Salvation begins with a Relationship

SALVATION BEGINS WITH A RELATIONSHIP

Mt. 1:18-25

Christmas is so near and what does that day mean to us?  For children it is all excitement as they look forward to the presents they will receive.  For some adults it will mean a break from work, enjoying a well-earned rest with family and friends and eating and drinking well, perhaps with none or very little spiritual input.  Others will dread Christmas.  They detest the way the world has commercialised this Feast.  For others it will be a lonely time.  Their loved ones are no longer with them.  For others the spiritual side of Christmas is so rich and they long for the coming of Jesus. 

I think the angel who spoke to Joseph in today’s Gospel sets the spirit and meaning of Christmas. “You must name Him Jesus, because He is the One Who is to save His people from their sins.”  The whole purpose of Christmas is for Jesus, the Son of God to become a Man and restore our relationship with His Father.  The angel was expressing the hopes and dreams of the entire world.  All the rest of the New Testament is a commentary on that statement, applying it to all of life.  This salvation that comes to each one of us through Jesus includes the whole person, not just the soul, but the mind, the body, work, home, personal and social life.

The essence of salvation begins with a relationship.  The angelic announcement identifies Jesus with those He is coming to save.  That possessive pronoun ‘His’ is a very important word. The people that Jesus will save are ‘His’ people.  He commits Himself to them and He claims them as His own.  Throughout His ministry, Jesus established relationships with those whom He would save.  He said to Peter, Andrew, James and John, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  That was the beginning of a relationship.  They left their families, boats and nets and followed Him.  Later He would say to these men, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.”  Between Jesus and these four fishermen there had grown a bond of trust that enabled them to become something they could never otherwise have been.

Christian salvation begins with a relationship.  That shouldn’t surprise us because all the saving experiences of life begin that way.  Take a good home, for example.  There is no greater redeeming influence in the world than a good home.  Children who come from a home where they are loved and experience mutual respect have a greater chance in life than those who do not.

What happens when children do not experience this loving relationship in their homes?  They find themselves at war with themselves and at war with others.  For them, the future is unhappiness, loneliness and distrust.  Some of them in time may find a person who believes in them, loves them and shows them respect.  Some respond to this and life will never again be the same for them.  Here we see that their salvation began with a relationship.

This experience is true of all of us.  Jesus came into the world to save ‘His’ people.  He committed Himself to us and claimed us as His own.  His purpose for coming on this earth was to establish and build with each one of us a saving relationship.  It all starts with that.

From this relationship there follows redemption.  The angel said that Jesus would save ‘His people from their sins’.  We often think of salvation only in terms of the future – rescued from evil and rewarded with Heaven.  That is true but it is not the full picture.  The redemptive work of Jesus is not just to lead us to Heaven totally divorced from the present.  The promise is that He will not only save His people from Hell but that He will save His people from present evils and misfortunes. 

Sin is a present reality.  We not only need a Saviour who will deliver us from punishment of sin at the end of life but who can deliver us from the power of sin in the midst of life.  This is the kind of Saviour the angel declared Jesus to be.  His salvation concerns itself not only with eternity but also with the present time.  That is the only salvation that has real meaning for life here and now.  We don’t want to know that we are saved in some sort of vague way in the future but that we are saved from specific concrete sins that beset our lives today.  We need to be saved from pride, greed, selfishness, bad temper, impatience and bitterness. This is the salvation Jesus came to give to the world. You can see it on every page of the Gospels – Jesus saving people from the grip of sin, lifting them above their littleness, giving them hope, making them truly alive and different.  He is still doing it today.  In every part of the world you will find all sorts of people who are being saved from their sins through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Lord Jesus, there is no need for us to go through life constantly defeated by our sins.  There is a way out. The angel spoke of it centuries ago.  “You must name Him Jesus, because He is the One Who is to save His people from their sins.”  That is the Good News You came to give our sinful world and that is why we rejoice and celebrate Christmas.  Let us long for Your coming and share the hope and joy Your birth brings us with those who need it this Christmas.

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