There was a group of friends, probably not much older than high school age, they lived in a rural/country area and they went off to go swimming in a stream. The only thing is that the swimming was a bit of a dare devil swim…the stream was very high, had dangerous currents, jagged rocks, and running very fast and it was a true mountain stream, the walls were all rock, some 60 or more feet up. Of course the guys went in first, you know proving their manliness, jumping in from various high rocks. One guy, went up to the highest point, some 65′ up from the stream to jump, he stood there for upwards of 5 minutes, looking very afraid, going to the edge, then coming back again. Ultimately, he thought better of it and climbed down, and did not jump.
Below him on a ledge one of the girls jumped in the stream from a lower height, but something went terribly wrong. She immediately was swept downstream and trapped against a rock by the swift moving water. The current was so fast and the water was so deep – she was paralyzed against the rock.
She was clearly drowning.
Her friends immediately noticed the situation and tried to help her, they reached out to her with sticks, but couldn’t reach her. It became very apparent that they were literally watching her die and couldn’t help her.
Then, the same fellow who almost jumped from the 65′ ledge, raced up the rocks to the same spot he backed away from in fear just moments earlier. Without hesitation, he jumped from 65′ up as he knew that jump would provide him the best angle to get to his drowning friend.
He got to her, pulled her away from the rocks, pushed her to safety to her friends reaching out to her with long sticks.
She reached safety and lived.
They immediately turned their attention to her rescuer, who quickly now was swept downstream – now exhausted from rescuing his friend against the current and the high water – he was swept downstream and he too was pinned against a rock. He too couldn’t move. He too was drowning, however this time no one could get to him. As he struggled, he literally turned his back on his friends so that they didn’t have to watch him die. He succumbed to the water and drowned – having saved his friend – having given his life in exchange for her. The friends memorialized him as one who would anything for his friends, and he proved that by giving his very life in exchange for another.
That guy was a true hero – a true rescuer that girl needed to be rescued – she was pinned against the rock – she could not rescue herself – she had to have someone step in and rescue her.
Spiritually – we ALL are exactly like that girl trapped by the current unable to save ourselves – we all need to be rescued. More accurately still - spiritually speaking, without Christ – we are already dead – spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1 says that we were “dead in our sins and transgressions.” We literally can do nothing to help our own situation.
How did we get here?! We all have turned away from God and gone our own way, done our own thing, thought that our way is better than God’s way, God is a 100% good pure clean Holy God — we are not, we can’t be, it’s in our human nature we do wrong things – the Bible calls that sin. The consequence of sin is death (Rom 6:23) and death must be paid – God is 100% fair and just he is too pure to tolerate any sin, like a 100% fair judge all true crimes must be punished – they wouldn’t be fair judges if they didn’t punish real crime, right? – So someone has to pay for it with their lives. Guys, we cannot pay for that price– only God can pay it himself.
The beauty of God is that he is 100% fair and just and he actually gives us a rescuer. A divine rescuer, and his name is Jesus.
Check out this verse in 1 Tim 1:5-6:
“For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men – the man Christ Jesus – who gave himself as a ransom for all”
Jesus came as a man and when the time was right he was crucified and absorbed the full righteous penalty for our, all of our sin, thus rescuing us from death and in exchange giving us LIFE. New life – ETERNAL life.
That is the best news there is.
OK, so how do I get in on this, if I believe all that makes sense how do I sign up?
The Bible says it’s pretty simple – turn from what you’ve been doing, how you’ve been living your life and believe in Jesus and what he did.
Then…live like it, actually change your life thru the power that Jesus will give you thru his Spirit, and start your journey toward becoming more like Jesus. Then you will be saved – you will experience this divine rescue, you will be justified – your status with God will be changed – he will look at you thru the lens of his Son’s sacrifice and you will be blameless before him, if indeed you truly believe.
You will have esacped be tag of being “condemned” and you will also have eternal life in Heaven with God because of Christ.
I’ll close with this verse that says just that in Romans 8:1:
“there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”
2 things everyone on the face of this Earth are going to do, we are all going to sin…and unfortunately our bodies are not all built to last forever and we all will pass away. Jesus sets us free from BOTH of those by his rescue, and in that is HOPE for this life – Hope that is not based on circumstances, feelings, health — but based on fact – faith in God.
