"Luther Quotations": #4
"...who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age..." (1; 4)
Are you on the cruise ship or in the water?? Part 1
There is a very big difference between a man who is on the deck of a huge cruise ship looking out toward the sea and seeing 25 hungry sharks, and another man in that same sea surrounded by those same hungry sharks! The first man is in no need to be rescued, the second man is in great need of being rescued and is certainly unable to rescue himself. The man on the cruise ship is calm while the man in the ocean is desperate for someone to help him in his helpless condition.
These two men serve to illustrate a very important spiritual truth: the first man on the deck of the ship sees no personal danger and is in no need in any way of being rescued by some outside agent. This man is symbolic of a man/woman who trusts their own good works and virtue and thinks that those good efforts make him acceptable with God. God is pleased with his life and goodness. Therefore, no need to be rescued! No need to panic!
However, the second man who happens to be in the water surrounded by hungry sharks has a different perspective: Spiritually speaking, he has come to understand his spiritual condition as God sees it. He sees himself as a "sinner," accountable before God and guilty in His sight, and unable to change or correct that condition. He sees himself/herself in a most desperate need of being rescued by someone other than himself/herself.
The entire population of the world can be divided into these two types of people:
One type are those who consider themselves safe and secure in the belief that their own virtue surely makes them acceptable to God. No need of rescue.
The second type of person understands from God's vantage point, that they are not good but evil, and also understand that only Christ completely and alone can rescue them from such a helpless and desperate condition.
Which person are you?
Do you trust yourself to rescue you from Gods anger and wrath, or do you trust Christ alone to rescue you?
"...(Christ Jesus) who gave Himself to rescue us from this present evil age..."
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