God originally made man a threefold being—body, soul, and spirit. But ever since the fall of man, mankind was in a dilemma. Man had a huge problem: he had lost God’s created spirit. He lost his spiritual connection with God, Who is Spirit. Now man was just body and soul. Man was not whole and entire.
Almighty God, our Creator, wanted a family to fellowship with, to love and be loved by; yet after the fall of man, the spiritual connection between God and man was lost. This spiritual connection needed to be restored in order for God and man to have fellowship. As part of God’s master plan, Jesus Christ carried out man’s salvation to solve this huge problem, bringing wholeness and deliverance.
John 3:16,17:
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Did you ever read through the New Testament and realize that both God and Jesus Christ are called “saviour”? God is the Author of our salvation, and Jesus Christ is the agent of our salvation. According to one dictionary, the definition of “author” is “a person who makes or originates something,” and an “agent” is “a person or thing that performs an action.” In the first occurrence of the word “saviour” in the Gospels, after Mary learned that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, God, and that this would be her son and the son of God, she magnified the Lord in her soul and declared to her cousin Elisabeth:
Luke 1:47:
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
She was a part of God’s plan, and as the Author, or Originator, of the plan of salvation, God is the Savior. He was miraculously bringing this to pass by way of a young woman, Mary, who believed His Word to her. God’s desire was coming to pass!
The next use of the word “saviour” in the Gospels is in the next chapter of Luke. Jesus had been born, and the angel declared to the shepherds the good news of the savior’s birth.
Luke 2:10,11:
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
God’s desire for a family was taking root. Yet man’s eternal salvation and redemption would have been impossible without the perfect man, Jesus Christ, carrying out the mission. By Jesus’ loving actions, he became the savior as the agent of salvation.
The Old Testament tells of the Passover sacrifice, which covered for the sins of Israel and was carried out yearly for generations to come. The sacrifice was to be a lamb without blemish (Exodus 12:5). This was a temporary solution until the unfolding of God’s ultimate solution through Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice, as God’s Word declares in I Corinthians 5:7, “…For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.” Jesus Christ was and is that perfect man (without blemish), who chose to live a sinless life. He overcame all pressure and every temptation and willingly gave himself so that we could be redeemed, and the payment for man’s sin would be made in full forever.
I Peter 1:18,19:
Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.
It is by believing on Jesus Christ and what God accomplished by Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension that we have deliverance from our sin nature and receive the gift of righteousness—the righteousness of God. When we confess and believe the truths in Romans 10:9, we become a part of God’s family!
I Peter 2:24:
Who [Jesus Christ] his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.
II Corinthians 5:21:
For he [God] hath made him [Jesus Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Romans 10:9,10:
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Our loving God and His wonderful Son, our lord and savior, Jesus Christ, made salvation and deliverance available to all. Thank God for this wonderful gift of His Son and His righteousness, and that we have spiritual wholeness and everlasting life. Now as His children, we can live unto Him and His righteousness!
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