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5. Salvation for the Whole World Is Completed!
Some religions teach that salvation is based on good deeds. Others think that good works will cancel bad works. Most of these religions impose heavy burdens and laws on their followers that no one can really carry. History and reality prove that the revelation in the Torah and the Gospel states the truth, saying:
Anybody not confessing and teaching this basic truth does not know God, nor will he ever understand His nature. The holy God is full of love. Before Him, even the best works and virtues, with all good deeds appear polluted with selfishness. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us, and we make God a liar.
Dear Friend: Do you realize that every sin, regardless how small, requires the death of the sinner? Because of sin we are all condemned to death, and hell. No one is righteous, or worthy to live. We are all vanishing and fading as the holy Bible says:
But God, the compassionate and merciful, has postponed his wrath. He did not destroy the disobedient immediately according to his justice. He provided the guilty sinners with an escape. He gave them a substitute and guided them to the way of sacrifices and offerings. In earlier times, every guilty sinner had to come to the altar with an animal, place his hand on its head, and confess his sins before God. This was the sign that his sins were transferred to the head of his substitute. Then he had to kill the animal with his own hand. The sacrifice bled before it burned on the altar. God’s word says:
The guilty sinner, seeing the sacrifice burning in the flames of the fire upon the altar, had to realize that he himself should have died and been thrown into the fire, if there had not been the substitute, the slaughtered sacrifice that died instead of him. The old covenant was built upon bloody sacrifices, which were offered night and day.
Without a continuous reconciliation to God, there was neither forgiveness nor life.
The prophets of the Old Testament had known from God that all the sacrifices were only symbols, pointing to a last and complete sacrifice. Animals and other offerings were not adequate to fulfill the requirements of God’s righteousness and greatness. Even human sacrifice was considered unclean and hateful in the sight of God. The best person out of all men would not have been good enough to atone for another human being. There was no hope in the world.
Therefore, the almighty God appointed a pure and holy Lamb from heaven, able and worthy to take away the sin of the whole world. This Lamb was sent to the earth to die for all sinners and to burn in the flames of God’s wrath. God's Holy Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ, a mercy to the world and a grace to all who accept him.
He lived a life as a normal human being, filled with God’s love. He took our sins and carried them away. He suffered our punishment instead of us. God’s wrath was poured on him, who died rejected and despised of men.
Have you understood the kindness of God, who does not require impossible deeds from you? He has prepared a way since the beginning to justify and purify you by his grace. The Gospel tells us that the angel of God appeared to shepherds who watched their flocks by night, and said to them:
God has prepared a perfect salvation for us in Jesus Christ. We are witnesses to you with thanksgiving and praise to God that Christ has taken away our sins and purified our hearts. He has removed all our trespasses, which stood between the holy God and us. We say, with John the Baptist:
We do not have to try to work for our salvation any more. Christ has come and saved us by his death and has provided a free gift of eternal salvation for us. We can confess with the apostle Paul:
Have you come to this spotless Lamb of God, who took away your sins as well? Jesus Christ, the Lord, has substituted himself for all people. He was not born according to the will of man, but from the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit. He is the incarnate Word of God and the fullness of his Spirit in the flesh. The essence of God was manifested in the body of Christ.
Many refuse to believe in this truth. They reject the greatest blessing in heaven and on earth. Their hearts have become hardened and their minds confused. They do not realize that Jesus alone was born from the Spirit of God. He is the only one who had the authority and power to take away the sins of the whole world. Therefore: