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JESUS WILL BRING FULL SALVATION
A. Introduction: We’ve spent a number of weeks talking about the importance of remembering Jesus’
death, and what it means for our past and our present. Last week we began to talk about what Jesus’
death means for our future—not just in this life, but in the life to come. We have more to say tonight.
1. Almighty God created human beings for a loving relationship with Himself. God made us in such a
way that we can be more than creatures He created. We can become His literal sons and daughters
by receiving Him (His Spirit and life) into our being, through faith in Him. Eph 1:4-5
a. Remember the big picture: God created this world to be a home for Himself and His sons and
daughters. The Bible begins and ends with God on earth with His family. Gen 2-3; Rev 21:1-5
b. However, the first man, Adam, chose independence from God through sin. Adam’s sin brought
a curse of corruption and death to the family and the family home. Gen 2:17; Gen 3:17-19
1. Rom 5:12—When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. His sin spread death
throughout all the world, so everything began to grow old and die, for all sinned (TLB).
2. Because of Adam’s sin, all human beings are born with a corruption, an inclination toward
selfishness, that inclines us to put self above God and others. The earth itself is also infused
with corruption. As a result, everything in this world deteriorates, and all living things die.
A. Jesus came to earth two thousand years ago to die as a sacrifice for sin and open the way
for all who believe in Him to be restored to God’s family as His holy sons and daughters.
B. Jesus will come again to cleanse the family home (this earth) of all sin, corruption, and
death. He will then bring Heaven and earth together as He establishes the visible, eternal
kingdom of God on earth, in what the Bible calls the new heavens and new earth.
2. Jesus’ first coming marked the beginning of the process of restoring God’s creation—the family and
the family home. Jesus activated God’s plan to recover His family by dying as a sacrifice for sin.
a. This plan now is underway, but is not yet completed because neither the family or family home
is fully restored. Jesus is coming back to this world to complete what began at the Cross.
b. When we believe in Jesus we’re cleansed of sin and indwelled by God’s Spirit and life. This
makes us sons and daughters of God, holy and blameless in His sight. John 1:12-13; Col 1:21-22
1. We are now fully God’s sons and daughters, but not yet all that we are meant to be in
character and behavior, and our bodies are still subject to sickness, old age, and death. And
the deterioration, disaster, hardship, and death in this earth has not yet been removed.
2. When Jesus returns He will bring full salvation to this world: Heb 9:26-28—(Jesus) came
once for all time, at the end of the age, to remove the power of sin forever by his sacrificial
death for us (NLT)…(He) will appear a second time, not carrying any burden of sin nor to
deal with sin, but to bring full salvation to those who are (eagerly, constantly and patiently)
waiting for and expecting Him (Amp).
3. We currently live in the age when things are not the way they are supposed to be, not as God created
or intended them to be, with all the deterioration, corruption, pain, loss, and death.
a. Full salvation will include resurrection of the dead, restoration of the family home (this world),
and a return to pre-sin conditions—with all sin, corruption, infirmity, and death removed forever.
1. Rom 8:21-22—All creation anticipates the day when it will join God’s children in glorious
freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the
pains of childbirth right up to the present time (NLT).
2. Rom 8:23—And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a
foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait
anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new
bodies he has promised (NLT).
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b. Through His death, Jesus qualified us for full salvation. He opened the way for us to be
indwelled by the Holy Spirit and “(we) were sealed (marked, branded as God’s own, secured) for
the day of redemption—of final deliverance through Christ from evil and the consequences of
sin” (Eph 4:30, Amp).
B. A plan is unfolding in this world, God’s plan to recover the family and the family home through Jesus.
God has been talking about the end of the plan since the fall of humanity in the Garden of Eden. And
He has gradually revealed Himself and His plan through the Scriptures.
1. The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books that altogether tell the story of God’s desire for a family
and the lengths He’s gone to, to obtain His family through Jesus. Each book adds to or advances
the story in some way. The Bible is 50% history, 25% prophecy, and 25% instruction for living.
a. When God created Adam and mankind in Adam, He knew that we would choose independence
from Him through sin, and He already had a solution in mind. God Himself would incarnate
and die as a sacrifice for sin to open the way for the family to come back to Him.
b. Following that first sin, the Lord began to reveal His plan with the first prophecy in the Bible
about Jesus, the coming Savior and Redeemer.
