Dealing With Disaster

You are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.   Matthew 1:21

When the angel announced the birth of Christ, he did not say, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will forgive his people for their sins.” Forgiveness is only a part of what Jesus came to do.

Jesus will save his people from their sins. To save people from their sins means to bring them out of their sins. Saving people from their sins means delivering them from every dimension of this disaster.

On March 16, 1978, a supertanker called the Amoco Cadiz ran aground off the coast of Brittany, France, and lost nearly a quarter of a million tons of crude oil into the Atlantic Ocean. Oil swept onto more than a hundred beaches—in some places up to a foot deep.

Now when a disaster like this happens, there’s more than one problem.

The problem in the courts was an issue of justice—there was a price to pay. In this case, a judge in Chicago awarded damages of $$852 million.

The problem on the beaches was an issue of pollution—there was a cleanup that needed to be done. Think of the crystal clear water and the fish and plants and birds. Now imagine crude oil pouring from a stricken vessel. That’s what sin does—it pollutes.

The problem in the hull was an issue of repair—there was a hole that needed to be fixed. If we don’t deal with the source of the spill, the problem will only get worse.

If Christ delivered us from the condemnation of sin without delivering us from its power in our lives, it would be like paying the fine for the Amoco Cadiz but doing nothing to clean up the beaches or fix the hull.

The salvation that Jesus came to bring is much more than forgiveness and a free ticket to heaven. It has always been God’s purpose to deliver his people from sin and lead them into a holy life. Jesus came to save you—to deal with your guilt and the pollution caused by your sin, and to free you from the power of sin in your life.

For further reading, see Titus 3