A Rescue Mission
“… Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.” Galatians 1:4 (MSG)
God wants to settle the differences between you and Him. He longs to rescue you, redeem you, and restore your life! He knows the sin that has devastated our lives and separated us from Him. Luke tells us that Jesus Christ came to our world on a search and rescue mission. In Luke 19:10, he writes, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” The problem is that most of us don’t realize that we are lost without Christ. But then a disaster hits, storms shatter our sense of security, and we find ourselves in need of help. We need God. We cannot save ourselves. The good news is that Jesus Christ came to rescue us! The Bible says, “God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.” Galatians 1:4c (MSG) Have you? Have you experienced that rescue that Jesus Christ came to offer you?
As I write this another team from our church is deploying for Lake Charles on a disaster relief mission from the devastation of Hurricane Laura. Last week a previous team reached out to rescue a family who suffered great loss of property damage from the storm. In an effort to recover from the damages, one of their family members succumbed to the heat and humidity with a severe heat stroke just days before our team arrived. As our team began to cut trees and remove debris from the property, the homeowner was overcome with a sense of gratitude and disbelief that a group of people he had never met would leave their comfortable homes from out of state and come to his home to rescue him and his family. Our team shared with him that they were there because Jesus left His home in heaven to come to the disaster of our world and rescue us from sin and death and hell. That homeowner gave his life to Christ! Have you done that?
We live in an evil world and bad things happen to all of us. The greatest evil is the pandemic of sin that would destroy us all were it not for the One who came to rescue us by offering Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Although it’s God’s plan that we would all experience that rescue, not all will. Just as that homeowner had to grant us his permission to enter his property and help him, we must open our hearts to Christ and receive His grace and forgiveness. You can do that today. You don’t have to be in a church or with a pastor. God is offering you His rescue right now. The Bible says, “… as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12 (NKJV) Receive His Son as your Savior from sin and experience the rescue He came to offer.
