Title: Savior of the World
(Lecture 42) 1 John 4:14-15 The Savior of the World
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We have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world, if anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and I in God (1 John 4:14-15).
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Verse 14 says, “We have seen and testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.” When you say that the Father sent the Son as the Savior of the world, what does it mean that He sent the Son as the Savior of the world? It means that the world cannot reach salvation by any means or any other way except the Son of the Father. Therefore, those who acknowledge and believe in the Son as their Savior will not find any way out in the world and will be believers who know that Jesus, who came as the Savior, is the only way out.
Before Jesus came to the world as the Savior, God gave the law to Israel. And he said, “You shall keep my statutes and my ordinances; if a man does it, he will live because of him, I am the Lord” (Leviticus 18:5). If you keep the law that the Lord has given you, you will live by it. Then, did God give the Law to Israel as the way of salvation at that time? However, Israel failed to go that route, and as a follow-up, he sent his son as the Savior. So some theologians claim that salvation is through the law in the Old Testament and through Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
If Jesus came as a follow-up to the law, then God's work in the Old Testament must have been a failure. But God's salvation has been consistently taking place by promise from the beginning. That is, salvation through Christ already applies to the Old Testament. The law was not given to provide an opportunity for salvation through the law, but to let people know from the beginning that it is impossible to be saved without a son. That is, the same thing, whether in the Old Testament or the New Testament, is saved by grace.
So what is the law? It was to get Israel to give up their expectations of themselves. It was to bring out the essence of Israel to the bottom. Under God's law, it was the law to let people know that they have no choice but to fail and shut their mouths so that everyone could not be excused (Romans 10:19).
What does this mean for us today? That is, the idea of gaining righteousness by putting the Word into practice, receiving blessings based on that righteousness, and going to heaven is the ignorance of not seeing human failures due to the law. So, to say that the modern church is righteous to practice certain religious practices is a huge mistake, distorting the gospel and deviating from Jesus.
Romans 3:10, “It is written, there is none righteous, no, not even one” does not simply mean that there is no one who can be considered righteous, but declares that righteous deeds cannot come from human beings. After all, the reality of the world is that there is no righteousness, only sin. He sent His Son as Savior to this world.
How is salvation achieved through the Son in a world where there is only sin? Is it to save sinners by turning them into good people and not sinning? Then, Jesus simply came into the world as an ethics teacher. The salvation of Jesus is not the way that Jesus helps and empowers evil people who cannot do righteousness, so that they can do what is right, which leads to salvation.
Jesus had an act called death on the cross. In other words, we have been saved through the works of righteousness of Jesus who died on the cross. Therefore, the believer does not have to believe in his own works, but only needs to believe in what Jesus does. A believer is to receive and enjoy what has been accomplished through the works of Jesus as a gift.
So, in the face of salvation, believers can only be ashamed. This is because people like me who do not deserve salvation receive and enjoy salvation for free because of the death of the Son of God. If human beings are worthy of salvation, there is no reason to be ashamed. If you have the qualifications, why not be proud of it?
Revelation 4:10-11 says, “And the twenty-four elders bow down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power. “You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created.” The twenty-four elders do not deserve the crown, so they throw it before the throne. This is heaven. And this is the normal view of a believer who knows himself and knows Jesus.
Let us not forget that Jesus came as our Savior to declare that the world cannot attain salvation on its own. Only what Jesus did becomes righteousness, and we are considered righteous by believing in that righteousness.
Then how did Jesus come to save us as our Savior? Of course, everyone will say that He saved us by dying on the cross, but shouldn't we think about why He must die on the cross to save us?
Jesus' death on the cross is related to the law. In some way, God gave the law to Israel, but no one could obey the requirements of the law. The law is a blessing if you keep it, but a curse if you don't keep it. After all, the whole world was under the curse of God under the law.
As Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death, and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” was to show That death was borne by Jesus by dying on the cross.
Then you can think that the world is not automatically freed from death because Jesus died on the cross to solve death. However, as verse 15 says, “If anyone confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and I in God.” is. And for this, the Holy Spirit was sent.
Even confessing Jesus as Savior is not my faith or my abilities, but the result of the grace of the Holy Spirit. In this way, the believer must always stand in front of the cross and see himself. This is what keeps you in the place of a believer. Even if Jesus came as the Savior and died on the cross, if he did not see his sinfulness and did not believe in the righteousness of Jesus, he would have nothing to do with salvation. That is why the Holy Spirit sends us and enters us through the Holy Spirit to continue the work of saving us.
Jesus, who came as our Savior, will come again. And we will be perfected as perfect beings, and we will live forever in the kingdom of glory as beings without blemish. Up to this point, Jesus is in charge. So He is the Savior. I hope you can remember that you are living thanks to Jesus who came as your Savior and give thanks to Jesus as your Savior. Just by believing that Jesus has come as our Savior, we have already received a wonderful gift.