Jesus is the Savior

Sermon on Romans 8:18-25

Title: Groan

Theme: Jesus is the savior of all the created order.

Goal: to encourage Christians that Jesus is the savior of the entire created order.

Need: Personal salvation has become so important that we don’t think much of anything else.

Sermon Outline:

Introduction
Jesus means Joshua means Savior
Jesus Saves me from Sins
Jesus Saves us from Sin
Jesus Saves all creation from Sin’s curse
Conclusion- Jesus means savior. Of me. Of us. Of all.

Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

What exactly are you doing here? Why did you come to church this morning? Is it because someone invited you? Is it because you felt like it was about time to get back to church again? Great! Did you make your way to church this morning to worship? Yes. And I hope you came to church this morning because you want to get to know Jesus even better, and be amazed at how much really happened in that moment when Jesus came into the world.

Why is it hard for us to be amazed at Jesus? Is it because we hear so much about him? Is it because we have been doing this church thing for long enough? Is it because we really aren’t so sure about him? Could it be that we just need to be challenged again to think about how incredible baby Jesus really is?

Throughout advent Pastor Jake and I have been challenging all of us be amazed at Jesus again. To really get to know him. To let it settle into your minds and your hearts about just how earth shaking, life changing, and mind blowing Jesus really is.

If you have been here for the last several weeks, I want you to let these ideas wash over you again. Jesus is I AM, God himself in a baby and a grown man. Jesus is MAN, our brother who has gone through life and trials just like us. God is a brother to us and walks along side us in everything. God is Messiah, or the earth shaker, who came to help anyone who is broken and torn up and ready to be finished. He came especially for the people ignored in the world. Poor. Sick. Hurting. He came to change the world, one insignificant person at a time.

Today, the focus of our amazement is on how Jesus is the Savior.

When I was a little kid, my mom had this interesting decoration. It was handmade by one of her uncles. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out what in the world it meant. To me it looked like a thin piece of dark wood with some random lighter colored wood glued on in random patterns. That was probably one of the first, “ah ha” moments I ever remember having. You see after not really getting it for a long time, I finally asked one of my older brothers about it. They showed me that instead of looking at the lighter colored wood glued on, I had to look at the dark spaces behind it. And sure enough, just by changing what I had to focus on, it stood out to me. In the negative spaces were the letters JESUS SAVES. Jesus Saves it said.

After that I started to notice the same decoration at lots of peoples houses. And then I noticed that saying was showing up on bumper stickers and on needlepoints. All over the place. That phrase was all over the place so much that it almost lost its meaning. It became kind of cliché. Jesus saves. Jesus saves. Jesus Saves. Whoopty-do.

When “Jesus saves” loses its really meaning everything loses its real meaning. Think about that. If Jesus saves and that gives us reason for living, then if that salvation loses its meaning, then we are right back to a pointless existence again aren’t we? Anyone here really enjoy a pointless existence?

No. Well then, let’s think about Jesus Saves for real.

The first thing we ought to realize with Jesus Saves is that to a Jewish person, that would be very redundant. Last week we looked at how the title Christ, means Messiah which means anointed one. Jesus means the same as Joshua. They are the same name just one is Hebrew and the other is Greek. Joshua, Jesus. They mean Savior, or saves. Jesus saves. Its really double talk. Saves Saves.

But hopefully that helps us remember what Jesus was all about.

Jesus saves. That is the simple message of Christmas time, and the simple message of Scripture. Jesus came to earth to save you. The baby in the manger didn’t come for some far off nation from some far off time. The baby Jesus came to save you from your sins. He lived his life to save you from your sins. He didn’t hide from dying on the cross. Why? Because he was ready to save you.

That’s what is at the heart of John 3:16 which we heard in our advent lighting for today isn’t it? John 3:18, two verses later says, 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.g [1]

Those are harsh words for the simple reality. Believing in Jesus makes a person part of his salvation. When you stop to think about it, and when you come to believe that Jesus SAVED YOU! Then you shouldn’t doubt any more about it. Jesus is saving you for a life much better than this one. Eternal life with him.

What’s holding you back from accepting that Jesus saves. And Jesus saved YOU? Think about that over this Christmas. Maybe as you see pictures of the baby Jesus or hear talk about his coming to earth, you might see Jesus looking at you and showing that he came to save you?

