Savior

It’s good to be with you again at the beginning of a new week sharing with you Keys to Successful Living that God has placed in my hand through many years of personal experience and Christian ministry.

This week I’m going to continue with my special Christmas theme from last week: Titles of Jesus.

But first, let me say thank you to those of you who’ve been writing to me. Before I finish this talk, we’ll be giving you a mailing address to which you may write. It encourages me greatly to her how this radio ministry of mine has been helping you and blessing you. So please take time to write to me—even if it’s only a brief note.

Now, back to our Christmas theme. It’s my sincere desire for each one of you, my listeners, that this Christmas seson may be truly blessed—and furthermore that its blessings may not prove transient. However, to receive the true and abiding blessings of Christmas one thing is essential: That we keep Christ at the center of Christmas. Without Christ, Christmas loses any real or permanent significance.

It is to help you do this that I’ve chosen my theme: Titles of Jesus.

Scripture gives many wonderful titles to Jesus. Each one tells us something special and important about Jesus Himself. Out of the many titles given to Jesus, I’ve chosen certain ones to share with you which I believe will specially bless you at this Christmas Season.

In my talks last week I spoke about five main titles of Jesus. They were as follows:

• Wonderful counselor
• Prince of peace
• The word of God
• The lamb of God
• The lion of the tribe of Judah

The title that I’m going to speak about today is perhaps the simplist and yet the most wonderful. It is Savior.

This title, of course, was given to Jesus by revelation through an angel to Joseph, the husband of Mary, when Mary was not yet married but was his espoused wife. This is what the angel said, “She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name of Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.” So that indicates, which we know also from language study, that the name Jesus means Savior. It’s important to see that this name was given by God Himself directly through the angel and it was given before birth. It was the revelation of why God sent Jesus. He sent Him to save His people from their sins.

In Hebrew the name Jesus is Yeshua which is another form of a name familiar from the Old Testament, Yehoshua which is what we use or call Joshua.

And that name, Yeshua, or Yehoshua means salvation of the Lord.

It’s interesting to glance for a moment at the role of Joshua in the Old Testament. God brought Israel out of Egypt under their great leader, Moses. But Moses was not able to bring Israel into the Promised Land. It required the rising up of a new leader, Joshua, whose name means salvation. And there, I think, is a picture of what Jesus does for us in the new covenant. He is the leader who alone can bring us into the land of God’s promises, the land of salvation.

It’s very important to see, in the giving of this name and its application that salvation is in a person. It’s not merely in religion or commandments or rituals. All those may be good, but in themselves they’re insufficient to provide salvation. Salvation takes a person. This is brought out again later in the story of the baby Jesus. In Luke, chapter 2, verse 30, when his parents took him to the temple to offer the appropriate sacrifices that were required by the law, the old man, Simeon, directed by the Holy Spirit, took up the infant Jesus in his arms and he prayed a beautiful prayer in which he said to God these words: “For my eyes have seen your salvation.” What was your salvation? It was just that little infant in his arms. But in that little infant, in that person, Jesus was God’s salvation.

Later, in the public ministry of Jesus, there came a time when he invited himself to the house of a tax collector named Zacchaeus. Everybody thought that Zacchaeus wasn’t good enough to have Jesus come to his house and they began to murmur. But after Jesus had entered the house, He said to Zacchaeus, in Luke, chapter 19, verses 9 and 10:

“Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (NIV)

How did salvation come to the house of Zacchaeus? Salvation came in the person of Jesus. When Jesus came into that house welcomed and received by Zacchaeus, then salvation entered the house. God’s salvation is not just in law or religion; it’s in a person and we have to know the person to know salvation.

Actually, the same principle is already indicated prophetically in the Old Testament. For instance, in Psalm 35, there’s a Prayer of David which is quite remarkable. David was under much oppression, he had many enemies, his life was in danger and in Psalm 35, verses 1 and 3 he prayed these words:

“Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. [Then he goes on] Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” (NASB)

That’s a remarkable prayer. He didn’t just say, “Save me.” He said, “Present yourself to me as my salvation.” And I believe that God recorded that prayer of David and just about a thousand years later He answered it when He sent Jesus. “Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” I want to tell you that less than God is not enough for salvation.

And again, it is prophetically foreshown also in Isaiah, chapter l2, verses 1 and 2:

“Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord; for although Thou was angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou dost comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.’” (NASB)

See, the same principle again. This represents God’s person or God’s child or the people of God as under the anger of God and then God’s anger is turned away and he comforts them. And at that revelation, their explanation is, God has become my salvation. Just bear that in mind, dear friend, that anything less than God Himself is not sufficient for salvation but God has provided salvation in the person of Jesus.

To understand the full scope of the salvation that God has provided for us in Jesus, we need to look at the meaning of a particular verb that’s used many times in the New Testament. In the Greek language, the verb is sozo. It’s normally translated, “to save,” but it’s also translated many other ways. And if you don’t have access to the original Greek, there might be many times that this word, sozo, “to save,” is used, you wouldn’t recognize it because it’s translated “to heal,” “to cure,” and so on, but everytime it’s used it means this is a part of what God has provided in Jesus the Savior. This is the great, all-inclusive salvation which Jesus brings.

For instance, it’s used of the healing of an incurable disease. A woman, who had hemorrhage, or an issue of blood that could not be cured medically and she came behind Jesus in the crowd and in faith she touched the border of his robe and she was healed. And then Jesus identified her. In Matthew 9:22:

“Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed from that moment.” (NIV)

That Greek word there is saved, your faith has saved you. It wasn’t just the salvation of her soul but it was the healing of her body.

And then, that same word is used for deliverance from mental illness and demon oppression. In Luke 8 we read about a demoniac who had a legion of demons but he came to Jesus and Jesus drove out the demons and healed the demoniac. And this is the end of the story in Luke 8:35–36:

“The people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-posssessed man had been cured.” (NIV)

But the Greek word is saved, so, deliverance from mental sickness and demon oppression is all part of the salvation that’s in Jesus.

And, it’s also used about someone being brought back from death. Jesus went to the house of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, and his daughter had just died. But Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid; just believe that she will be healed,” but the Greek word is, she will be saved. And then, Paul uses it, speaking of his confidence in God’s power to keep him through to the end of his life. He says in 2 Timothy 4:18: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom.” “Bring me safely” in Greek is “will save me.” So, it’s the ongoing preservation of God as well. You see, salvation is God’s total provision for every need of humanity in time and eternity.

God wrapped it all up in one Christmas gift and the name on the parcel is Jesus. Furthermore friends, remember this, God hung His gift on a tree, not a Christmas tree, but a cross.

Well our time is up for today but I’ll be back with you again tomorrow at this time. Tomorrow I’ll be speaking about another wonderful title of Jesus.