Jesus the [Rejected] Savior

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“[Jesus] came into the world he created, but the world didn’t recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn – not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God” (John 1:10-13, NLT)

Jesus, the divine Son of God, the true Light, came to the earth he had created but was rejected by most – but not everyone. All who put their faith in him, back then, today, and in the future, are reborn – spiritually, divinely transformed. John’s letter affirm that Jesus is the “Word of life” and “eternal life” (1 John 1:1-2). The salvation message is simple: Jesus, the God-man, entered human history, revealing sin and showing the way to eternal life. The first response is to recognize our sinfulness and to acknowledge that Jesus is the way. The second is to “believe” and “accept” the Savior.

When the first disciples believed and were regenerated by the Holy Spirit, they entered into a close relationship (“fellowship”) with the Father and with his Son. The readers may had not seen and heard Jesus themselves (as in 1 John 1:1), but they could trust that what the apostle John wrote accurate. Believers today – you and me – are like those second- and third-generation Christians. Though we have not personally seen, heard or touched Jesus, we have the New Testament record of his eyewitnesses, and we can trust that these eyewitnesses spoke the truth about him.

Think about this: When Jesus began his public ministry, many rejected him. Certain leaders felt his teaching threatened their status and authority. Some couldn’t believe his claims – to be God in the flesh, their Messiah. Others couldn’t get past Jesus’ humble beginnings, which hardly befitted a king. Some struggled with Jesus’ call to deny self. Today people reject Jesus for those same reasons. A man claiming to be God, the forgiver of sins, and the only way to heaven – that’s tough to swallow. But now, just as then, many do believe and received eternal life.

The word savior means “one who saves, rescues, or delivers.” Jesus the Savior has delivered you from your enemy, Satan, rescued you from sin’s power, and saved you from sin’s penalty. You’re forgiven, free and now a citizen and representative of God’s Kingdom to the world for Jesus. You’re God’s children.

The world needs Savior.

Jesus saves.

“Believe” and “accept” Jesus.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.

Reference: Life Application Study Bible Devotional: Daily Wisdom from the Life of Jesus (Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2011)