“Jesus is the perfect Savior”
Romans 5:12-21
Abraham Lincoln is remembered by most Americans as the president who emancipated the slaves. He led the northern states to fight against the southern states to end slavery in America. He sacrificed his life so that thousands of slaves will be liberated from bondage. The lives of the slaves were forever changed when they were given equal rights as citizens of the country. But Abraham Lincoln was only able to set the slaves free from the physical and material condition. There is another slavery which is far greater and more devastating to the human soul. This is the slavery to sin and death. No other person can save us from this bondage except the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why is Jesus the perfect savior?
First, Jesus is the perfect savior because he alone has the accurate description of man’s spiritual condition. Scientists can describe man’s material and physical condition. Medical doctors can tell us what is wrong with our bodies and prescribe medicines to cure our ailments. Psychologists can describe our behaviors and suggest ways of dealing with our psychological problems. Educators describe our condition of ignorance and prescribe solutions for our inadequacies. These descriptions have their own values, but they do not define our true problem. Man’s true problem is sin. Man rebelled against God and is under condemnation and judgment.
A wrong diagnosis can led to wrong prognosis. A story is told about a ten year old boy who was caught stealing bolts from a rail road track. The authorities were in a dilemma because if they imprison him, he was a minor, but it they would let him go, he might steal again. The authorities decided to send the boy to a military school so that he would be given the best education under strict supervision of his mentors. He finished his elementary, secondary and college education with high honors. The authorities were happy that the boy who used to steal bolts was already a professional and a licensed engineer. When he worked in a railroad company, the people were surprised because the entire railroad disappeared. He stole the entire railroad! When he was a boy he stole bolts, but now that he was educated he stole everything. The real problem of the boy was not lack of education or poverty. His real problem was an evil heart.
Romans 5:12-17 “So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all people because all sinned – 5:13 for before the law was given, sin was in the world, but there is no accounting for sin 16 when there is no law. 5:14 Yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those who did not sin in the same way that Adam (who is a type of the coming one) transgressed. 5:15 But the gracious gift is not like the transgression. For if the many died through the transgression of the one man, how much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ multiply to the many! 5:16 And the gift is not like the one who sinned. For judgment, resulting from the one transgression, led to condemnation, but the gracious gift from the many failures led to justification. 5:17 For if, by the transgression of the one man, death reigned through the one, how much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ!
Transgression of God’s will is the problem of man and it leads to death. Only in Jesus do we see our real spiritual condition.
Second, Jesus is the perfect savior because he alone can provide solution to man’s spiritual need.
Jesus took the penalty for man’s sin so that man would be set free to be with him. Romans 5:18 Consequently, just as condemnation for all people came through one transgression, so too through the one righteous act came righteousness leading to life for all people. 5:19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of one man many will be made righteous. 5:20 Now the law came in so that the transgression may increase, but where sin increased, grace multiplied all the more, 5:21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
A story was told about a child who lost her parents in an accident. She was adopted by her grandmother and was raised like her own child. When the child started going to school, the grandmother noticed that the child was stealing from her classmates. Her bag was full of things belonging to her classmates. The grandmother confronted the child and warned her not to steal again. The child promised not to commit the same mistake. The grandmother told the child that if she would be caught stealing again, she would put a big needle in the fire and when it is red hot she would pierce it into the hand of the child. The child agreed and she stopped stealing for few weeks. However, one day the grandmother caught her stealing again. The child’s bag was again filled with stolen items. The grandmother took the needle and placed it in the fire, and when it was red hot, she took the hand of the child. The child closed her eyes and her tears streaming down her cheeks because she knew the pain would be great. But to her amazement, she did not feel any pain in her hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw that her grandmother was crying because the big needle was pierced into her grandmother’s hand. The grandmother took the penalty of the sin committed by the child. From that moment on, the child never stole again because she understood what her grandmother did for her when she took her place and took upon herself the penalty that was supposed to be given to the child.
Jesus is indeed our perfect savior because he accurately describes our spiritual condition and he alone can give solution for our spiritual need. Let us thank and worship him for there no one else like him.