1. God said to the serpent (devil) who tempted Adam and Eve: From now on, you and the
woman will be enemies, and your offspring (your seed) and her offspring (her seed) will be
enemies. He (the Seed of the woman) will crush your head (break your power), and you will
bruise his heel (unsuccessfully attempt to stop the Seed) (Gen 3:15, NLT).
2. Jesus is the promised Seed (Gal 3:16). The woman is Mary, the virgin in whose womb Jesus
incarnated (took on a human nature, Luke 1:35). The crucifixion is the attempt to stop the
Seed (Satan inspired wicked men to kill the Lord of glory). But through His death, Jesus
broke the power of the devil, sin, and death (Luke 22:3; Acts 2:23; I Cor 2:7-8; Heb 2:14-15).
c. Although Adam and his descendants didn’t fully understand this first prophecy, from that point
on, they knew that the Lord would one day make things right in this world. And, at God’s
instruction, men began to keep the written records that become the basis for the Old Testament.
1. As God gave increasing revelation of His unfolding plan to recover His family, He marked
out the people group through which the promised (Seed) would come, the descendants of
Abraham (the Jewish people, Gen 12:1-3), then a tribe within that people group (Judah, Gen
49:10), and finally, a family within that tribe (the family of David, II Sam 7:13;16).
2. Jesus was born a Jew, in the tribe of Judah, to the family of David. During His ministry, He
talked primarily to Jewish people—the people looking for the promised Seed of the woman.
2. Based on the Scriptures, Jesus’ first followers (who were Jewish), understood that the promised Seed
(the Redeemer, Messiah, Savior) will free this world from corruption and death, restore it to pre-sin
conditions, and establish His visible kingdom on earth. Isa 51:3; Dan 2:44; Dan 7:27
a. After Jesus rose from the dead, He used the Scriptures to show His apostles how He had fulfilled
prophecy by dying as a sacrifice. Then He told them that men and women can now be cleansed
of sin and restored to God’s family through repentance faith in Him. Luke 24:44-48
1. Jesus’ first message to His followers after He returned to Heaven was, I’ll be back. As His
followers watched Jesus ascend to Heaven, two angels appeared with a message from the
Lord: Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into
heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11, ESV).
2. Peter, one of Jesus’ twelve apostles, in one of his first sermons preached shortly after Jesus
returned to Heaven, said: (Jesus) must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration
of all things, as God promised long ago through his prophets” (Acts 3:20-21, NLT).
b. The first Christians lived their lives looking for, expecting Jesus to bring full salvation. It gave
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them hope in the midst of this difficult, sin-damaged world. Jesus’ second coming is mentioned
in twenty-three out of the twenty-seven New Testament books. Consider these statements.
1. Titus 2:13—We look forward to that wonderful event when the glory of our great God and
Savior, Jesus Christ, will be revealed (NLT).
2. I Cor 1:7-8—Now you have every spiritual gift you need as you eagerly wait for the return of
the Lord. He will keep you strong right up to the end, and he will keep you free from all
blame on the great day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns (NLT).
3. I Thess 4:15-18—When the Lord returns…all Christians who have died will rise from their
graves. Together with them, we who are still alive and remain on earth will be caught up in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. So comfort and
encourage each other with these words (NLT).
C. This matters because the Bible is clear that chaos and calamity will precede the Lord’s return (more on
this in future lessons). Understanding God’s unfolding plan, and living with the hope that come from
knowing Jesus is going to return, will help us deal with the challenges that precede His second coming.
1. The week of Jesus’ crucifixion, Jesus and His apostles arrived in Jerusalem on Sunday. The Last
Supper took place on Thursday, and Jesus was crucified on Friday. During the week, Jesus
preached a number of messages at the Temple in Jerusalem. However, in the evening, He and His
disciples left the city and stayed in the nearby village of Bethany (two miles from Jerusalem).
a. On Wednesday afternoon, as Jesus and His disciples were leaving the Temple grounds to head
for Bethany, His apostles were pointing out various buildings on the Temple grounds to Jesus.
b. Jesus’ response was: Do you see all these buildings? I assure you, they will be so completely
demolished that not one stone will be left on top of another (NLT, Matt 24:2).
