Presbyterian Church of Easton
December 8, 2020
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 1:2
Heidelberg Catechism
29Q. Why is the Son of God called “Jesus,” meaning “savior”?
A. Because he saves us from our sins, and because salvation should not be sought and cannot be found in anyone else.
30Q. Do those who look for their salvation in saints, in themselves, or elsewhere really believe in the only savior Jesus?
A. No. Although they boast of being his, by their actions they deny the only savior, Jesus. Either Jesus is not a perfect savior or those who in true faith accept this savior have in him all they need for their salvation.
We can never make ourselves right with God. Sin stains us so completely that there is nothing we can do to bleach out the spot.
In order to be set right with God and bleach away the sin that stains us, we need a savior. Maybe our money will save us, but inflation could eat away at our savings. Maybe our health will save us, but as we age our health declines. Maybe science will help us, but science seems to create more problems than it solves. It seems that money, health, and science are really not saviors at all.
But there is a savior we can depend on: a savior that will not go up and down with the stock market, a savior that will not flee as we age, a savior that will not promise the world but deliver little. Who is this savior?
The only savior that qualifies is God, and the name of this God is Yahweh, the Lord God of Israel. If we take the first two letters of this name, “Ya”, and add the Hebrew word for a savior, “shua” and put them together we get the name of our savior, “Yahshua”. And in English, we pronounce “Yashua” as “Jesus”. “Jesus” literally means God is our savior.
In the first century, there were many men in Israel named “Jesus”. It was a very common name. So which one is our savior? We read these words of the angel Gabriel in Luke 1, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.
So who is our one and only savior? Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, the Son of God. Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, there are so many things we think will save us. We put our faith in our retirement savings, faith in our health, and faith in science. Give us faith in the one person who can save us, our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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