How did Jesus save us on the Cross?
©2016 by George Yazigi
It is not easy to understand exactly what happened on the Cross in order for us to explain in details the series of events as they unfolded, however with the help of the Holy Spirit, and based on the Biblical evidence we have, we can arrive at an essential understanding of what happened but not necessarily in the details we would expect.
First we need to examine briefly how Sin propagated in to humanity.
When God created Adam and Eve He created them perfect with an independent will to make their own decisions.
This independent will is a key component of perfection, because if they were created dependent this would mean that they will always be relying on something or someone outside their existence for decision making. They would also be believing in God out of design not out of free will. This would make these two creatures also imperfect in the sense that they will always have to worship God out of pre programmed set of instructions not out of Love.
Being perfect means that they were created according to the highest standards which could be imagined, they were created after God’s image as shown in [Genesis 1:27], including but not limited to being without sin.
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s commandment, irrespective of what they did, whether they ate an apple, a forbidden fruit, or did something else, they practically denied the Godship of God and His authority by not listening to Him. They did this under the influence of the evil one, however they did this out of their own free will. Therefore, being the offspring of Adam and Eve, we inherited this rebellious act and its results. When I say “we inherited” I literally mean it, because if Adam and Eve did not sin against God, their offspring would have remained in the original perfect image God created them with, and we would have inherited the same initial perfection they had.
We were inside Adam and Eve; our genetic fabric was stained with the act of sin and its devastating results. A stark indication which sheds some light about the fact that acts (decisions) and their results are inherited is shown in [Hebrews 7:9-10] clearly indicating that Levi paid the tithes to Melchisedec when he was in Abraham’s loins. This means that all the offspring of Adam have inherited the stain of sin as “an act and as results”. Thus the need for a saviour and salvation plan to remove that stain and neutralise its results.
In order to do so, and because Sin entered humanity through a man the first Adam, Sin must leave humanity through a man the last Adam the Son of God Jesus Christ. This was made clear in [1 Corinthians 15:21-22] and [Romans 5:12-19].
So Jesus in His human nature through his life on earth had to reverse what Adam had done as per the following main themes:
1- Refuse the evil one, its influence and all its hissing, this was evident when Jesus the man was lead by the Spirit to be tempted by the evil one. Jesus went out of these temptations triumphant as shown in [Matthew 4:1-11], He also proved to be the only Son of God worthy of starting the ministry of salvation. If He had listened to the evil one or accepted to be under its influence, Jesus the man would have acted in the same way Adam did, and this would have brought devastating results to humanity. However Jesus had once and for all refused the evil one and did not accept to be under its influence, preparing the way for our salvation.
2- Complete obedience, Jesus had offset what Adam and Eve did against God the Father, by exhibiting profound and complete obedience to His Father, the obedience was not only in His words as shown in [Luke 22:42] and [Romans 5:19], but also in every action or decision He did. His obedience was so complete that both Jesus the man and the second person of the Godhead, the Son of God were one entity. Jesus as a man had the same option Adam had, to either disobey the salvation plan agreed with the Father, or to even optimise for His own benefit and create a plan B, however Jesus was not willing to compromise His love for humanity, and pursue His own personal plans, He refused to make a plan B, and was 100% faithful to His Father and the original salvation plan.
3- Utmost Love, Jesus in fact loved humanity till the extent that He laid down His life for His friends as shown in [John 15:13]. No human has ever done this without anything in return and without even putting any conditions. Adam and Eve went after their lust for knowing what the forbidden fruit had for them, they disobeyed and undermined God’s authority, just for them to get something in return as shown in [Genesis 3:6] they had a desire burning in their heart, in contrast Jesus had the greatest Love “burning in His heart” to save us as shown in [John 3:16].
Now how Jesus transmitted His act of salvation to us, and how He also saved those who died before this act?
