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?