Jesus is the Savior

Savior.  A person who saves, rescues, or delivers.  Sounds just like our Jesus, don't you think?

Think back a few weeks to Christmas time.  One verse that you, like I, probably read again and again comes from Luke 2:   But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord."  (verses 9-10)

Can you imagine that moment?  That moment was the fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah's words from chapter 19:20, "It will be a sign and witness to the LORD Almighty in the land of Egypt. When they cry out to the LORD because of their oppressors, he will send them a savior and defender, and he will rescue them."

The long-awaited birth.  The Christ.  The Messiah.  The Savior.

And yet, while He was with them, they rejected Him.  That didn't understand Him.  It's almost as if they kept waiting for something more.

We do the same thing, right?  Try to get someone who is not ready to believe in the free gift of salvation to believe in the Savior is nearly impossible.  It's almost as if it costs too much to believe in something free.

It does cost a lot.  The price is our independence.  The price is our condemnation.  The price is our very everything.

It cost Him more.  Not just His life.  God has been echoing this thought all around me lately, through song, study and sermons:  He who had never sinned took on the sins of billions.  The guilt and pain we bear after we sin . . . He took that on, multiplied but what, 40 billion people maybe?

It cost Him everything.  And yet we find it so hard to understand Him.  A Savior.  Sent to us, to redeem us, for no other reason than love.  

Just love.