So Great Salvation

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and confirmed unto us by them that heard him” (Hebrews 2:3).

Anytime God uses the word “great” man ought to pay close attention, especially when the word great is used in connection to salvation, a salvation that could be neglected with such terrible consequences. Only the spiritually numb would fail to search diligently in order to understand what this great salvation means.

It is a great salvation because of the depth and demonstration of God’s love for man.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:8-10).

Beloved, that these verses are so familiar does not negate the profoundness of them. They speak volumes to the depth and demonstration of Divine love. God said, I love you, and here is the proof of that love!

It is a great salvation because of its cost

The salvation of man would require blood in order for sins to be remitted (Hebrews 9:22). A sacrifice unlike anything this world has ever known. The sacrifice would have to be innocent, spotless without blemish, not a bone broken (I Peter 1:19; Numbers 9:12; Psalms 34:20; John 19:34-36). An animal could not meet those requirements, their blood would be insufficient (Hebrews 10:3-4), neither would mortal man (Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:23). It would take more than this earth had to offer. Heaven would have to send this sacrifice. The sacrifice of Jesus? Yes!

  1. The sacrifice of what he was in the sense of his Divine nature, he was God, who became something more (or less). “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” (Philippians 2:5-7). God became flesh and blood with all that goes with being human (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4; Hebrews 2:14).
  1. The sacrifice of where he had been. “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be made rich” (II Corinthians 8:9). Jesus surrendered the grandeur of heaven, that you and I might know its richness.
  1. Then sacrifice of the physical body he took upon himself. Jesus entered the world to die for all of us, and when the time came to fulfill that purpose, he did not shy away from it.He died to give life. “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man” (Hebrews 2:9).“For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God…” (I Peter 3:18). “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” (II Corinthians 5:21).That may shed some light on one of the seven last saying on the cross. “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Psalms 22:1; Matthew 27:46). Could it be on Calvary, when Jesus was made sin for us, that God could not look upon him? “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look upon iniquity…” (Habakkuk 1:13).

There are five times in the New Testament where the word “tree” is used in connection to Calvary:

  1. Jesus had been slain and hung on a tree (Acts 5:30).
  2. Repeated again in Acts 10:39
  3. He was taken down from the tree and laid in a sepulcher (Acts 13:29).
  4. The curse of hanging on the tree. Jesus became a curse for us (Galatians 3:13 see Deuteronomy 21:23), Jesus endured the shame for our benefit to be sure, but he despised it (Hebrews 12:2).
  5. The final time the tree is used is so moving. (I Peter 2:24). “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose strips ye were healed”. That sacrifice made salvation possible for us!

It is a great salvation because of the breadth of it

Every accountable person is invited.The invitation is extended by Jesus himself.

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Every person has the same requirements; God does not favor one person above another (Acts 10:34-35). The conditions were spoken by Jesus and other inspired men:

  1. All must hear the word of God (John 6:45; Romans 10:17).
  2. All must believe that Jesus is the Son of God (John 8:24; Acts 8:37)
  3. All must repent (Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30).
  4. All must confess Christ before men (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 10:10).
  5. All must be baptized to be saved (Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:38).

In this invitation, gender, race and station in life disappear. “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” (Galatians 3:26-29). It is not who or what you were that matters; it is what you can become!

It is a great salvation because of what it offers

Adoption into the family of God (Galatians 4:4-7). Listen to what God said, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (II Corinthians 6:17-18).

There is a house that is coming. Jesus spoke of that house in the sense of our heavenly home. “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:1-3).

There is also a house on this earth, a spiritual house, and again we find that word “great”.“But in this great house (he is speaking of the church, the house of God (I Timothy 3:15) there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master’s use, and prepared unto every good work” (II Timothy 2:20-21).

Please, do not neglect “…so great salvation…” Obey the gospel, become a member of God’s family, added to the New Testament church where we need to be vessels of honour, meet for the Master’s use.

Jay Yeager