1. Jesus then went up the Mount of Olives just outside of Jerusalem, and four apostles (Peter,
James, John, and Andrew) came to Him and asked: Tell us, when will these things be?
And what will be the signs of Your coming and of the end of the age (Matt 24:3, NKJV).
A. These men weren’t devastated by what Jesus said about the Temple. They knew from
the Scriptures that this present age will come to an end, and that the end will be preceded
by chaos and calamity—with much of it centering around Jerusalem.
B. But the apostles also knew from the Scriptures that God’s people will ultimately be saved
from the coming destruction (lessons for another day). Joel 2:30-32
2. Jesus gave them a lengthy answer to their questions (lessons for another day). Note one
statement Jesus made: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were
shortened, no flesh would be saved (Matt 24:21-22, NKJV).
A. The Gospel of Luke gives us additional information about Jesus’ answer. Jesus said:
Men’s hearts (will fail) them from fear and the expectation of those things which are
coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven will be shaken (Luke 21:26, NKJV).
B. Jesus continued: Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads
because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near (Luke 21:28, Amp). The Greek
word that is translated look up is used figuratively here, and means to be elated.
3. We can be elated in joyous expectation, despite the chaos around us, if we know that full
salvation is coming, and that God will get us through until He gets us out.
c. When Jesus listed the signs that will indicate that His return and the end of the age is near, He
compared the signs to birth pains.
1. Matt 24:6-8—And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled;
for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against
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nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earth
quakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows (NKJV).
2. The Greek word translated sorrows means a birth-pang (the pain of birth). Matt 24:8—With
all these things the birth pangs of the new age begin (NEB).
3. Birth or labor pains start out slowly and far apart. As the time of the birth nears, the pains
get more intense and closer together. They can be excruciating. But since the woman
understands what is happening, she is able to bear the pain since she knows the end result.
2. The first Christians knew that chaos and calamity will precede the Lord’s return. All the New
Testament writers made reference to it. The apostles Paul and Peter both wrote about it.
a. Paul wrote to Timothy, his son in the faith: You should also know this, Timothy, that in the last
days (of this age) there will be very difficult (perilous) times. For people will love only
themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to
their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. They will be unloving and
unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control; they will be cruel and have no
interest in what is good. They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and
love pleasure more than God. They will act as if they are religious, but they will reject the
power that could make them godly (II Tim 3:1-5, NLT).
1. Paul went on to say: Evil people and imposters will flourish. They will go on deceiving
others, and they themselves will be deceived (II Tim 3:13, NLT). But you continue in the
things which you have learned (II Tim 3:14, NKJV)…You have been taught the holy
Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that
comes by trusting in Christ Jesus (II Tim 3:15, NLT).
2. Note that Paul urged Timothy to keep his eyes on the salvation (redemption, deliverance) that
comes from Jesus. The Scriptures give us the big picture, the fact that a plan is unfolding.
And they produce in us a confidence that we will make it through whatever is ahead.
b. Peter wrote an epistle (letter) to Christians who had experienced persecution for their faith. But
it was about to get worse. In the context of this kind of tribulation, Peter encouraged them by
reminding them of the big picture and the end of the plan—full salvation.
1. Peter wrote: All honor to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, for it is his boundless
mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again. Now we live with a wonderful
expectation because Jesus rose from the dead. For God has reserved a priceless inheritance
for his children. It is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change
and decay. And God, by his mighty power, will protect you until you receive this salvation,
because you are trusting in him (I Pet 1:3-5, NLT).
2. Peter sent another epistle shortly before he was martyred for his faith. Peter knew he was
going to die and he urged Christians, after I am gone, remember what you’ve been taught.
Note some of his final words (written in the face of death): God made a promise to us, and
we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth where goodness lives (II Pet 3:13, NCV).
D. Conclusion: Jesus is coming back to complete God’s plan by bringing full salvation to this world. We
are two thousand years closer to His return than the men who actually walked and talked with Jesus.
1. And just as the generation that saw Jesus’ first coming witnessed and experienced things unique to
that time, so those who see Jesus’ second coming will see and experience unique events.
2. Increasingly dark days are ahead for this world. We must learn to look past what we see to the end
result—Jesus is bringing full salvation to the family and the family home. Much more next week!
