The True Meaning Salvation

We really need to get the true picture of what salvation is, and what exactly Jesus did for us.
To understand the misconception that many folks have, let’s look at an example illustration that many have used to explain salvation to people.
May liken the salvation that Jesus gave us to a man who was drowning in a sea, and then Jesus pulled him out. In this illustration Jesus is the ‘helper’ or ‘hero’ who rescued the man out of the sea and prevented him from drowning. To see Jesus as a rescuer in this manner alone is erroneous and does not give you the ‘real’ picture. Let us use the same illustration of the drowning man to establish the ‘true’ picture of the salvation that Jesus gave us.
In the case of the drowning man, we have to understand the circumstances surrounding his situation. This man was condemned to die in the sea. Let us suppose he had done something wrong and was condemned to die by drowning. So here is a man who had done something terribly wrong and was sentenced to die by drowning in the sea.
But just before he is thrown into the sea, Jesus comes and says, “Wait!! Free this man!! I will take his place and die for him. Free him, and throw me into the sea! You can let him go and I will be punished in his stead”
See that? That’s the ‘true’ picture of salvation. Jesus didn’t just ‘help’ us or ‘rescue’ us. Jesus actually took our place, and was put in our place. We ought to have died. We were all condemned to die. We were destined to suffer and to die for our sins. BUT, Jesus came and took our place. He died in our place, and was tormented in our place, and He paid the price for our sins. When you UNDERSTAND the price that was paid for you, you will understand the value of your salvation.
No! Think about it! You were supposed to die. You were condemned to die. But Jesus offered His life for yours. He identified Himself with sinners so that the sinners could be declared righteous. The bible says,

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” – 2 Corinthians 5:21.

So Jesus became us. He was made sin. He became us, with the very nature of sin that was in us. When he took our place, he sacrificed His freedom in exchange for our bondage.

Ee-yaah! Can somebody see this?

When Jesus was made ‘sin’ and took on the nature of sin in my place, God credited righteousness to my account. In other words, when Jesus was made sin, I was made righteous. When Jesus died in my place, I was given His life. There was an exchange!!!

But there are those who condemn themselves, and feel unworthy of salvation, those who think that salvation is for Christians and for the good boys and good girls. Listen! Jesus died for everybody. Jesus didn’t die for the righteous, he died for the sinners. He exchanged his righteousness and goodness for your sins, and said to God, “Father! Let them go. Let that man go. Let that woman go. I’ll die in his place. I’ll die in her place. ”

In addition, salvation is not our idea. None of us in our so-called wisdom could think of a plan to save ourselves or mankind from sin and death. We were not intelligent enough to think of a salvation plan. Salvation is God’s idea not ours. So I don’t understand those folks who try to exclude themselves from salvation. It was God who loved us and not us who loved God. It was He who loved us enough to send his Son to die for us.

The Wonderful Name Of Jesus

Suppose, while you are driving to work one day, you are stopped by a traffic policeman for over speeding or some other traffic offense. When the policeman comes to you, and no matter how much you may want to take advantage of him or resist, if he says to you, “… by the authority of the Chief Commissioner of Police I command you to stop” you will stop. Or if a man comes to you while you are walking in town and says, “The PRESIDENT of Zimbabwe has sent me to tell you to … blah blah.” you will surely do it.

Why? Because the traffic cop, or the man in the street, as long as he is using a ‘name’ vested with authority by the higher powers, you are bound to listen to him. No matter how you may want to resist, you have to respect him for the authority that he represents. Note something important here. The traffic policeman, in his own name, or the street man, in his own name cannot force you to do anything. As long as he comes to you in his own name, or in his personal capacity he can never force you to do anything. But when he represents a higher authority, say a president, or a high government authority you are bound to listen to his instruction.

It reminds me of the biblical story of the lame man, who was laid at the temple gate called beautiful to beg for money from men (Acts 3:2). The bible records that one day he tried begging for money from Peter and John (the apostles of Jesus Christ) while they were going to the temple. And Peter replied to him and said,

“Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk” – Acts 3:6

See that? Peter used the NAME of JESUS to heal the man of his lameness. Note something very interesting here. In the man’s own name he could not walk, in his father’s name or uncle’s name he could not walk. In fact, in Peter’s name he could not walk. If Peter had said, “I command you to walk” in his own stead, it probably wouldn’t have worked. But Peter used the NAME of JESUS, which is a powerful NAME to heal the man.
The bible says about the name of Jesus

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name. That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth…” – Phillipians 2:9,10.

See that? Peter knew that the name of Jesus had authority that’s why he used it to heal the man. The name of Jesus has power, because when you use it, you are representing an authority that has been exalted by God himself. That name can heal the sick, open blind eyes, cats out devils because it has power. Are you a Christian? Is anything wrong in your life? Does it look like things are going hay-wire for you? Are you facing terrible circumstances? Brother! Sister! You should use the NAME of JESUS. It has the power to change about any situation. When you understand the authority vested in the name of Jesus, and you have a revelation of the power that it represents, you’ll never be a victim in life because you know you can use a higher power to turn around any situation.

