Why Is Jesus Our Only Savior?
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June 22, 2014 |
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 "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Senior Pastor Dr. Jaerock Lee
God allowed the first man, Adam, to enjoy the authorities as he wanted in the Garden of Eden. However, there was one thing God prohibited. He prohibited eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But as long time passed, Adam and Eve failed to keep the Word of God in their hearts and ate from it by the temptation of the serpent. They committed the sin of disobedience, and according to the justice saying, "The wages of sin is death," they came to death (Romans 6:23).
'Death' here refers to not only physical death but also spiritual death, which means going to Hell. This curse didn't end in Adam the first man, but it was passed down to all men who were his descendants and they ended up in the same death.
Then, wasn't there any way for mankind, who had all become sinners, to be saved? There was a way, but someone would have to pay the price of sin on the behalf of sinners. In other words, if one were to receive the punishment of death on the behalf of the sinners who were supposed to receive it, then they could be saved.
Jesus the Son of God received the punishment of death in the place of all people who had been destined to receive it and did it on their behalf. But it is not that just anybody could save people just because he takes the punishment for sinners. He had to meet the qualifications as the Savior.
1. The Qualifications of the Savior
Then, what are the qualifications the Savior has to meet and why is only Jesus our Savior?
First He had to be a man.
1 Corinthians 15:21 reads, "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead." Since by a man started sin, it had to be a man who can redeem all men from the sin. Neither angels nor animals could redeem men from sins.
In the Old Testament time, of course, people were redeemed from sins by the killing of animals. But it was just one-shot at a time deal. Whenever people sinned, they had to receive forgiveness by offering animals as sacrifices.
However, by Jesus dying sinless on the wooden cross, He redeemed us from all our sins all at once (Hebrews 7:27, 9:12). To redeem all mankind from sins is the reason Jesus the Son of God came to the earth in flesh. John 1:1 says, "The Word was God" and 1:14 reads, "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us." In other words, God who was the Word came to the earth in flesh. It is Jesus.
Human history explicitly proves that Jesus came to the earth as a man. The calendar commonly used among today is based on Jesus' birth. History is divided into two: B.C. referring to 'Before Christ' and A.D. to 'Anno Domini' which means 'In the year of the Lord.' In this way, human history evidences Jesus' birth.
Secondly, the Savior must not be a descendant of Adam.
All descendants of Adam have the sinful nature, have sinned and are sinners. Sinners can't redeem other sinners from sins. It is like one who has a huge personal debt can't pay the debt of anyone else. But Jesus is not a descendant of Adam, who sinned. That is, He was born without any sinful nature.
How is it that Jesus is not a descendant of Adam? It is because Jesus was not born through the union of man's sperm and woman's egg. Matthew 1:18 reads, "When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit." Because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and was just 'borrowing' Mary's womb, He had no original sin at all that is inherited from parents.
The third qualification of the Savior is He must have power to save others.
In the army, in order to take back your forces who have been taken captive by the enemy, you have to have the power sufficient to defeat the enemy. In the same manner, to save mankind, who became servants of Satan, the Savior must have power to overcome Satan.
What is power in the spiritual world? Being sinless is power. Since Jesus was not Adam's descendant, He had no original sin. He didn't commit any sin in His life. He lived only according to the Word of God.
Hebrews 7:26 describes Jesus as 'holy, innocent, undefiled' and 1 Peter 2:22 describes Him as '[the One] who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth.' Since Jesus was sinless as written, He could overcome death and resurrect. By doing so He could save mankind, who had become the servants of Satan.
The Savior, lastly, must have love.
Jesus is one with God the Origin and He is the Creator and the Master of all things. But He bore the cruel punishment of crucifixion on behalf of sinners. He was despised and received the scorn, contempt and all sufferings that sinners were supposed to take. Without love, He couldn't have done so.
So, why did Jesus have to die on a wooden cross? After Adam's transgression, all mankind was cursed under the law saying "The wages of sin is death". As Galatians 3:13 says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree," to redeem us from the curse of the law, Jesus had to be hung on the wooden cross while bearing the curse.
And why did Jesus have to shed blood? Leviticus 17:14 states, "For as for the life of all flesh, its blood is identified with its life." Hebrews 9:22 says, "Without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." As this explains, only with shedding of the blood that is identified with life, is there forgiveness. That is why Jesus shed blood by wearing the crown of thorns and being scourged. He shed all His blood and water with His hands and feet nailed through and His side pierced with a spear.
Jesus shed blood for the forgiveness of all men's sins with love and ended up dying on the cross. Here, it is not that anyone can redeem others from their sins by shedding blood. The blood must be just like Jesus' blood, clean blood that is sinless with no original sins and no self-committed sins.
So, Acts 4:12 reads, "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved."
2. The reason why anyone can receive salvation by believing Jesus as their Savior
In the world and over all time there is only one who completely meets the qualifications of the Savior. It is Jesus. But Satan put Jesus, who was sinless, to death by using evil people. Satan violated the spiritual law in the killing of Jesus who had no sin. The price for this is to set free from death those who accepted Jesus as their Savior (Romans 5:18). This is the providence of salvation in the cross.
1 Corinthians 2:7 talks about this, saying, "But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory." Satan and the enemy devil thought their authority would last forever as long as they crucified Jesus. But the consequence was the complete opposite. By putting Jesus to death was their way to destruction and the way to achieving the providence of human salvation through Jesus.
God had hidden this mystery until the time came without anyone knowing. When the time finally came, Jesus was crucified and the way to salvation was opened widely to all people. If Satan had known the mystery, Jesus would not have been killed. This is the amazing wisdom of God hidden before the ages. Hallelujah!
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