GOD'S SAVING PLAN

"For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost." - Matthew 18:11

There is a striking difference between the Old and New Testaments.  The Old Testament revealed man's fall and the tragic fallout of that sin.  The law was given to show man the nature of his condition and the consequences of his transgressions.  The Old Testament shows us that God is holy & righteous.  He is not One that overlooks sin.  He takes sin seriously ... and He expects mankind to do the same.  Much of the Old Testament focuses on God's dealings with the people of Israel.  He chose Israel to be the apple of His eye.  His interaction with Israel reveals His love for them.  Yet His love for them did not give them immunity from His justice when they rebelled against Him.  The Old Testament closes with prophetic books that pronounce judgment upon people because of their sinful disobedience.

The New Testament unfolds with God bringing hope to lost mankind --- not just to Israel, but hope for all of us.  God demonstrated His love in the most tangible way possible ... He became a man and walked among us.  The Old Testament reveals man's ugly sinful nature.  The New Testament gives us the answer for man's hopeless condition.  God used the Old Testament to give us the diagnosis of our condition.  He gave us the New Testament to show us the remedy.

God did not give us a New Testament because the Old Testament was bad.  The Old Testament is inspired Scripture just like the New Testament.  The God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament.  Just as the first act of a play leads an audience to anticipate and appreciate future acts, the Old Testament repeatedly points forward to a future awesome event that was revealed in the New Testament.  We appreciate the New Testament much more as we understand the nature of man's sin that was revealed in the Old Testament.

The Old Testament is primarily about man's need for a savior.  The New Testament reveals God's provision of that Savior in the person of Jesus Christ. 

While it is true that Jesus performed miracles, cared for people and taught powerfully, the real purpose for His coming is summarized in His own statement in Matthew 18:11, "For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost."

Jesus came with a purpose in mind ... to save lost people.  Look closely at a few facts that Jesus revealed to us.

First of all, Jesus refers to Himself in the third person as, "the Son of man."  In this reference, He reveals to us the miracle of the incarnation.  Jesus was God and man.  Some deny His humanity.  There are many who say that Jesus never lived.  Of course, this is a denial of history.  Jesus did live as a man.  This is a historical fact.  Others deny His deity.  Even some religious people object to His deity.  They believe He was a man, maybe even the Son of God, but they reject the fact that He was God in the flesh.  However, Jesus was BOTH man and God.  He was not 50% man and 50% God.  He was 100% man and 100% God.  He declared Himself to be "the Son of man." 

Jesus came to save the lost, but how could this be done?  Since God is just, He must punish the guilty.  The Old Testament gives us full evidence of man's guilt.  As the Apostle Paul wrote, "The law entered that the offence might abound."  A good judge must punish the guilty ... so how could we be saved from the penalty that we deserve?  Jesus is the answer.  He came and lived a perfect life & died upon a cross to save us from our sins.  He had to be 100% man in order to be a proper substitute on the cross.  He had to be 100% God in order to live the perfect life and purchase salvation.  You see, only God has the power to save.  If He were not God, Jesus could not save anyone.  He was the High Priest who offered up the perfect sacrifice (Himself), for us.  This was a once-for-all sacrifice that was acceptable to the Father.  When Jesus died upon the cross, the veil of the temple tore in two.  The veil had been placed in the temple to keep men out of the sacred meeting place with God.  Through His death upon the cross, Jesus opened that curtain to allow sinners like you & me to enter in and enjoy sweet fellowship with the Father.   

Next, notice that He came to "save that which was lost."  Jesus did not come to make self-righteous people feel better.  Neither did He come to enrich your bank account.  He came to save the lost.  The reason most people remain lost is that they do not see a need for salvation.  They utterly resist and reject the truth that they are sinfully depraved and hopelessly lost.  Their rejection of this truth keeps them from receiving the Good News of the Gospel.  The reason that I have a problem with self-motivational "sermons" is that they lack the convicting power of the Holy Spirit.  Before a sinner can be saved, he must realize his enormous guilt and hopeless condition.  The Spirit of God uses the Word of God to convict the sinner.  When a sinner realizes his condition, then the Gospel begins to make sense.  The sinner can then understand why Jesus came to die for him.  Through Jesus, the sinner can experience forgiveness of sins and eternal life.

First responders are trained to save lives.  All they can do, however, is save a person from physical death.  Only Jesus can save us from the second death in a lake of fire.  Only Jesus can save the lost from the penalty they richly deserve. 

By his own choice, mankind is on the road to destruction.  Jesus came to save those who will believe on Him.  This could only be accomplished through His sacrificial death upon the cross.  That is God's saving plan.

Have you been saved?