Day 12: Complete Salvation

Yesterday, we finished with the person of Jesus coming into the house of Zacchaeus, thus bringing salvation.

Actually, the same principle is already indicated prophetically in the Old Testament. For instance, in Psalm 35, there's a prayer of David which is quite remarkable. David was under much oppression, he had many enemies, his life was in danger and in Psalm 35, verses 1 and 3 he prayed these words:

“Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. [Then he goes on] Say to my soul, ‘I am your salvation.’” (NASB)

That's a remarkable prayer. He didn't just say, "Save me." He said, "Present yourself to me as my salvation." And I believe that God recorded that prayer of David and just about a thousand years later He answered it when He sent Jesus. "Say to my soul, 'I am your salvation'". I want to tell you that less than God is not enough for salvation.

And again, it is prophetically foreshown also in Isaiah, chapter l2, verses 1 and 2:

“Then you will say on that day, ‘I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord; for although Thou was angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou dost comfort me. Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation.’” (NASB)

See, the same principle again. This represents God's person or God's child or the people of God as under the anger of God and then God's anger is turned away and he comforts them. And at that revelation, their explanation is: “God has become my salvation”. Just bear that in mind, dear friend, that anything less than God Himself is not sufficient for salvation but God has provided salvation in the person of Jesus.

To understand the full scope of the salvation that God has provided for us in Jesus, we need to look at the meaning of a particular verb that's used many times in the New Testament. In the Greek language, the verb is "sozo." It's normally translated, "to save", but it's also translated many other ways. And if you don't have access to the original Greek, there might be many times that this word,"sozo," "to save," is used, and you wouldn't recognize it because it's translated to heal, to cure, and so on. But every time it's used it means this is a part of what God has provided in Jesus the Saviour. This is the great, all-inclusive salvation which Jesus brings.

For instance, it's used of the healing of an incurable disease. A woman, who had haemorrhage, or an issue of blood that could not be cured medically and she came behind Jesus in the crowd and in faith she touched the border of his robe and she was healed. And then Jesus identified her. In Matthew 9:22:

“Jesus turned and saw her. ‘Take heart, daughter,’ he said, ‘your faith has healed you.’ And the woman was healed from that moment.” (NIV)

That Greek word there is saved, your faith has saved you. It wasn't just the salvation of her soul but it was the healing of her body. And then, that same word is used for deliverance from mental illness and demon oppression. In Luke 8 we read about a demoniac who had a legion of demons but he came to Jesus and Jesus drove out the demons and healed the demoniac. And this is the end of the story in Luke 8:35-36:

“The people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.” (NIV)

But the Greek word translated here ‘cured’ is ‘saved’, so, deliverance from mental sickness and demon oppression is all part of the salvation that's in Jesus.

It's also used about someone being brought back from death. Jesus went to the house of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue, and his daughter had just died. But Jesus said, "Don't be afraid; just believe that she will be healed," but the Greek word is, “she will be saved”. And then, Paul uses it, speaking of his confidence in God's power to keep him through to the end of his life. He says in 2nd Timothy 4:18: "The Lord will rescue me from every evil work and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom." "Bring me safely" in Greek is "will save me." So, it's the ongoing preservation of God as well. You see, salvation is God's total provision for every need of humanity in time and eternity.