Jesus Saves

Jesus Saves

John 1:10-13, NLT

He came into the very world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. 11He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. 12But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

1 John 1:1-3, NLT

We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us.

Setting the Scene

The divine Son of God, the true Light, came to the earth he had created but was rejected by most—but not everyone. All who put their faith in him, back then, today, and in the future, are reborn—spiritually, divinely transformed. John’s letter affirms that Jesus is the “Word of life” and “eternal life.” The salvation message is simple: Jesus, the God-man, entered human history, revealing sin and showing the way to eternal life. The first response is to recognize our sinfulness and to acknowledge that Jesus is the way. The second is to “believe” and “accept” the Savior.

When the first disciples believed and were regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they entered into a close relationship (“fellowship”) with the Father and with his Son. The readers of 1 John had not seen and heard Jesus themselves, but they could trust that what John wrote was accurate. Believers today are like those second- and third-generation Christians. Though we have not personally seen, heard, or touched Jesus, we have the New Testament record of his eyewitnesses, and we can trust that these eyewitnesses spoke the truth about him.

Getting Personal

What convinced you to put your faith and trust in Christ?

How does being a child of God open up doors of fellowship with others?

When Jesus began his public ministry, many rejected him. Certain leaders felt his teaching threatened their status and authority. Some couldn’t believe his claims—to be God in the flesh, their Messiah. Others couldn’t get past Jesus’ humble beginnings, which hardly befitted a king. Some struggled with Jesus’ call to deny self. Today people reject Jesus for those same reasons. A man claiming to be God, the forgiver of sins, and the only way to heaven—that’s tough to swallow. But now, just as then, many do believe and receive eternal life.

The word savior means “one who saves, rescues, or delivers.” Jesus the Savior has delivered you from your enemy, Satan, rescued you from sin’s power, and saved you from sin’s penalty. You’re forgiven, free, and on your way to heaven.

Talking to God

Thank God for the gift of salvation through Jesus. Ask God to open your eyes and your ears to his work in the world, so that you can proclaim what you “have actually seen and heard.”