Grace Baptist Church, Nokomis, IL.

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I love how cliché firefighter movies are. There’s always the same scene in every firefighter movie. There’s always this huge fire that was probably started by an arson who turns out to be a firefighter, and at this fire, there’s also a small girl trapped on the second floor of the house. She’s curled up in a ball, rocking herself in a corner because she’s completely terrified and knows that she’ll soon be dead. But then just as the ceiling starts to cave in from the fire, a firefighter bursts in, picks her up, and carries her to safety.

That’s what salvation is. Salvation is God coming to our rescue when we have no hope of life.

For the rest of the year, we’re going to be talking about why Christ came. Christ came with several purposes. Christ came to save. Christ came to heal. Christ came to die. Christ came to glorify God. And Christ is coming again.

And while all of these are tied together in one way or another, they’re also distinct. The one we’re probably most familiar with is that Christ came to save. 1 Timothy 1:15 says, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Luke 19:10 says, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

And actually, each of Christ’s other purposes in coming (to heal, or to die, or to glorify God, or the fact that He’s coming again) all depend or expand on His purpose to save in one way or another. If Christ came to save us, then He also came to heal us and creation of all sin and the effects of sin. If Christ came to save us, then He had to die. If Christ came to save us, it wasn’t because we’re so lovable, but it was to glorify God. And Hebrews 9:28 says that Christ is coming again to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.

You know, we talk a lot about the fact that Jesus came to save us, but we need to always remember just what Christ did for us to save us: He died on a cross, suffering a gruesome death, not because He had to, but because He loved us and desired that we would be rescued from an eternal death.

“And Jesus cried out and said, ‘Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.’” (John 12:44-50)

Jesus makes some pretty bold claims about Himself in these verses. In verse 44, He says, “If you believe in me, you don’t just believe in me, you believe in God.” In verse 45, He says, “If you see me, you don’t just see a person, you see God.” In verses 49 and 50, He says, “Everything I’ve said comes not just from me, but from God the Father who sent me, so you must obey it.”

The most important question you can answer in your life is this: who is Jesus? Was he merely a nice moral teacher who led a small cult and then died? Or was he God in the flesh, God the Son, the second Person of the Trinity? In this passage, Jesus wasn’t leaving any room for people to understand Him as merely a nice, moral teacher. He was claiming to be sent from God, and speaking for God, and equal with God. Our whole faith rests on Jesus being the Son of God who came to take away the sin of the world! He’s why we rejoice! He’s why we have victory! He’s why we come here and worship! Don’t come merely to see your friends. Don’t come for the music. Don’t come because you think I’m an awesome preacher, because one day you’re going to wake up and realize just how bad of a preacher I am. Seriously. I stutter, and sometimes I just don’t make much sense. Don’t come for me. Come because you love Jesus!

We need to be so dependent upon God that we follow Him no matter who preaches. It’s like going to a certain restaurant because you like a certain waiter. A good waiter can make a huge difference when it comes to your meal, but if they have bad food, you wouldn’t go to that restaurant. You go to a restaurant because you like the food there. The chef is the important one. The waiter isn’t all that important. I mean, you need a decent waiter. You don’t want someone who’s going to spit in your food. But the food is the important thing. So many people attend church because of the pastor or the denomination, and somewhere in the excitement of personalities and programs they forget that they’re there because they need the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. So be devoted to God, and be thankful that Christ came to save you from your sin.

And sometimes we do the same thing even with Christmas. We make Christmas about everything else rather than about Christ. We make it about the presents and the sales and the reindeer, and snowmen, and decorations, but the message of Christmas is that Christ came! So don’t be so wrapped up with Christmas tradition or commercialism that you fail to celebrate Jesus. He came to save us.

Because the Bible says that without Jesus, we all live in spiritual darkness. We’re blind. We’re full of sin. We’re incapable of finding our way. We’re desperate for help, and there’s no way that we can find our own way to eternal life.

I heard a story about a man who was driving home from work late at night, and his car broke down. He couldn’t figure out what the problem was. He checked the oil, he checked the water, everything looked ok. He considered calling a tow truck or walking to a gas station, but he didn’t have the money for a tow and the nearest gas station was 3 miles away. And it was so bad that he called his wife and said, “I need help.” Now when a man does that, you know he just feels like there’s no other way. He’s desperate.

We need to get that way before God. We need to humble ourselves and ask God for help. We need to realize we’re in trouble without Him. We need to be desperate for Jesus. Not for a certain church, not for a certain preacher, but for Jesus, because only Jesus is God. And when we do that, our lives are lit up by the light of Jesus.Jesus said, “I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness.” When we trust in Jesus, we have hope! We have life! Our eyes are opened so that we can see Him and see God’s beauty and see God’s truth!

But this doesn’t mean we’re perfect yet. We still live in a dark world, and sometimes that darkness overwhelms us still. But as we walk with Christ, who is the light of the world, we grow in our faith and holiness as we read His Word and speak with Him in prayer, so that we see more and more of God’s beauty every day, until that day when God calls us home to Heaven and God completes the process in us so that there is no darkness in or around us. And God will do that for everyone who trusts in Christ for salvation. Which means, of course, that whoever does not believe in Jesus Christ will remain in darkness. And those who remain in darkness will not inherit eternal life. They will be judged for their sin.

And yet, when Jesus came, He said that He did not come to judge the world, but to save the world (v. 47). Now, Jesus wasn’t saying that He would tolerate all beliefs and all lifestyles. He wasn’t saying that He would save the world regardless of what they believe. He even mentions how His own words have judged those who reject Him.

Jesus is often lifted up as an example of tolerance. But Jesus was very intolerant. Jesus did not tolerate hypocrisy. He called out the Pharisees. He drove out the money-changers. Jesus did not leave room for other religions. He said, “I am the way!” He said, “Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son has not seen life.” Whenever someone tells you that you should be more tolerant, or that you shouldn’t judge, simply ask them, “Am I wrong that Jesus is the only way?” And if they say yes, they’ve done the very thing they want you to stop doing! They’ve judged you, judged your faith, and they’re intolerant of Christ. So tell them, “Stop judging me!”

A major problem with the world today is that we’ve exalted tolerance and peace as greater virtues than truth. There can be only one truth, and Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.” So anyone who does not have Jesus does not have life.

Yet Jesus desired salvation even for those who were rejecting Him. He was speaking about His desire for them. Jesus came to save the world! He didn’t come to judge the world, or to condemn the world. He didn’t have to! We all deserve condemnation because our own sin. We all deserve condemnation because none of us have obeyed God’s Word perfectly. But Jesus came to save sinners. Without Him, we would have had no hope! But Jesus came, and He came to save the world, so if anyone trusts in Him, they would have eternal life!