It s a Wonderful Life: Dec. 14 You are now in a Wonderful Salvation

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1 It s a Wonderful Life: Dec. 14 You are now in a Wonderful Salvation The story the rescue of Cabanatuan On January 30, 1945, almost exactly 70 years ago during World War II, United States military conducted it s largest rescue operation of POWs ever. After the surrender of tens of thousands of American troops during the Battle of Bataan, many were sent to a Cabanatuan prison camp following the Bataan Death March. The Japanese transferred most of the prisoners to labor camps or mining prisons, leaving just over 500 American and other Allied POWs and civilians in the prison. For 3 years these POWs faced brutal conditions including disease, torture, and malnourishment. At the end of 1944, General Douglas MacArthur and his American forces had returned to Luzon to liberate the Philippines. The Allied forces feared the 500 POWs would all be executed. The POWs were unaware of their impending doom. The enemies were going to destroy the incriminating evidence against them by executing their prisoners and then retreat. In late January 1945, a plan was developed by Sixth Battalion Army leaders and Filipino guerrillas to send a small force to rescue the prisoners. It consisted of 120 Army Rangers and 200 Filipino Resistence fighters. The chance of this plan working was slim to none, as the prison camp was occupied by hundreds of Imperial soldiers, it was situated on flat ground where over 400 yards of brush and trees had been cleared away to spot any escapees or attackers, and almost 10,000 enemy troops were occupying the city of Cabanatuan, just 4 miles away. A group of Rangers and Scouts and Filipino guerrillas hiked 30 miles (48 km) behind enemy lines to reach the camp. The chance of them being detected by enemy forces or spies before the rescue was almost 100%. But miraculously, they made it. In a nighttime raid, under the cover of darkness, the group surprised the Japanese forces in and around the camp. Hundreds of enemy troops were killed in the 30-minute coordinated attack; the Americans suffered only 2 casualties. Then the Rangers, Scouts, and guerrillas had to carry, cart or help the POWs back to American lines miles away. The rescue allowed the prisoners to tell of the death march and prison camp atrocities, which sparked a new rush of resolve to fight and end the war. The scariest reality of this rescue was that the 500 men had no idea that death for them was eminent in the next few days. They didn t know that the enemy planned to wipe them out as they retreated from the Luzan province. Jesus Birth Salvation for man 1

2 In the same way, God orchestrated the greatest rescue effort of all time the rescue of all humanity and creation by sending His own Son as a man to become the representative substitution for our sin....for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11... A Savior The Savior if you choose... TITLE: YOU ARE NOW IN A WONDERFUL SALVATION Movie: It s a Wonderful Life. Sign: You are now in Bedford Falls What could be more familiar than the Christmas story -- and yet what could be more extraordinary? The cast of characters is strange and exotic: shepherds and magi, an emperor and a despot, angels, a teenage mother, and a baby who is Almighty God. The strangeness calls for an explanation. Why go through all the trouble? In a word - Salvation What if Jesus had never been born? The entire idea here is that if Jesus hadn t been born, we would not be able to be saved. We wouldn t be saved from sin, satan, social evil and self. Not only are we saved from these things, were saved for good things. Good works, faith, obedience, worship, sonship, destiny, purpose, & on & on. If Jesus hadn t been born, we would still be living in the dark prison cell of sin. We d be constantly tortured by satan s hoard and we d be suffering from every sickness of the soul and spirit. We d be racked by guilt and paralyzed by shame. We d be without God and without hope in this world! Jesus was the God who was born a man so that he, without any sin, could save sinful humanity for all time from all the affects of sin! God appears to Joseph, husband of the virgin Mary, in a dream and said, She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." - Matthew 1:21 NIV Jesus is the Greek word for Joshua, which the Jews knew was equivalent to Savior. The fact that God chose the Greek or gentile name shows that God is concerned about salvation for everyone, not just the Jews. The history of salvation is not a small event, on a poor planet, in the immensity of the universe. It is not a minimal thing that happens by chance on a lost planet. It is the motive for everything, the motive for creation. Everything is created so that this story can exist, the encounter between God and his creation. Pope Benedict XVI That One word, salvation, sums up everything.. it changes everything. 2

3 ...He will save his people from their sins. The starting point of salvation is Jesus birth the rescue effort began at his birht and continued through His resurrection. God used all 33 years of Jesus life on earth to prepare for the greatest rescue ever! One word changed everything: Salvation through Christ changes everything. We can become over familiar with this idea and truth and event of Jesus birth salvation doesn t mean much unless you re the one being saved. Salvation meant a lot to the 500+ POWs who were within days of ghastly starvation or mass execution. Salvation didn t mean much to citizens living in Southern California sitting on the beaches at that time. Some events in life change you. A new job changes. Getting married changes you. A new baby changes you. Your victories and scars change your life. Being saved from death changes you. But for the Christian the pivotal event in life is salvation of our souls. It was that moment we were plucked out of the depth of sin and our chains fell off. It was the moment we were plucked from the orphanage of hopelessness and despair and we were adopted. Christ s salvation formed a continental divide between our aimless, meager life and the abundant life that is in Christ. Jesus work for our salvation changes everything. This message of salvation echoes and repeats throughout Christ s advent. Scriptures: Luke 1 67 His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied: 68 "Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed his people. 69 He has raised up a horn of salvation (Army of One not Chuck Norris!) for us in the house of his servant David 70 (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), 71 salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us-- 72 to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, 73 the oath he swore to our father Abraham: 74 to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear 75 in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. Salvation soteria from sozo [word study] = save, rescue, deliver, describes the rescue or deliverance from danger, death & destruction. Salvation is a broader term in Greek than we often think of in English. Other concepts that are inherent in soteria include restoration to a state of safety, soundness, health and well-being as well as preservation from danger of destruction Salvation is not just rescue it s about who has the power to save, then to liberate, then to give a life worth living and more. 3

