Now is the
DAY of SALVATION
By
Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.
“As it is written, There is NONE righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is NONE that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the WAY, they are altogether become unprofitable;
there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Rom. 3: 10-12)
“For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23). What a Hopeless situation! But, wait... There
is good news for fallen man. God sent His only begotten Son to save us, to
redeem us through His vicarious Death on the Cross!
St. Paul writes about God's grace, mercy, and love. He writes
about Redemption, Justification, and Reconciliation: “Being justified freely by
His Grace through the Redemption that is in Christ Jesus; Whom
God has set forth as a Propitiation through Faith in His Blood,
to declare His righteousness; that He might be just and the Justifier of him
which believeth in Jesus.” (Rom. 3: 24-26)
WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
The word propitiation means satisfaction, covering, and
mercy seat. Jesus Christ is the mercy seat and the offering,
Who by His sacrificial death met the demands of Divine Justice. By His
shed blood, Jesus Christ paid our sin debt and satisfied Almighty God in the
Courts of Heaven!
SIN was introduced to Adam
and Eve in the Garden of Eden by Lucifer, the fallen archangel. Prior to that
disastrous moment, SIN was unknown, as was the Penalty for sin which was
separation from God our Heavenly Father. Immediately thereafter, Adam and Eve
were driven out of the Garden of Eden and fellowship with their Creator was
broken.
There was no hate, jealousy, fear, sickness, disease, or death in
the Garden of Eden before the introduction of Sin by Satan, the Enemy of God
and man. Now, sin is universal with tragic consequences, breeding Evil fruit
like unbelief, pride, perversion, murder, insanity, betrayal, and death!
Salvation is Deliverance from SIN and its PENALTY. It is absolute pardon and forgiveness for all
our sins and freedom from them. St. Paul writes: “Giving thanks unto the Father
which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints
in light.
“Who hath delivered us from the power of DARKNESS and hath translated us into the Kingdom of His dear Son: in Whom
we have REDEMPTION through His BLOOD, even the forgiveness of sins! (Col. 1: 12-14)
Through JESUS' shed Blood we receive PEACE: “For it pleased the Father that in Him (Christ) should all
fullness dwell; and having made Peace through the death of His Cross, by Him to
reconcile all things to Himself; by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth
or things in Heaven.
“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by
wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled. In the Body of His flesh through Death, to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in His sight, if you continue in the faith...” (Col. 1:19-23).
O, how great a reconciliation! The pure, holy, and righteous Son
of God wrapped Himself in human flesh to REDEEM condemned mankind from the captivity of Satan and Eternal Death.
And has adopted us into His Kingdom as sons of God, heirs of God, and joint
heirs with Christ to rule and reign with Him throughout Eternity!
FREEDOM THROUGH GOD'S ETERNAL WORD!
“For as many as are led by
the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not
received the spirit of BONDAGE again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of Adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
“The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are
the children of God: and if
children, then heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if so be that
we suffer with Him, that we may also be Glorified together. For I reckon that
the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the GLORY which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom.8: 14-18)
Satan tries to bring
believers into the bondage of condemnation, questioning their
salvation. St. Paul shattered those lies
and liberated all believers by not only confirming our salvation, but
highlighting that that we are actually children of God and joint heirs
with Christ, and stating that we will be glorified together with
Christ!
St. Paul wrote: “Thanks
be unto God for His unspeakable Gift.” (2 Cor. 9:15). It is impossible to
understand this great gift of Jesus Christ Himself, as God's Paschal Lamb, to
Purchase our Eternal Salvation. Given to a corrupt, lost, and condemned human
race through His Son's vicarious (substitutionary) death for us
on Golgotha, and His glorious resurrection from the grave!
RECONCILIATION between Almighty God and fallen man, has wiped out our past sins
and made us Just in His sight; sinners born again as new men with Christ's
nature, able to stand in God's presence without guilt, all because of the Unspeakable
Gift of God to guilty, unworthy and doomed humanity!
DELIVERANCE FROM SATAN'S POWER!
JESUS in Hebrew is YESHUA which means 'Saviour; the Salvation of God'. The Salvation of God is deliverance
from Sin and the penalty of sin. Jesus, therefore, is the God who saves,
heals, and delivers! The prophet Isaiah declared:
“Surely, He hath borne our sicknesses (heb. makob) and carried
our pains (heb. nasa): yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our Peace was upon Him, and with His stripes, we are
healed.
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his
own way; and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” (Is. 53: 4,
5).
St. Mathew records: “When
the even had come, they brought unto Him many that were possessed with devils:
and He cast out the spirits with His Word, and healed all that were sick: that
it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself
took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.” (Matt.8: 16, 17)
St. Peter declares: “Who
(Jesus) His own Self bare our sins in His own BODY on the tree (cross),
that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by Whose stripes
we are healed.” (1 Peter 2: 24)
JESUS CHRIST gave us the Great Commission: “And Jesus came and spake unto
them, saying, All power is given unto Me in Heaven and in earth. Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and
of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I have commanded you and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end
of the world.” (Matt. 28: 18-20)
St. Mark records: “And He said unto them, Go ye into all the
world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe; In My name shall they cast out devils;
they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they
drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the
sick and they SHALL recover.
“And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working
with them, and confirming the WORD with SIGNS following.” (Mark 16: 15- 20)
NOW IS THE ACCEPTED TIME!
We are given a time frame in which this marvelous Gospel is
available to each of us, with a challenge to share it with others. St. Paul
stated: “We then, as workers together with Him, beseech you also that ye
receive not the grace of God in vain. For He saith, I have heard thee in
a time accepted, and in the day of Salvation have I succored thee:
“Behold, NOW is the accepted time; behold, NOW is the day of Salvation. Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation.” (2 Cor. 6:1, 2).
The
Greek word kairos used here speaks of a window of opportunity, a
certain time frame, which is Now. The time or season in which we must win
precious souls for Christ, to reap the Harvest is Now.
And to the unbeliever, I say, that there
is no better time to receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour than right
now. One never knows when that time or season will be gone forever.
The
Bible says: “And as it is appointed unto man once to die and after this the
judgment.” (Heb. 9: 22); “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the
Living God.” (Heb. 10:31); “And, that knowing the time, that now it is
high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed.
“The Night is far spent, the day is at hand:
let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armour of
light. Let us walk honestly, as in the day. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 13:
11-14)
The songwriter penned these words: “Today
is mine, tomorrow may not come. I may not see the rising of the sun. When the day
is over, may my work on earth be done. Today is mine, tomorrow may never come.”
Amen.
Max Solbrekken World Mission Box 44220 RPO Garside, Edmonton, AB T5V 1N6; Email: [email protected]; comehometojesus.ca; Facebook; Youtube; Blog: MSWM; Donations can be made by e-Transfer. Make your donation to [email protected]. May God bless you!
