So Great a Salvation
When Jesus Christ hung on the Cross the last words He cried out were, “It is finished”! With His Blood He paid for it all – all sin past, present and future! He took our place so He could enter into Hell to strip and defeat Satan by taking back the power and the authority that Satan had stolen from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The book of Revelation, Chapter 1:18 shows us the victory Jesus won over Satan:
18 I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold,
I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the
keys of Hades and of Death.
Colossians 2:13-15 describes in detail what the victory entailed:
13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
With the victory won, Jesus had one last act to complete. When He was raised to life Jesus appeared to Mary and told her not to touch Him because He had to first go to His Father in Heaven. There Jesus presented His Blood to cover the Mercy Seat. At that time the terms of the New Covenant were sworn between God the Father and Jesus His Son. Jesus was given all authority in Heaven and Earth (Matthew 28:18). He is the Heir of all! When we prayed a prayer to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord of our lives and confessed that God had raised Him from the dead, we were saved (Romans 10:9-10). At that time we became joint heirs together with Christ (Romans 8:17). Ephesians 2:4-6 tells us that God has raised us up together and made us to sit in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, far above all principalities and powers. He has given us all authority over all demonic power and said nothing would harm us (Luke 10:19).
According to Matthew 16:19 Jesus has given us the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven: Matthew 16:19 (AMP)
19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and
whatever you bind (declare to be improper and unlawful)
on earth must be what is already bound in heaven; and
whatever you loose (declare lawful) on earth must be
what is already loosed in heaven.
When we were born-again, we received many privileges that belong to the children of the King. We were made citizens of heaven and given the title of “ambassador” by the Lord. The definition of the word ambassador is a person who is a high-ranking diplomat who represents his country’s affairs in another country. As citizens of heaven we are called to conduct our Father’s business in this world. We do that by presenting His love and His forgiveness to a dark and dying world. II Corinthians 5:20 (AMP) states:
20 So we are Christ’s ambassadors, God making His
appeal as it were through us. We [as Christ’s
personal representatives] beg you for His sake
to lay hold of the divine favor [now offered you]
and be reconciled to God.
Not only do we share the Father’s love as His ambassadors; we receive our needs met as His representatives. In the natural world, when an ambassador is sent to another country all of his provisions are provided for by the country he is representing – especially his protection while in a foreign land. Likewise, we can expect our Heavenly Father to meet our needs and protect us while we represent Him here on earth
(Psalm 91:11 AMP).
The gift of salvation became available to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection. The abundant life Jesus spoke of in John 10:10 is our inheritance as children of God. Jesus came to restore to us the freedom that Adam and Eve had when they walked with God in the Garden of Eden. The word “salvation” means so much more than going to heaven when we die. The Greek word for salvation is “soteria”. It literally means deliverance from danger and apprehension, pardon, restoration, healing, wholeness and soundness.
I believe “wholeness in every area of our lives” is the best way to describe salvation. It is healing for your body, peace for your mind, and righteousness for your spirit. The term includes physical and spiritual protection, prosperity and financial
blessing. It truly is the “salvation package” and God has taken care of every area of our lives. He is a good God Who takes very good care of us! The following scripture reminds us of His goodness:
Psalm 68:19–20 (NLT)
19 Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each
day he carries us in his arms. Interlude
20 Our God is a God who saves! The Sovereign LORD
rescues us from death.
Some people might ask, “If all these benefits are supplied for me in salvation, why am I not experiencing them?” While all of these benefits belong to us when we become born-again, they don’t come automatically. They can only be manifested in our life as we trust God for each one. For example, when you received Jesus as Lord it was because you heard the Word about how to be saved and made a decision to receive that promise. Even though salvation was yours, you continued to get sick.
Then you heard scriptures about healing such as Psalm 103:3 which says God heals all your diseases. You discovered I Peter 2:24 which says that by Jesus stripes you were healed. As you grew in the knowledge of what the Word promises in that specific area you began to walk in God’s provision for healing. The pattern is the same for all the provisions included in salvation.