We close this week by looking at something that should be a very easy and comforting truth for us to believe—Jesus is our Savior.  This was the very purpose of Him coming into this world.

Matthew 1:21 (ESV)
²¹  She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

This was the plan of God from the beginning.  In Genesis 3, the same chapter where we read of the introduction of sin into the world, we read of the future victory of our Savior over Satan and sin.

Genesis 3:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

This verse is called the protevangelium (“the first gospel”) of the Old Testament.  Even though it comes in the form of a curse, it is the first glimpse of redemption for mankind.   The “you” refers to the devil (John 8:44; 2 Corinthians 11:3, 14; Revelation 12:9), and “the woman” is Eve.  The “offspring” of the serpent refers to all who become his followers.  The woman’s “offspring,” while it can be applied to humanity in general, (seeing that Eve is the mother of all living [Genesis 3:20]) finds its specific fulfillment in Christ.

There would be a constant hostility between the devil’s offspring and the woman’s offspring, that is, between the followers of Satan and of Christ, but the most significant battle would be between the devil and Jesus.  The great promise of this passage is that Christ would win this battle by dying on the cross.  While His heel would be wounded, a reference to His crucifixion, He would, in the process, destroy the power of the devil, thereby crushing his head (Hebrews 2:14).

It took the death of Christ for Him to become our Savior, but in the end, He condemned sin in the flesh (Romans 8:3), giving man the hope of eternal life.  We lost immortality due to sin, but on the cross, Jesus retrieved it, and now offers it to all who believe in Him (2 Timothy 1:8-10).

Do you believe that Jesus is your Savior?  If you do, act like it.  We should all have confidence in our salvation, and that confidence should be based on what Jesus did for us, not our own accomplishments.

Philippians 3:3 (ESV)
³  For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—

You cannot claim to believe in Jesus and then think that He failed at His job.  If you have obeyed the gospel, His blood successfully washed away your sins.  All you have to do is remain faithful to Him (Revelation 2:10), and God will do the rest.

Philippians 1:6 (ESV)
⁶  And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.