Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread":
People around the world are asking questions: what is the rock-bottom truth of what Jesus Christ accomplished when He died on His cross? Two ideas are in conflict: (1) Did He make a provision whereby it might be possible for “all men” to be saved if they take the initiative to do everything right, that is, keep all God’s commandments? Or, (2) did Jesus actually save “all men” by His sacrifice on His cross? An accomplished deed.
Ordinary people are in perplexity; so also theologians. Is there a clear answer?
1. John 3:16: the Father so loved the world, including all its bad people, that He GAVE His only Son. The giving was done, finished, accomplished, total, eternal. He was given to “all men” (Rom. 5:15-18).
2. Just before He died, the Son told the Father that He had “finished the work” the Father had given Him to do: what work?
3. “Save the world”! (cf. John 17:4).
4. The Samaritans understood before the disciples did: He is “the Savior of the world” (John 4:42).
5. But how can the Bible say He is “the Savior of the world” when the world is largely still in rebellion against God?
6. Romans 5 has an answer: as our fallen father Adam brought upon all his descendants a “judicial ... verdict of condemnation,” so Jesus Christ as the second or “last Adam” brought upon the world a “judicial ... verdict of acquittal “ (Rom. 5:15-18, NEB). He actually reversed what the first Adam had done to us all!
7. This means that because of His “much more abounding grace” (vs. 20) the Father can treat every man, including all sinners, as though they have never sinned, sending His rain and sunshine upon good and bad alike (cf. Matt. 5:45).
8. Now if the sinner sees and believes what Jesus Christ has done for him, he will cease the process of “self-perishing” that he has done all his life (read John 3:16 carefully: the “perish” is in the voice of the Greek verb that gives that insight; the Father eventually gives each one of us what we want).
9. The initiative to save was taken entirely by Christ, the Good Shepherd; there is no parable of a lost sheep that must look for its shepherd.
10. We sinners are like a woman loved initially by a man; he did the seeking, for her. Then she responds to his initiating love: that’s the church making herself ready for “the marriage of the Lamb” (Rev. 19:7, 8). The love process begins with Christ.
11. So, from beginning to end, Christ alone is our Savior; in no way do we save ourselves; every tongue in eternity will sing His praises—because the redeemed will at last appreciate that Christ died the second death of “every man” (Heb. 2:9).
12. Maybe more tomorrow, the Lord willing.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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