Monday, April 7

by Ann Sanders

We feel peace in knowing that Jesus Christ is our redeemer and savior. But what does salvation mean and how did Jesus achieve salvation for us? 

Salvation is God’s promise of new and everlasting life – a life beyond our life on earth. It is God’s victory over sin and death, and it is achieved through the life and death of God’s son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus was fully divine and fully human. We relate to Christ’s humanity, in that Jesus experienced an earthly life: he walked among us and we have shared human experiences. But Jesus was also divine: a more difficult concept for us to get our hands around. Importantly, he was without sin; this makes him different from you and me.

God forgives us of our sins and also gives us everlasting life through the life and death of God’s son, Jesus Christ. Jesus submitted himself to the will of God, his Father. He allowed himself to be unfairly tried and convicted, and he experienced a painful death of crucifixion. Then Christ descended into hell. Christ submitted to such suffering to make us right with God. Only through his humanity could Jesus reconcile us to God – through his unjust and painful death and descent into hell. 

But that is not the end of the story. Jesus, as a divine being, gives us new life. He returns to life with his resurrection, and with this act, God is triumphant over death, and new life is given to humankind.  Righteousness is restored; that is, God’s mercy and truth prevail, and we are invited to participate in God’s kingdom. We will never be divine (so we shouldn’t act as if we are!), but through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are adopted into God’s family and, as humans, can try to live as Christ did on earth. Walking with Christ as we lead our lives, with the promise of life everlasting, brings us peace and comfort indeed.


Lift in prayer today
Hope Haven, providing life skills and support
for homeless, chemically dependent adults and their families