For the Christian who has attended an evangelistic crusade or a church where the salvation message and “altar call” is a regular part of the Sunday morning service, the last part of the call usually has something to do with “receiving Christ” and the opportunity to be “saved from” something bad. Hell is high on the list. Hell always comes up as the primary focus of what to avoid.
I’ve never met anyone who wants to go to hell. I talked with a truly bona fide “Hell’s Angel” in the 1970’s on a California strip, and even he didn’t have a fondness for hell.
But next to hell, we often hear about being enslaved to sin, addictions, and various hang-ups – all are struggles from which all of us should want to be free. But why?
Why do we want to be free from addictions? What’s the purpose of getting saved in Christ? In other words, what are we saved for?
We are not saved for escape! That’s Buddhism and Hinduism. Both religions at their core teach an escape from reality through meditation, memorized platitudes, and chanting. But Christianity is not about escape. Besides, you can’t escape reality.
Jesus answers the question by the way He lived. He is our model. Only in Christianity do we have a Savior who took on flesh and dwelt among us. God became flesh. The Word became flesh. God became a man. He lived among us. Jesus became a man to save us into a new life, a new mission…on the earth.
We are saved to live like Christ. We are saved not to avoid or escape this world but to influence it. We are saved to make a joyful, powerful impact upon others. His mission is our mission. We are in the world but not of the world. He came to give us life and to give us an abundant, overflowing life that increasingly looks like His life flowing through us! We are saved for life, the Jesus life.
Living the Jesus Life,
Pastor Steve
