Why Am I Really Saved?
I recently had a time of prayer with the Lord and He dealt with me, very
intensely about purpose and the reason we walk this earth. I know for certain
that writing Christian fiction novels and writing as a scribe called by God are
both elements of my God-given purpose. But after revisiting the story of
the Moravian Missionaries who lived in the 1600s the Lord prompted me to
write about the only real reason we've been saved. Here's a brief account of
the Moravian's story if you've never heard the story. Be prepared...It's going
to change the way you view your life and your salvation!
"Two
young Moravians heard of an island in the West Indies where an atheist British
owner held 2000 to 3000 slaves. They wrote to the slave owner to inquire if they
might come and bring the gospel to the people on the island. They received word
back from the slave owner and this was his response:
"No
preacher, no clergyman, will ever stay on this island. If he's ship wrecked
we'll keep him in a separate house until he has to leave, but he's never going
to talk to any of us about God. I'm through with all that nonsense."
With
this one declaration, three thousand slaves from the jungles of Africa, who
were brought to this island across the Atlantic in chains, would live and die
without hearing of Christ. When the two young Moravians heard this, they
could not get past the idea of so many people dying without ever having an
opportunity to receive Jesus. In order to reach these people, they wrote back
and offered to sell themselves into slavery so they'd be allowed to minister to
the slaves. The British slave master accepted their offer and they used the
money they were paid, to secure their passage to the island.
When
the time came for the Moravians to leave, their families, friends, and the
church community gathered to see them off. As the young men prepared to board
the ship that would sail up the river at Hamburg and out into the North Sea,
their families and loved ones cried bitter tears. These young missionaries were
in their early twenties and this wasn't a four-year term. They had sold
themselves into lifetime slavery and they would never again return. Up until
the time of their departure, the families wondered why they were going and
questioned the wisdom of it. Their reply was simple:
"As
Christians we're already bond servants of Christ and our lives belong
to Him."
Once on
board, they stood at the side of the ship waving to those they were living
behind. As the young men saw the widening gap, one linked his arm through the
arm of his fellow missionary, raised his hand and shouted across the gap the
last words they would ever hear from them...
"MAY
THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERING!"
Jesus, the
lamb that was slain, made the supreme sacrifice when He died for the whole of
humanity. That's something no other person has done or ever could do again and
like the Moravian declared so long ago, Jesus deserves a reward for all He suffered.
He lived, suffered and died for every human being, not because they could repay
Him, but because He loved them. Love alone is what sent Jesus down the path
toward Calvary and love is what kept Him on that cross until He'd paid the
price to redeem all of mankind. Now that is a heavy, heavy price to pay.
What can we
render to the Lord for making that kind of sacrifice? What kind of reward is
good enough, worthy enough to give someone who gave so much for so many?
2 Peter 3:9
tells us that Jesus is not willing that any man should perish...not one! He
doesn't want to lose one soul because those souls cost Him his life! Why would
He want His sacrifice to be wasted when it cost Him so much? But that's exactly
what happens if people are allowed to die in their sin without ever being given
a chance to meet Jesus. We were all bought with a great price and Jesus
paid that price with His blood! And the only appropriate reward we can give Him
is to make certain, that Jesus receives the nations that He died to redeem.
But how have
we responded to this sacrifice that Jesus has made for us? What are we doing to
make sure that He receives the nations as the reward for His suffering. What
are we doing to present the Savior to the unsaved so they can be made aware of
the awesome sacrifice He made for them?
When we come
to Jesus, we can have the best of intentions, but we can come with less than
pure motives. Some of us are just looking for a way to escape hell and others
want to make sure they reserve their seat in heaven. Some give their hearts to
Jesus to please someone else...(girlfriend, spouse, mother, father), then some
see salvation as a means to an end - the means to end up with more material
stuff! Some are truly broken and after trying everything else, they finally
decide to try Jesus. Then there are some who have had a divine encounter with
the true and living God and in that one experience, Jesus captured their
affections, He blew their heart wide open and they are souled out for
life!
Whichever one
of these situations fits the bill, we have to recognize that saying yes to
salvation is only the first step. When we accept Jesus' gift of salvation and
come into relationship with Him, it can't just be about making it to heaven,
getting stuff, being popular enough to have a mega-ministry or any of the other
selfish reasons we pursue the things of God.
Our salvation
must be about discovering how we, as individual believers, fit into God's
overall plan of getting Jesus the reward for His suffering. He did His part by
suffering and dying to save mankind. Once He finished His task, He sat down at
the right hand of the Father and passed the baton to the Holy Spirit, who now
has the assignment of getting Jesus His reward! Right at this very moment,
Jesus is still sitting there, waiting to receive the nations - the ones who
have heard the gospel, felt the love of God tug on the hearts and answered His
invitation for salvation.
What we need
to understand is that there's only one way that the nations are going to
be reconciled back to Jesus and that's through the ministry of those who have
already been redeemed! Hear me when I tell you that true kingdom building is
not about fame or fortune or making a name for yourself.It's literally about each one, reach
one.
This is what
the Moravian missionaries caught in their spirits that we're missing every day!
They understood that the only real reason for being saved is so that the Lamb
that was slain may receive the reward of His suffering! They never set foot in
another pulpit. They never again dressed to impressed. They weren't concerned
about their own personal comfort level, their title or even their names being
remembered in history.
They were only
concerned about one thing ~ Giving their lives to make sure that Jesus received
His reward of those 3000 unsaved souls who would now have the chance to meet
their Savior. That became their only reason for being saved and nothing else mattered!
In today's
world, we've made being saved about everything but that! I've been saved since
1981 and I only heard about Jesus getting His reward a few months ago and I had
to ask myself some tough questions:
If I haven't
been living my life to make sure that Jesus gets His reward, then why am I
really saved? If I've lived my life as a Christian for any other reason, has my
salvation been in vain? If the only true reason to be saved is for each one to
reach one and lead them back to Jesus then what have we been doing with all the
gifts that God has given us? I know this is a hard saying, but it simply must
be said.
If we're not
living our lives with the purpose of giving back to Jesus the souls He died to
save, then we're living our lives without purpose.
We often quote
John 3:16 which speaks to what Jesus did on our behalf ~ "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."
But how often
do we quote 1 John 3:16 ~ "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he
laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the
brethren."
Jesus has done
His part and He's waiting to receive the reward He earned for His suffering.
Now it's time for us to get real about why we're really saved. If you're just
holding out waiting to cash in your ticket to heaven, without tapping into your
true purpose in God, you just may get your seat among the great cloud of
witnesses much sooner than you think! Instead of accomplishing every
assignment that God placed on the inside of you, your purpose could go
unfulfilled as you sit on the sidelines of heaven, prematurely, watching
while someone else completes your unfinished work and then receives your unclaimed
reward.
It's time we
face this truth and ask the Lord these three questions then be open to receive
whatever the Lord has to say:
Am I doing all that you have in mind for me?
Am I living the live you’ve designed for me or the life I’m
envisioning for myself?
If not, then where am I missing it and what do I need to do to
get to the place you want me to be?
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