Let me start with a question. How would you fill in this blank? The greatest thing in the world is ______. I’ll give you a moment of silence to think of your answer. What is the greatest thing in the world? I was listening to a recent sermon from John Piper, and he shared a story from when he was a young pastor decades ago. He visited an old man, a respected member of the congregation, who was in the hospital dying. When you are dying, I guess it has a way of clarifying your thinking about what is important in this world. The man told him, “Pastor John, the greatest thing in the world is to be saved.” Piper said he never forgot those words: the greatest thing in the world is to be saved. Could you agree with that statement? Or have you lost your enthrallment with the truth of salvation?
This is the first sermon in a series entitled “Such a Great Salvation.” The title comes from:
Heb 2:3
How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?
Oftentimes when someone becomes a Jesus follower, Christians say that person is saved. We say something like: I was saved when I was 10 years old. And being saved is the most important thing that could ever happen to a person. When someone is saved, there is a transformational yet invisible transaction that takes place. So: What does it mean to be saved? What happens when someone is saved? It is essential for us to clearly understand this topic.
Ephesians 3:8 [Paul refers to]
…the unsearchable riches of Christ.
The Greek word for “unsearchable” means beyond our understanding or too vast to be measured. So my aim today is to help us understand that which is glorious beyond our understanding: the unsearchable riches of Christ and immeasurable value of the blessings of our salvation.
How can we, as physical beings, understand the invisible realities of the spiritual world? One of the main techniques the Bible uses is analogies to the physical world. This is why Jesus spoke in parables all the time. So today we will be talking about metaphors that are used in scripture to describe our salvation.
It seems like sermons often have three or four points. This one today is very unusual in that it has 22 points, each one being a metaphor that reveals an aspect of our salvation. So we should be finished by 2 this afternoon. Actually, we’ll spend only about one minute on each point. So buckle up your seatbelt, because we are going to move very quickly.
The first metaphor we’ll cover describing our salvation is:
1. Forgiveness
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If you do something to offend me—for example, if you punch me in the face—then I will be angry with you and there will be relational distance between us. For our relationship to be restored, it would be necessary for you to apologize to me and for me to forgive you. All of us have sinned against God, which is why we are relationally separated from Him. For us to be saved, we must confess our sins and be forgiven by God, which will lead to the next metaphor:
2. Reconciliation, peace with God
Romans 5:10
While we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.
If I go back to my earlier example, if there is alienation between you and me because you have offended me, after I forgive you, then we can be reconciled and have peace between us. Scripture describes us as being alienated from God in our natural state, rebelling against His rightful authority in our lives. But when He forgives us for sinning against Him, it leads to reconciliation.
Romans 5:1
Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
After being justified through faith, we have peace with God instead of being alienated from Him. That is good news.
3. Justification
This is a legal metaphor. If I have broken the law, then I am guilty and deserving of punishment. Justification means that a judge declares that I am not guilty, I am innocent. God is the king and judge of the universe, and all of us have broken his law and are deserving of punishment.
Galatians 2:16
We… have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
Many people think that the way to gain God’s approval is by good works. But Paul is making the point that we cannot be justified by our works because no matter how hard we try, we still break God’s laws, so the only way for us to be justified is by faith in Christ. And what is the result of being justified?
Romans 8:1
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
When we are justified before the judge of the universe, we are no longer under cosmic condemnation.
4. Imputed righteousness
This explains how we are justified. To impute means to credit or assign. When we are saved, we are declared righteous, not because of our own merit, but because Christ’s righteousness is imputed or credited to us.
Rom 4:4-5
To the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited [or imputed] as righteousness.
Who gets this imputation, according to this verse? The one who doesn’t work but trusts God. This is the person that stops trying to earn salvation by their good works and trusts in God to justify them.
5. Citizenship in God’s kingdom
Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Col 1:13
[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
Many of you know the experience of living in a foreign land. Even if you love the foreign country you are living in, it doesn’t feel completely like home. You typically still feel more at home in your passport country and plan to move back there someday. In the same way, when we are saved, our citizenship is in heaven rather than here. We feel like strangers and aliens here, longing for our true home. We eagerly await the return of Christ, our true King, when He will establish His kingdom fully on earth, and we will reign with Him forever.
6. Adoption
Romans 8:15, 17
The Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him [the Spirit] we cry, “Abba, Father.”… Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.