In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” – John 1:1

I would to God that somebody would get a revelation of the above scripture. The above scripture tells us some very important things about the Word of God. He says, “The Word was in the beginning” and “the Word was NOT only with God, BUT the Word WAS GOD”. The next verse still describes this Word of God.

“All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made” – John 1:3
See that? All things were made by him. ‘All things’ means everything that was created, whether man or beast, or trees, or flowers, all things were made by the Word of God. In other words, the Word has a creative ability to create anything, and to make anything, including changing things around in your life.
But the MOST IMPORTANT attribute of the Word is shown by the following scripture. It reads thus

“In him was life; and the life was the light of men” – John 1:4.

See that? In the Word was LIFE. In the Word was the God kind of life, sometimes referred to as eternal life or everlasting life. And this life, he says, was the light of men. That’s why Jesus said “…he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life” (John8:12). Look at what the bible further says about this Word.

“And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

See that? The Word was made flesh. In other words the Word became flesh and lived as a human being on earth. As you study the bible further you’d discover that this flesh was JESUS . Wow! You see that? The Word which was God, and the Word which created the world, and the Word which he says “in him was life” is JESUS.
Boy oh boy!! In Jesus is life. In Jesus there is the God-kind-of-life. Jesus has eternal life, everlasting life, and the God-kind-of-life.
He already told us that “..and the life was the light of men”. Now do you think when you are in darkness in your life, God is happy? When you are in darkness concerning your health, in darkness concerning your job, in darkness concerning your finances, in darkness concerning your family, or your business? When you walk in confusion, in uncertainty, and you are in the dark about everything in your life do you think that’s the life that God wants for you?

Some people’s lives are full of FEAR, the fear of failure, the fear of death, and the fear of the future.

Brother! Sister! If you are walking in darkness today, if your life looks like it has some darkness to it, then you need JESUS. Jesus said

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. But I am come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly” – John 10:10

Then he also said, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall the light of life” – John 8:12

The Real God, and True God.

“Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you” – Acts 17:22-23

I always find this portion of scripture very interesting, and very profound. To give you a little background on the story, here is how it goes. Paul the apostle was in Athens waiting for Silas and Timotheus. Athens was at that time a part of the Greek kingdom. And we all know that the Greeks, even from days gone by, were men renowned for their earthly wisdom and philosophies. They were the ones responsible for most of the mathematical and scientific discoveries at that time, and even before. Greece is known for scientists like Archimedes, the famous Pythagoras of the mathematical Pythagoras theorem, Aristotle and many others. These are men who influenced the Greek kingdom and culture with their scientific discoveries and philosophical ideas. It is now wonder then, that at the time Paul was at Athens, for him to preach Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the dead, it would have sounded very foolish to these Greek fellows. The following is the biblical account of this predicament

“Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoiks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.” – Acts 17:18 – 20.

I think now you have a pretty good picture of what was going on.
The whole point of this discussion is, we notice that there are a few categories of people mentioned above with the following characteristics:

Those who are superstitious and have belief in the supernatural. These are those who have a belief that somehow life cannot just be plain as it is, and there must be some higher power somewhere governing things.

Those who are worshippers of certain gods

Those who are philosophers and who believe they know everything and can explain everything that happens in life by their logic, and reasoning, and.

Beyond the scriptures, as we mentioned in the history of the Greeks, there are scientists and those that prefer scientific proof and want everything to be explained in terms of what can be proven by mathematical formulas and experimental proof, using scientific methods.

All the people described above have one thing in common. THEY REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE JESUS CHRIST, THE SON OF GOD, AND THE TRUE GOD WHO CREATED ALL THINGS IN EARTH AND IN HEAVEN.
Some people are like that today, even in our own culture. Some try to use reasoning to justify why they don’t believe in God. Some insist on scientific proof and don’t believe in any of these things. These are the scientific kind and the philosophical kind. All they know and believe is what man has proven to them scientifically. What they haven’t proven, they create philosophical reasons of why they don’t believe in God.
And then there those who are the superstitious type. These are those who believe in the supernatural. They believe in a ‘SUPREME BEING’ or a ‘god’ who is ultimately responsible for all things in life. Some have gone searching for this ‘god’ in certain places. Some have found themselves worshipping ‘their gods’ in their bid to be in fellowship by the ‘higher power(s)’.
But in all these things, one thing that I know for sure is that in every man there is a foreknowledge of God. Every man knows deep in his spirit that there is a God. He might not be able to explain it, but there is a part of a man that ‘knows’ there is a CREATOR.
It is that part of man that led the Greeks in Paul’s day to write the inscription ‘TO THE UNKNOWN GOD’. They figured that they might know all gods and all scientific knowledge, but JUST IN CASE they had missed out one of them (perhaps even the most important of them) they wrote a devotion to the UNKNOWN GOD.
However, the bible clearly lets us know that every man ‘knows’ about God, even though no one has preached Jesus to him, or God to him. The bible says

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: ” – Romans 1:19,20

The bible lets us know that God himself has shown himself to all men, through the things that are made, through the things that exist. We can all see the sky, the rainbow, the seas, the great mountains, the great places, the animals, and all that is in the earth. Through the natural things we clearly see the works of God. And so the bible says we have no excuse because that which may be known of God has been shown us.
But then some people said, “We do in believe in God. But we also believe other are other gods to whom we can worship…”. Well, the bible says