The simple answer would be: what is impossible with men is always possible with God as shown in [Matthew 19:26]. However lets figure out a humanly comprehensible scenario based on the scriptures, in fact this is the only available truth about salvation:
A- We need to appreciate now that despite our sinful inheritance from Adam, our DNA and genes were created by God, and the executive creator was in fact the Son of God (the second person of the Godhead) who lived in Jesus Christ according to the flesh as shown in [Colossians 1:16], [John 1:1-3], [Hebrews 1:2-3], [Isaiah 9:6], and [1 Corinthians 8:6]. These verses imply that we, the offspring of Adam, are the defacto children of Jesus by the very simple fact that He created everything including us.
B- We also need to appreciate the fact that fatherhood through adoption is the equivalent of fatherhood through descent as shown in [Acts 7:21], [Psalm 27:10] and [Esther 2:7], even St. Paul goes a step further to argue that in fact the children of God are not those of the flesh (because God is Spirit) but those adopted with a promise as shown in [Romans 9:8-9].
C- A promise is similar to a contract, where two or more parties agree on certain terms. Legally, when people honour a contract they (must) exhibit adherence to and belief in what the contract stipulates, otherwise the party who doesn’t believe in the stipulated terms would be breaching the contract and behaving against its spirit and content.
For example wedding vows are a form of a promise or contract based on which the wedding certificate is issued:
“I, ___, take you, ___, for my lawful wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.” These terms are very clear and simple, if someone for example plans to leave his/her spouse because one of them got poorer or sick, he/she would be in a breach of the suggested contract.
Similarly God made contracts with us through promises and covenants, He promised Abraham a:
1- son, and indeed Isaac was born [Genesis 17:19]
2- land, and indeed Abraham and his descendants moved and lived in Canaan [Genesis 17:8], [Exodus 6:2-8]
3- holy nation, and indeed Abraham descendants became a great nation [Genesis 46:3] and later through Christ when the concept of a Holy Nation shifted into becoming exclusive to those who believe in Christ as shown in [1 Peter 2:9]
4- blessing, so that all families of the earth will be blessed (adopted as children) through Abraham’s seed as shown in [Genesis 22:18] and [Acts 3:24-26].
It is worth noting here the word “seed” and not “seeds” as it indicates that the blessing of the families of the earth will only occur via Jesus Christ the seed of Abraham as shown in [Matthew 1:1] and not by any other descendant of Abraham.
The 4th promise was the greatest of all and the most important one, because God has “legally” decided to adopt us as His children not only through the original creation act, but also using a legal contract to avoid any doubts and to reassure our troubled minds. So that we become the descendants of Jesus Christ through the promise, or covenant that God had made with Abraham. So that we inherit eternal life, and have it abundantly as shown in [John 10:10]. So that our DNA which was once stained with sin through Adam, is now cleaned and restored to its original substance, form, and purpose as descendants of the most High God through Jesus Christ holy blood which was shed on the Cross of Calvary.
In all these contracts God was always keeping His promise, He always did His part, even when we did not do ours as shown in [Genesis 15:17] He confirmed the covenant, He walked between the pieces alone. The only requirement from our side to honour the contract was to just have faith in what God was promising. This is exactly what happened with Abraham, by having faith he was called righteous and particularly by having faith in God’s 4th promise he was saved through Christ. This is also what happened to David, by faith his sins were forgiven through God’s promise that he will be blessed and considered a child of God because of Jesus cross. All people who believed (had faith) in God’s 4th promise to Abraham had honoured their part of the contract with God. As a result they are saved and forgiven their many sins including the original sin.
All people who believed and are going to believe in God’s universal promise to Abraham, which was fulfilled in Jesus Christ are adopted and truly considered children of God by faith through Jesus Christ as shown in [Romans 4:13-25], [Galatians 3:7-9], and [Galatians 3:13-18].
Jesus saved us on the cross because He honoured God’s 4th promise to Abraham, He completed the contract decreed by God and adopted us as His own children for free without anything in return. However for us to honour our part of this contract and execute it as a deed, we need to affix our signature on the contract by having faith in Jesus Christ.
Beloved, lets all sign this blessed contract of Grace by having faith in Jesus Christ, and declare that Jesus had saved us and removed our original Sin once and for ever, and cleansed us from all other sins, and lets stop sinning by following Jesus words which are revealed in the Holy Bible.
Blessings may be multiplied to you in Christ Jesus.