Some folk have this strange idea that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world on that first Christmas Day for the sole purpose of getting people into heaven. Ask them why Jesus, God’s Son, took on humanity and they will tell you that it was in order to die on Calvary’s cross on Good Friday to save our souls from eternal condemnation in some sort of pit of eternal destruction. Well, I can’t deny that that is a very, v\ery important part of Christian teaching in the Bible. But it is also woefully inadequate.
For starters you and I need a far bigger picture of the good news of the Gospel. The saving work of Jesus Christ is nothing less than to restore God’s broken and fallen creation. Okay, He’s going to finish that in a wonderful way one day when He returns on the clouds of heaven. At His return He will fully renew and restore this groaning creation. He won the right to do that by His death and resurrection. But He already began that work with His first coming. His purpose was to win a people who would be the salt of the earth and light for the world. He wants to begin, in and through them, His renewing and restoring work.
The point is that Jesus Christ was born and died on the cross, not merely to get us a ticket to heaven. It wasn’t just to make us humans into nice little Christians who would escape the fires of hell. No, it was to make us fully human again; the way we were meant to be before humanity was spoiled by The Fall. The Bible puts it this way: in and through the work of Jesus God’s image in human beings is being restored. Or perhaps we could consider this big picture from another angle. Jesus came to raise up an army of people who would resist and fight the Enemy of their souls and claim every area of life for Jesus Christ. That’s a big ask in anyone’s language. But again it highlights that Jesus came not just to be our ticket into heaven… He came also to provide us with all we need to live the Christian life for Christ and to fight His battles in a fallen world.
I once heard a lovely story from the Great Depression, early last century, which illustrates the point very clearly.
A man migrated to the USA from Eastern Europe. His uncle, who was already in America, bought the boat ticket for the man to come. Times were extremely tough and the man was too poor to buy anything on the trip, so his mother gave him a supply of bread and cheese to last the two-week trip. So in the morning he would wake up and have bread and cheese and at night he would have bread and cheese. After five days of bread and cheese the food was stale and he wasn’t enjoying it a bit. He noticed all the good food other passengers were enjoying in the dining room. In desperation he approached one of the stewards. The steward was surprised to hear how the man had lived for five days on bread and cheese. He took him aside and said, “I’ll let you work in the kitchen cleaning dishes in return for three good meals every day. So that’s how the rest of the journey went. He dutifully scrubbed dishes in the galley and dined lavishly three times a day.
When the man arrived in New York he told his uncle about his trip and how he had been able to work for his meals by washing dishes. His uncle roared with laughter and said, “You silly fellow…! When I paid for your ticket I also paid for everything you needed on the trip. It was all included in the price I paid. You could have had your meals free of charge.”
You see that’s the point I’m making when it comes to the good news of the saving work of Jesus. Jesus Christ not only “bought our ticket” to glory but He also provides us with His Spirit to empower us for Christian living every day. Everything I need to live for God’s glory and to do Christ’s renewing work is provided for me by Jesus.
John Westendorp