Last April Rosslyn Academy performed a musical drama called Annie. In the story, there’s a poor orphan named Annie who is adopted by one of the richest men in the world. As you can imagine, it completely changes her fortunes. We, who are spiritually impoverished, have similarly been adopted by the infinitely rich King of the universe, who wields His omnipotent goodness to bring about our ultimate joy. And that changes everything for us. He promises to care for us as a loving Father in this life and give us an immeasurably great inheritance in the next.
7. Redemption
Titus 2:14
[Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
The Greek work for redeem means to liberate by payment of ransom. Jesus paid for our sin, so we are liberated from our bondage. What are we in bondage to? Paul, in His letter to Titus, says God redeems us from all wickedness, so that we are not just forgiven, but redeemed to belong to Christ and transformed so that we are eager to do what is good. This leads to our next metaphor:
8. Freedom from bondage
Scripture describes humans as being enslaved by at least four things: sin, Satan, the law, and our fear of death. Our salvation sets us free from all of these forms of slavery.
Romans 6:17-18 [highlights our bondage to sin]
Thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
So, imagine that you are a slave, and some generous person pays for you to be released so you can live as a free person, which would fill you with gratitude and love for that generous person. This is what has happened to us spiritually. We are set free to live in the righteousness, the love, the joy, and the peace that God has designed us for.
9. Victory
During WW2, many American soldiers were captured by their enemies and held as prisoners of war. When the US won the war, those countries were forced to liberate all the prisoners. That is idea behind this metaphor of victory: Christ has set us free by defeating sin and Satan by His power. Humans are trapped in a cosmic civil war between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of darkness. This world is under the oppression of the devil, rebelling against God, the rightful king. The result is unimaginable brokenness and suffering throughout all creation. Jesus said that Satan is the prince of this world. But He also proclaimed that kingdom of God is at hand, and demonstrated His kingdom’s power over Satan and the curse of sin by healing the sick, raising the dead, and casting out demons. These were minor skirmishes in the war, but the decisive blow was when He died and rose again, triumphing over sin, death, suffering and Satan.
Col 2:15
Having disarmed the powers and authorities, [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Public spectacle refers to the practice of military leaders parading defeated rulers through their town. Jesus publicly triumphed over the powers of darkness through the cross.
Heb 2:14-15
By his death he [broke] the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and freed those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
This concept can also be seen when God set the Israelites free by vanquishing the armies of pharaoh. He is our deliverer, the captain of our salvation, and we will share in His victory. He promises that we, as His followers, will, like Him, triumph over suffering, evil, death, and Satan through His resurrection power. Jesus is now reigning from heaven, taking back this world from Satan, the usurper, through the work of the church empowered by His Spirit, spreading the KOG to the ends of the earth.
10. Canceling a debt
Colossians 2:14
[God] forgave us all our sins by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Imagine that you borrowed a huge sum of money from someone and signed a contract to record the debt. But you realize later that you will never be able to pay back it back, and the debt is crushing you under its burden. Imagine the sense of freedom and relief and joy if the debt were cancelled. Our sins are like a debt before God. But He canceled our debt by nailing it to the cross because Jesus paid our debt for us.
11. Darkness to light
John 8:12
Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
All of us know the how hard it is to function when it’s completely dark. For example, you might go into a room and it’s dark, and you can’t find what you are looking for, or you are running into the furniture. Then, when you turn the light on, it makes all the difference in the world. In the Bible, darkness represents evil, hatred, fear, ignorance, deception, and misery. Light represents righteousness, love, courage, knowledge, truth, and joy. Jesus said his followers will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.
12. Cleansing
Isaiah 64:6
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
This verse describes our predicament: even our righteous acts are like filthy rags before God because of our selfish motivations.
Ephesians 5:25-27
Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
Have you ever had the experience of being covered in dirt, like maybe you played football when it was raining and got all muddy? Doesn’t it feel so good to then take a shower to get all clean? Jesus cleanses us from the filth of our sin, so that we might be a radiant bride, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. A song we sometimes sing says: Sin had left a crimson stain; He washed it white as snow.
13. Healing
1 Peter 2:24
“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
This verse includes two quotes from Isa 53, the great OT prophecy of the suffering servant. By his wounds you have been healed. All of us have experienced the sorrows of being sick or injured and the joys of being healed. Jesus healed people physically when he was on the earth, but those people got sick and died again. However, this healing demonstrated the fact that Jesus had the power to eventually completely heal us in every facet of our lives from the brokenness and misery caused by sin—to heal us physically as well as spiritually. We are whole in Him.
14. Lost to found
In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables of lost things being found: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. These parables teach the value of the thing lost and that the owner will search until he or she finds the thing lost. Jesus said later:
Luke 19:10
“The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”