Since we are spiritually dead in sins that means we are unable to accomplish anything that would remove the sin and the wrath of God from ourselves.

Now let us look at what it means to have Jesus as our Savior. As soon as man fell into sin God promised to send a Savior, Genesis 3:15. This promise is given to God's people again in Isaiah 53:6. When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming to him for Baptism, John referred to Him as the "Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world, John 1:29. We see in this passage that when God makes a promise to us He fulfills that promise.

There is a cost to the deliverance the Savior provides for us. In Matthew 27:46 as Jesus was on the cross He endured and satisfied God's wrath on our behalf. Jesus took the punishment we should have taken for our own sin.

The final aspect of Jesus being our Savior is, "How long does our salvation last?" Jesus tells us in John 10:27-30 that our deliverance and salvation is good for eternity. Not only does God provides spiritual life and freedom from sin but it will last forever!

What each of us need to do now is to determine our spiritual condition based on the truth of Scripture. 1 John 5:12 tells us that whoever is a Believer has eternal life but whoever is not a Believer does not have life. Removing all our good works and church membership, what do you have left? The only way to have freedom from sin and eternal life is to trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation. Not one single good work will cause us to be forgiven of our sin. It is all by God's grace, Ephesians 2:8-10.

We need Jesus to be our Savior for there is no other. If Jesus is not your Savior then you need to confess your sin to Him and ask Him to forgive you. And Jesus will forgive you, 1 John 1:9.