-That’s it. That’s the Good News, and that’s about as concise as it gets, right there. If you can get your heart around that statement right there and embrace it, then you and I have something in common. That’s our starting point, our common creed. It’s just twelve words in the Greek, twelve words is all it takes (altho translating into English requires fifteen words). This word, these twelve Greek words together make a statement which is completely true - we can totally stake our life and reputation on it (Paul did) - and it is deserving of universal acceptance. It can and should be believed and trusted by all, by any and all who have and ever lived on this planet. This is our confession, our declaration - of dependence! But on Who?
-CHRIST JESUS, that’s the who. No one else, there is no other name given under heaven by which we can be saved, rescued. There is no other way to (successfully) approach God, no one else who has opened up the route to the summit of that heavenly mountain. But we don’t merely follow His path - He IS the path. He’s not the sherpa - He’s the hot air balloon! We ascend in Him. And He is the summit. All and whatever we are trying to attain in our climb to heaven is found in Him. We climb in Him, ascend towards the heights in Him, and when we reach the top, we find - Him. But He didn’t just sit there waiting for us...
-He CAME. Down to earth. In the flesh. The Word Who was in the beginning with God and Who IS God came to earth and became flesh. He dwelt among us (John 1.14). Became one of us. Again, part of the core confession of the Christian faith (cf 1John 4.2, 1John 1.2). And He came INTO THE WORLD. Not just for a brief visit. Not just some quarterly site visit to check up on us. No, He became Emmanuel, God with us. One of us, with us.
-And He came TO SAVE. This was indeed a rescue mission, the mother of all rescues. The stakes could have been no higher, because the rescue involved paying a kingly ransom - the King gave up His life for ours - and the scope of the mission included every person on earth. He came to rescue SINNERS, which includes everyone. Every man, woman, and child on planet earth. No one is excepted, because all we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3.23), and the wages of sin is death. We are all in harm’s way, deadly peril. And Jesus swoops in and lowers the lifeline to every person, and the question is whether or not you will grab onto it.
-Paul grabbed it. Grabbing it involves recognizing Who is holding the rope, and admitting that you need it. Paul puts his hand right up, and says, yup, that’s me. That’s what I am. I am one of them. Yes, I have sinned. I am not perfect, no way, far from it in fact. And Paul as he is wont to do is ready to surpass us all - he says, OF WHICH I MYSELF AM FIRST. In other words, I am worst. First of the worst. THE worst sinner on the planet. Spiritually speaking, I stink to high heaven. I am the worst scumbag there is. Paul puts the extra personal pronoun last. For emphasis. Emphasizing me. My bad. Two chest pats. That’s right - I’m speaking for myself, and I own this. And here it’s not really about degrees of actuality, it’s about attitude. It’s a heart which says, I am lost, and there is no way on God’s green earth that I am getting into heaven without outside assistance. Without Jesus. He is the One. He is the Way. We grab onto Him. And this then is our oh-so-simple core confession - Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and that’s me. He came to rescue me, ‘cuz I need to be rescued. Jesus came to save me. Do I believe this? Have I grabbed onto Him? It’s so very simple - but maybe not easy...
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