Another result of Jesus Saves becoming a cliché is that the phrase becomes so familiar that we forget how many more layers there are to Jesus saving than just coming for ME. It is important that we all accept Christ personally. No one can except eternal life on your behalf. But to look at baby Jesus and think that he came just for ME. Even saying it sounds a little bit cocky doesn’t it? God became man because he loves ME!

Well, remember what it said in John 3:16. For God so loved the…. WHAT! God so loved the world that he gave his son. The world. He loves all people. And all people need Jesus so that they can be saved if they believe. Why do all people need a savior. Its because when Adam and Eve sinned in the beginning we were all guilty of having a sinful being.

Jesus saves us from personal sins. But he does so much more than that. He erases the guilt of SIN that came because of Adam and Eve’s disobedience way back from the very beginning.

I made a batch of cookies one time. “Nate, you bake?” Let me finish the story! The recipe called for butter. The butter I had was too hard to mix so I stuck it in the microwave, nuked it until it was basically a glowing liquid. Well, I made the cookie dough and put it on the cookie sheet and baked them. The thing I didn’t know is that if you melt the butter before you put it in the dough, the cookies won’t spread out. So when I was done baking my cookies, I had rock hard chunks of cookie dough, not cookies.

Well, with humanity, Adam and Eve messed up the recipe. God had it all set to be cookies, he just said don’t melt the butter first. Actually he said, just don’t eat from that tree. But what do Adam and Eve do? You know it. Every part of that batch was messed up before it even went into the oven. Every human is not right, stained with sin, tending towards sins. We are sinful from conception on.

Let that be your Jesus. One that can correct even the recipe of human beings. The stain of sin that spoils the recipe of humanity, Jesus Saves. Even from that. He fixed the whole batch. Do you see how big the true Jesus is, how much bigger MY savior, but the savior of all his people together.

Is there any more than that that Jesus can be the savior of. Jesus saved ME from my Sins. Jesus saves all people from the original SIN in our flesh that ruins all humanity.

Let’s go bigger still. The passage that I read for today was about waiting for salvation. Its about waiting for a Jesus. But it isn’t about people waiting, does it? What does it say again?

Verse 18 says, that the whole creation is what, groaning in expectation of what’s to come. When Adam and Eve sinned, it didn’t just mess up the recipe for humans it led to the entire creation being cursed. We can see evidence of how sin effects the world. Creation itself is always in turmoil with earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes. The creation is not perfect and pristine, all it needs is for humans to stop polluting. The whole creation is groaning, waiting for something.

What could the creation be waiting for? How about saving? How about someone who saves? How about the same saving that we are all still waiting for?

The last thing about Jesus being the savior is that his salvation goes beyond humans to all creation. I don’t think this means that when Jesus died on the tree he didn’t die for the tree also. His death releases everything from the curse of sin. That also means that humans are released from the curse of the way we oppress creation.

Under the curse, instead of subduing the earth we beat it into submission, we pollute it. We destroy it. We dig it up, cut it down and fill it with garbage. Its also because of that brokenness in sin that the creation is groaning. It wants to be done with the waiting. It wants to be done with all that sinful people do to the world, and all that the curse has put on it.

Its waiting for the day when Christ returns. That’s the day that the passage is talking about. The day that the sons of God are revealed. The day that our salvation is complete. The day the dead are raised immortal.

Can you even imagine what a day that will be. Do you think people in that day will be destroying the planet? Do you think the people in that day will be worried about the effects of sin in their hearts. Do you think the people on that day will even be tempted by doing things that are evil?

And let me ask you this, if Jesus is the savior already now. If we believe that that little baby Jesus is the one that will rescue me, rescue all humanity, and rescue this creation, what do you think we should be doing differently? How can you change the patterns of your life that pretend like Jesus never came as the savior? How can you start caring for the creation around you? Don’t talk about creation care like its something stupid. Jesus Saves. Let’s do our part. And what about in your own hearts and lives? What are you doing in your personal life, in your family, in your business, that’s acting like Jesus is the savior of nothing. Where does sin conquer you and you need the savior. What can you do to change your life and your heart?

There are places. There are always places in our lives where the savior needs to do his work yet. Let’s quit pretending like we can’t read the words on that little plaque. Jesus saves. That baby changed us. Let’s change our hearts.

This is God’s message to us. AMEN?

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g Or God~s only begotten Son

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. Grand Rapids : Zondervan, 1996, c1984, S. Jn 3:18-19