Edited Message by Elder David Yeo at Evening Service on 26 January 2014

Introduction

We have to remind ourselves that there is a vast difference between religion and salvation. There is sometimes confusion concerning genuine redemption that comes only through the shed blood of our Lord Jesus Christ and what we may see going on around us, i.e. a great revival of church joining,  just as being saved is not simply having our names in our church attendance sheet.

Firstly, it would be good to understand what  salvation is. Listening to the many messages over the years, we must have a sense that salvation is precious and it is a gift given from God. We also know that we have to believe, trust, and have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins, that we may yet be saved.  We must have heard that salvation includes forgiveness of sin and the confession that we are all sinners. It is also about eternal life with God. To have salvation we know that there must be a Saviour who saves us from eternal damnation.  

One good definition of salvation is from our Basic Bible Knowledge notes: “Deliverance from the penalty and power of sin.” All these definitions and messages we have heard in the past should make it the highest priority in our lives to learn about salvation - and for the saved, to have confidence that our salvation cannot be corrupted.

1.   Our Salvation is from an incorruptible God.

“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.” (Romans 1:21-23)
In the verses above, Paul writes about the Gentiles who when they knew God, turned away and refused to glorify Him as God and were unthankful. They became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts were darkened, leading to idolatry - thus changing the God that is incorruptible into an image that is man-made.

To understand what it means to have an incorruptible God we start with understanding the opposite, i.e.  what is corruptible? Man, unlike God, is corruptible and all that man makes is corruptible too. A man-made idol cannot even defend itself as it is both lifeless and corruptible, How can it grant salvation to man? Surely we can see the foolishness of idol worshippers?  When something is called corruptible in the biblical sense, it points to a substance that can decay, be spoiled and ruined. One of the most sinful things is to create an image or an idol to worship. Or perhaps worship something that God has created, for example the sun, a tree or perhaps a grand mountain. The rebelliousness of idol worshippers lies in refusing to believe that “the glory of the incorruptible God” is not like corruptible man or that God’s creation, which “groans under the bondage of sin  as though without hope,” is not to be worshipped. (Romans 8:22)

Now that we have some understanding of what is corruptible, let us turn our attention to understanding the meaning of an “incorruptible God.” Hebrews 7:16 records that Jesus Christ is “made ... after the power of an endless life.” Our God is the true God who is from everlasting to everlasting.

“Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.” (Psalm 90:2)

God is before any beginning and has no end. God is the Creator and everything else is His creation. That is the essence of an incorruptible God.

Therefore as God is everlasting to everlasting, it follows that God must be supreme and His existence is therefore incorruptible. Just as nothing can be true and untrue at the same time, we know that our incorruptible God cannot be corruptible. We must then surely have the assurance that because our salvation comes from an incorruptible God, it is not tainted, it is not impure, it cannot be destroyed and it is not uncertain.

We must realise that our only real hope lies in the truth that God is incorruptible. Think about it this way. It is His incorruptibility with which, though we are sown in corruption, we are raised incorruptible, because our God is incorruptible. (I Corinthians 15:42–45)
Let us all rejoice in the fact that we know God is incorruptible and say, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (I Timothy 1:17)

At this juncture knowing that our God is incorruptible, it is important for us to re-visit how salvation was brought about from our incorruptible God. John 3:16 says, “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.” God’s only begotten Son would then have to suffer the cruel death of being crucified for you and for me. Have you ever thought that when Christ hung on the cross for sinners like us, God being the supreme God who created this world, could have said “enough is enough, well done my Son” and released Jesus from the cross to end His suffering? If that were so then we have to ask where would our salvation be? Surely, we who are all sinners, would be without the hope of eternal life and reconciled to God.

The Bible records otherwise and instead, the image in our minds is that when Christ said, “my God, why has thou forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34) that God allowed all that was to happen and His Son willingly paid the price for us that we may be redeemed. He paid our debts for our sins. The last words uttered by Jesus Christ gives us confidence that all that had to be done for our salvation was accomplished when He said, “It is finished.” (John19:30).

2. Those that have salvation by faith are covered by the incorruptible blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Have you wondered by what means our salvation has been brought about? Was it by the most precious material known to man? By gold, diamonds and rubies? No, our salvation was not wrought by materials that can be corrupted or broken or tarnished. It is easy to understand that anything that can be corrupted cannot redeem the soul. Therefore no golden idols laden with precious stones have any value for true salvation. We are redeemed only by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The words from First Peter Chapter 1:18-19 are about the precious blood of Christ:
 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:”
The blood of Jesus Christ  as written in 1 Peter is incorruptible because:
Firstly though He was man, He was God and therefore the blood of Jesus is the blood of God.
Secondly, though He was also man, He was sinless. 2 Cor 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” The blood of One who knew no sin must be incorruptible.
And thirdly,  He was born of a virgin  and that means His blood is extraordinary and precious. The mother of Jesus is Mary, who conceived as a virgin. The Father of Jesus is God. Does that make the blood that pulsates through the veins of Jesus Christ special? Yes it must because not only is His blood from One that  is without sin, it is God’s blood. Do I understand this from  a physiological perspective?  My honest answer is no. But do I accept and believe this? I have to say yes. Why? Because the Word of God says so and that is why we need to believe it. Simply, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” (Rom. 3:4)
We must sometimes thank God for our inability to understand all things because then there is no need for faith to be exercised. God’s wisdom is not our wisdom. I am glad that redemption by the blood of Christ that covers and protects us when we stand in awe before our God in all His holiness is beyond our understanding. If we have not seen and sometimes do not fully comprehend and yet we believe, we are blessed. Jesus says so: John 20:29 records:

“Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.”

When we are covered with the incorruptible blood of Jesus Christ as we stand before God, this precious and incorruptible blood is our means by which we will hear God say, “Enter thou into the joys of thy Lord.” Do all of us believe that? In our hearts and with faith we must say that we do.

……..to be continued.

More Lively Hope

© Hope Bible-Presbyterian Church
14 Bedford Square, Colonel Light Gardens, South Australia 5041