4 George Bailey saves people George saved Harry his brother from drowning. George also saved the pharmicist s (Mr. Gower) patient from poisoning, and Mr. Gower from going to prison. George even saved his company from destrution. George gives people a new life through his Savings & Loan and raises their quality of life. George saves Violet from a life of wickedness. He saves his uncle Billy from a life of insanity. But if George had not been born, his brother would have died, Mr. Gower would have gone to prison, Uncle Billy would have gone insane When George rescues his brother from the pond he end s up losing his hearing in one ear. It s like Jesus being wounded for our transgressions It cost God something. If Jesus hadn t been born, there s no chance for people to be saved from sin, from society or from self & Satan. But then George comes to the great crisis of his life. Who can he turn to save him? Let s take a watch... PLAY FIRST CLIP Why did God save us? Why do we need to be saved? Not just because no one else would do it. We need to be saved because we re really in that bad of shape. We are in much worse shape than we know and the situation is more dire than we d ever imagined. We re spiritually separated from God and dead, we re emotionally sick. We re relationally dysfunctional. We re mentally multi-phobic. We re physically frail and after about 20 years of life everything goes downhill towards death! We don t just need a good teacher, or life coach, or moral guide, or boss, or spouse or even a good mom/dad. We need a savior! Counterfeit Saviors As Christians, we can believe that Jesus saved us, yet live as if we can save ourselves. Ever since humanity sinned, we ve relied on counterfeit saviors. We try saving ourself through hard work or learning more or by being moral. But when that doesn t work, we next look around us for people to save us. Maybe the government, maybe our employer, maybe our therapist. But when that doesn t solve the deepest problems of our soul, we then become spiritual. We construct a system of belief that insulates us from the reality of our selfishness. We choose to believe what is convenient, what makes us feel good, what inspires us to get up & just live. But most people default to a Savior that s not God s Son A Counterfeit Savior. Excerpt from Counterfeit Gods: Pg. XVIII We worship a savior - whatever is. 4

5 What does your Savior look like? Like this dollar? Like this Liquor Bottle? Like this drug? Like the person you see in the mirror? (self-saved). We might be able to save ourselves from drug dependency, but to save ourselves from all sin, all evil, all bad, all selfishness, all self-destructive habits only Jesus can do that! Jesus the original Superman of all time From another place before time began With God the Father before any beginning then willingly and joyfully offers to become human to save humanity. This is our Savior. Not a sinful savior, but sinless. Not a secretly dark hero, but surrounded completely by light. Not a weak savior who can only rescue a few, but a strong savior who can rescue all who call out to him! Not an alien savior who doesn t understand humanity, but a Savior who became human who can understand us in every way. In all the superhero movies Spiderman, Batman, Superman, the Avengers, etc. People are saved, sometimes in dramatic fashion from a burning building, a lethal monster, a deadly freefall. But the heroes have no power after the saving act to help them with a meaningful, fulfilling, glorious life. As I mentioned from the Rescue at Cabanatuan. Jesus rescue of us was anything but easy. But after the rescue, to provide the rescuees with life, grace, faith, hope, joy, - Only God s Son could have pulled it off. According to Jesus, what I think about him and how I respond will determine my destiny for all eternity. Philip Yancey If we are really saved by Jesus, we ll want to really live. We ll want to live the kind of life that would please Jesus and honor him. Live Saved! Let s look at what George Bailey decided to do: PLAY SECOND CLIP If we re really saved and glad about it, we re going to live a new way. If you re saved by Jesus and you know it, Live in this way: Forgive graciously... Love recklessly...pray passionately... Trust ruthlessly Share your faith consistently... Give generously Serve graciously... Obey joyfully... Worship thankfully MINISTRY TIME: 1. Pray for everyone, that we d live in light of such a great salvation 2. Ask if anyone needs saving from what s wrong in the world caught up in drugs, ungodly sex, porn, lying, false religion, etc. Caught up in Self Everyone to recommit lives to Savior Jesus 4. Respond and worship Jesus! 5

6 Outline 1. Introduction Great Raid 2. Jesus birth marks human salvation 3. What is Salvation? 4. Jesus is the great Savior of all time 5. Counterfeit Saviors 6. Conclusion and altar call What do we want to see happen this Sunday? People get saved People recommit their lives to Christ People worship God because He sent his son to save us What do we want them to know? Jesus is the Savior of the world. We don t just need a teacher, role model, parent, guide or good person we need God s savior. To know what true, biblical salvation is. What does it mean to be saved by Jesus. To live saved? Why do we want them to know it? To raise people s expectation of life. To rise above the struggle and grind of life and live the way God desires. So we can live our lives in the light of this transformational truth instead of living like Jesus never appeared or ministered or died and rose again to save us. What do we want them to do about it? Not sweat the small stuff and get caught up in what s not important. Live for Jesus like a life-debt live forever indebted to Jesus with appreciation, honor, obedience and dedication. 6