Rescued by Jesus Christ

1 John 2:28- 3:3

Have you ever been rescued from death? What if you were sailing in the ocean and a storm came, your sail ripped, your motor was broke, your radio didn’t work, and you began to drift! You battled the storm, now hundreds of miles away from the shore, no communication, you feel as if your life will end hopelessly. After hours of prayer, you begin to see a light in the distance. There is a great hope on the horizon! Thoughts of death turn to the hope of life! It happens to be a Coast Guard cutter. The ship rescued you after days of drifting. You were treated for sunburn, dehydration, and were released. If you walk away from that experience without extreme gratitude for the men and women of the Coast Guard, you have missed the opportunity to be thankful. One response might be to continue on a self-consumed path to destruction of which you feel little to no gratitude. Another response would be that you feel so grateful for this organization that you join the Coast Guard Reserves. They saved your life, why not strive to save others too.

John is writing this letter to a church in Asia Minor, who some have walked away from. In verse 19 of Chapter 2 states this; “they went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us…” John is conveying the magnificent love, hope, and faith that we should have toward Christ, and the majestic love that Christ has for us! It’s a rescuing hope and love that transforms everything about us! Hope in Jesus is the great anchor of our soul!

Let’s define hope: Hope is the absolute confident affirmation that God is faithful, and that He will complete the promise He has begun in you and in His creation!

A Hope that Remains Confident (1 John 2:28) The word “abide” here means to remain. Those who remain, are truly and genuinely impacted by the rescue of Christ!  We see this word abide a lot in John’s writings. He uses it 60 times throughout his NT writings. It’s important! In John’s gospel, John 15:4 “Abide in me and I in you.”

A Hope that Reassures New Birth (1 John 2:29) It is impossible to be righteous in God’s sight apart from rebirth, apart from a saving relationship with Christ. What did Jesus tell Nicodemus? “Unless a man be born again!” God gives us an opportunity for life through rebirth by Christ!

A Love that is Received (1 John 3:1) Can you imagine that you are a child of God! You are His creation and your purpose is to glory Him and enjoy Him forever! Ephesians 1:4-5 “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” 

I believe it’s important to remind us of the rescuing love of God. In Psalm 23:6 “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The word follow in Hebrew means to track down! Like a hound tracking a bleeding deer, it will be found, of course unless a Chaplain shot it.

Romans 8:30 “And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” That’s a lot of theological words to say that God loves us enough to finish His word with us! It’s rigged for our good and God’s glory! 

A Love that Refines (1 John 3:2) “I’m not better than anyone, but because of Christ, I’m better than who I was. Philippians 1:6 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.” Jesus accepts us the way we are, but He will not allow us to remain the same! He loves us enough to refine us, make us more Christ-like, to transform us! Sign me up! 

A Hope that Restores (1 John 3:3)

“Our God does not intend His people to be shipwrecked. However, we would be shipwrecked and lost if we could not be held fast in the hour of temptation. Beloved, if every wind of doctrine whirled you about at will, you would soon drift away from the truth as it is in Jesus and your faith would be shipwrecked. But you cost your Lord too much for Him to lose you. He bought you at too great a price and values you too much to see you broken to pieces on the rocks. Therefore, He has provided a glorious safeguard for you so that when Satan’s temptation, your own sinful nature, and the trials of the world attack you, hope may be the anchor of your soul, both sure and steadfast.” (Finding Peace in Life’s Storms, pg. 39)” – CH Spurgeon

Traction for Life

Hope because of the amazing love Christ has for you! Love because of the amazing hope we have in Christ!