“But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” – 1 Corinthians 8:6

Some others said, “Yeah! We believe in one God alright. But we also believe that every man can get to God in his own way. So I can worship him the way I want, I can find my own way to him”.
Well, the bible also says

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” – John 14:6

Note the definite articles in this verse. Jesus didn’t say I am ‘a way’, because many other religious leaders claim to be another way to God. Jesus said I am THE WAY. It’s a definite article. He said THE WAY and not A WAY.
Do not be deceived. False Religion will not get you anywhere. Even the great Buddha, when he was on his deathbed said, ‘I have not yet found the way. But we can find the way together. Let us find the way together’. See that? Even the great Buddha was not so sure about his own gospel.
For today, this is enough…
Don’t hate the messenger. Hate the message…

The God-Kind-Of-Life

Life is not what many people think it is. A close analysis of what life really means will give us an understanding of what we expect from it.
Scientifically, (for those of you who did science in High school), we can classify life into many classes, the primary forms of life being: Plant Life and Animal Life. We further distinguish general animal life and human life. Let’s quickly describe the major attributes of each life form.
Plant life: This is the life that any plant possesses. Plants grow, they reproduce, and they live and die after a season. How long a plant lives is dependent on each type of plant. But there are things that a plant cannot do. A plant cannot think, has limited motion and movements, and cannot reason.
General Animal life: This is the life that all animals possess. Animals can live, smell, hear, eat, move about without boundaries, and can reason, some even have the ability to remember. For example parrots can re-echo what they hear, Cats and dogs remember their owners and where they live. Baboons know where to go and steal the next maize cobs. But they are still limited as compared to human beings.
Human Life: This is the life that we possess. In addition to the general 5 senses of smell, touch, hearing, etc, humans can reason. They have emotions, they are intelligent, and they are inventive. They can read, talk to each other in an intelligent and yet understandable language. They can love, they can hate, they can imagine, and so forth. But this life, though, is still limited in terms of what is actually possible. What limitations are there someone can ask? Well for a start, man can fall sick. Man can suffer, man can be poor, and man can be in all sorts of oppressions. This is because natural human life has no way of overcoming these challenges.
BUT THERE IS ANOTHER KIND OF LIFE!!
This is the life that is superior to sickness, disease, infirmity, and suffering. This life is the kind of life that Jesus always talked about. Every time Jesus talked about life, he was always referring to this kind of life. To understand this life we need to go to its root definition.
When Jesus talked about life, he used a GREEK word called ZOE (Just before anybody says, ‘how do you know?’, understand that the bible was originally written in Greek).
So what is ZOE? Zoe is a God-kind-of-life. That’s the best definition that we find in the Greek definition. Zoe is a God-kind-of-life. This kind of life is unconquerable, it is unbeatable. And Jesus came with this life. Jesus said,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life…” – John 14:6

I said zoe (the God-kind-of-life) is unbeatable. This is the very same life that God himself has!! God has Zoe!! You say how do you know? The bible says so. It says

“For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself” – John 5:26

You see that? ‘For as the Father hath life… ’ The Father (that is God) has ZOE because the Greek word used in that scripture is ZOE. And then look at it again. He says, that life that God has, has also been given to the Son. Wow!! So you say Jesus has this life? Well that’s what the bible is telling us!! Jesus himself said, ‘’I am the way, the truth, and the life”.
I can already hear some skeptic saying, “Well that’s Jesus. Praise God for him, because only he can have this life…”
Listen Brother! Listen Sister!! The bible says

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life (ZOE), and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life (ZOE); and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” – 1 John 5:11.

And so the apostle John cries out and writes

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life (Zoe),…” – 1 John 5:13

He says, if you have Jesus as your Lord and savior, he says you have this life.
So if I have this life how can I be sick? How can I be poor, how can I be defeated, how can I be a failure? Think about it. Could God be sick? Could God be a failure? Could God be poor, could God suffer? It’s impossible because the life that he has is superior to all. And boy oh boy, I have this life in me!! I have Zoe, because I have Jesus.
And so the apostles cry out and say

“Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” – Romans 8:37

“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” – 1 John 4:4

You see that? How could I fail? How could I be sick? How could I be defeated? With this God-kind-of-life how can it be possible?

So why do many Christians suffer, why do they live the human life when deep inside their spirits they have a God-kind-kind-of-life? It’s because they have not accepted the truth. Understand that God’s things, and God’s blessings can only manifest in your life if you accept and believe in them.
And lastly, this kind of life is only gotten by being born again. If you are not born again, you cannot have this life. If you don’t have this life, you will continue to live in the fear of death, in torment of various kinds, because the natural human life is subject to the forces of nature, the forces of evil, and to Satan.
To be born again, you have to confess Jesus as Lord over your life and believe with your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead. If you want to get born again, pray this prayer thus:

“Lord God I believe that you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess Jesus as Lord over my life.”

It is that simple

God bless you.