Jesus Saves

Jesus saves all those who trust in Him. Acts 2:22-41

Have you ever decided to bake something new? You search for the perfect recipe on pintrest. You know, the one with the best picture and simple ingredients that you already have in your cabinet or that you can easily find at the grocery store. Not the one with ingredients you can’t pronounce and will likely never use again.

You get everything ready, follow the instructions and bake. But the end result is not exactly what you thought it would be. Maybe it doesn’t even look like the picture. You go back through the steps and bam! There it is! you realize you forgot that one ingredient. Maybe you didn’t forget. Maybe you left it out intentionally because you didn’t think it would make that much of a difference. Turns out, it make all the difference in the world.

Sometimes, we go through life like that. We check off lots of boxes of goals and to do’s that are great.

be a good person

get an education

get a good job

get married

travel the world

have kids

volunteer

go to church

be charitable

We treat this life like the key to living a fulfilled life is like that recipe. Do these things and check these boxes and whala, happy life.

But the truth is that God created us as relational beings. Our relationship with Him being the most important one. If we fail to recognize and embrace that design, neglect our need for a relationship with God, we leave out the most important aspect of the purpose of our life. This leaves us feeling empty or like somethings missing.

We fail to do what were are created to do. And we fail to become what God desired and planned for us.

The key to fellowship with God is a relationship with Jesus. You can all these other things but unless you have a relationship with Jesus, your life will never be what it was intended to be and in the end you will forever be separated from God with no hope for restoration. Just eternal torment.

Acts 2:22–24 CSB

“Fellow Israelites, listen to these words: This Jesus of Nazareth was a man attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through him, just as you yourselves know. Though he was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail him to a cross and kill him. God raised him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by death.

Acts 2:32–41 CSB

“God has raised this Jesus; we are all witnesses of this. Therefore, since he has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, he has poured out what you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says: The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When they heard this, they were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!” So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand people were added to them.

Acts 2 opens with the disciples gathered in Jerusalem on Pentecost, when a violent wind fills their meeting place, flames of fire appear above them, and they receive the Holy Spirit, beginning to speak in languages they hadn’t learned. The crowd accuses them of being drunkards but Peter explains to the crowd what’s happening and uses the prophecy found in the book of Joel about God pouring out the Spirit on all people in the last days.

Peter has their attention and then he begins to preach the gospel of Jesus.

Acts 2:22–24 CSB

attested to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs

Miracles-were mighty acts performed by Jesus that testify if His inherent power.

wonders-events that cause one to marvel or stand in awe.

signs-usually follow wonders and show evidence of divine authority.

Jesus had all 3. There is all the evidence we need to have confidence in Jesus as our saviour. Without a saviour, our fellowship with God remains broken because of our sin.

Imagine being a jewish man or woman in this crowd, remembering that just a few weeks earlier you were shouting “crucify Him” thinking that getting rid of this troublemaker would make everything right again. Or at least make it better. But instead there’s this pit inside your stomach as you hear Peter preach. You feel an emptiness inside that nothing satisfies. Is Peter right, was Jesus the Messiah. Is my sin separating me from God and causing this gapping hole in my heart that I can’t fill or cover up. I can’t shake this feeling that Peter’s right.

The American Dream is the belief that all U.S. residents, regardless of background, can achieve prosperity, upward mobility, and success through hard work and determination. Coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931, it signifies the opportunity for a "better, richer, and fuller" life, often encompassing homeownership, financial security, and individual freedom. 

So those that work hard enough will be successful and have wealth and happiness.

The American Dream perpetuates a lie that determination, optimism, or perseverance alone produce satisfaction.

The root of human dissatisfaction lies in sinful souls separated from God1—the one we were designed to find rest in. The Hebrew word for soul (nephesh) repeatedly describes longing, wanting, and desiring, with the Bible depicting the soul as hungry, thirsty, hollow, or empty1. This isn’t a flaw but a feature: the soul cannot satisfy itself, yet it cannot live without satisfaction—you were made for soul-satisfaction, but will only find it in God1.

Jesus makes this explicitly clear. He declares, “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again” (John 6:35). While ordinary water leaves one thirsty again, the water Jesus gives becomes “a well of water springing up in him for eternal life” (John 4:13–14). The contrast is between temporary, cyclical satisfaction and permanent spiritual nourishment.

The Psalms reinforce this through concrete imagery. The psalmist declares, “I will see your face in righteousness; when I awake, I will be satisfied with your presence” (Ps 17:15)—satisfaction rooted in relationship with God rather than possessions or status. The soul craves security, love, and significance, and we find these only in God in a form that can truly satisfy us1.

Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled (Matt 5:6), and God satisfies us in the morning with faithful love so we may shout with joy and be glad all our days (Ps 90:14). The biblical pattern is clear: external pursuits leave the soul perpetually empty, while turning toward God produces enduring contentment.

What goals or accomplishments have you pursued that you thought would bring happiness, but didn’t?

In what practical ways can you communicate the importance of a relationship with Jesus to those around you?

How can you encourage others who feel their lives are empty to seek fulfillment in Christ?