Scope and Significance of Salvation

The second training objective seems to build off the foundation of the first. That first opportunity with the new christian gave them security that something amazing had taken place, something of eternal significance. The new brother in Christ was given little hints as to what took place, but this second objective takes those hints and gives an overview of the significance of what has happened.

It's hard to appreciate what you have now unless you understand what you were saved from.

THE BAD NEWS

• A condemned sinner - Romans 3:23
• Separated from God - Isaiah 59:2
• Headed for hell - Revelation 20:11-15
• Unable to please God - Isaiah 64:6

Like the "Prodigal Son", before we came to Christ we wanted to do our own thing. Instead of being His child, we in affect said "I wish you were dead, give me what's mine and I want to do my own thing independent from You". By doing this we headed out on our own path apart from Him, This path deviated from His plan for our life and the deviation we call "Sin". As we moved father away from Him we also separated ourselves from Him. God's path is the only one that leads to Life, so as he treked out on our own we also headed toward death. Instead of being the glorious sons and daughters He created us to be we became enslaved to sin, which continues to dehumanize us. Even when we thought we were doing good things, they did not stem from true love, which is what truly pleased God, and His original intent in His creation. Our sin has gummed up the gears of His incredible system, every created thing.

I'm glad that's not the end of the story. Christ came and redeemed us.

THE GOOD NEWS

• You were declared righteous in the eyes of God - Hebrew 10:12-14
• Your sins are forgiven and forgotten - Hebrews 10:15-17
• The Holy Spirit entered your life - Romans 8:11
• You have been born again - John 3:1-8
• You were given eternal life - 1 John 5:11-12
• You were made into a new creation - 2 Corinthians 5:17
• You were reconciled to God - 2 Corinthians 5:18
• You are no longer at war with God - Romans 5:1
• Redeemed from the hands of the enemy - Colossians 1:13-14
• You became an adopted child of God, with all of the accompanying rights and privileges - Romans 8:15-17
• A wall of supernatural protection was set up around you - Psalm 34:7
• All the angels in heaven know you and are rejoicing over you - Luke 15:10

You can't just put a band-aid on this situation, the only way to stop sin is death, and so Christ died in our place. He took the punishment for our defiance, all of it, none is left. He also gave us His Spirit that we might live the way God intended. With His Spirit we are a new creation, birthed in the spiritual realm destined to live for eternity. We have been reconciled with God, so we can now call Him father, and He calls us His sons and daughters. We used to be defiant, opposed to Him like an enemy, we now are learning to love Him as He continues to shower us with Love. We are no longer filled with fear and shame in His presence, instead we approach Him with the confidence that only His Love can bring. We even call Him intimately "Abba, Father". We have been rescued, we were lost and now are found, and God and all the angels want to celebrate, because we mater that much. He loves us and continues to protect us and care for us as a Good Shepard. How awesome is that!!!!