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Salvation: Freedom. Peace. Deliverance. Redemption
Saved: To be free of harm or sin.
When I was younger I didn’t know I needed saving. I’d always ask myself “How did Jesus dying on the cross save us?”
I didn’t understand how a physical act of bloodshed that happened thousands of years ago somehow save me? I didn’t quite understand it as a sacrificial act of love as other people did. Quite frankly, it didn’t make sense to me because, well what is this? Romeo and Juliet!? Did Jesus have to die, why couldn’t he run away or fight back? I didn’t feel like Jesus dying a martyr did anything. It did, however. It made a huge statement I didn’t quite understand; but somehow my 7 year old understood more than my present self did. I remember I cried as a child when I watched movies of Jesus being crucified on the cross, like somehow I understood it.
Though Romeo and Juliet were not martyrs their deaths certainly made a statement, but unlike Jesus, Romeo and Juliet did not die believing their deaths would save anyone but themselves. Perhaps they willingly walked the path of death hoping to immortalize their own love, but it’s incorrect to think the act of suicide would do such a thing. It wasn’t the answer. Perhaps, they felt there was no point in living if not with each other, but this is foolish thinking if you ask me.
So Jesus sacrificing his life willingly didn’t make sense to me. Why would Jesus willingly choose to bear the cross and do so believing it could save humankind? I mean after all he was human, he easily could’ve chosen not to bear the path of the cross. Yet, why did he walk the path of sacrifice anyway? What did his sacrifice really do? The world feels so far from saved sometimes.
Jesus dying on the cross was always presented to me like a choice, while simultaneously something God had a will for, as if there was no other way. And if Jesus saved humankind, I knew I should be grateful. It’s just hard to believe you’ve been saved when the outcome is hard to see.
A Bible verse couldn’t stamp a seal over my wounds. I also never understood what wrongdoing he was saving me from. Why did I need to be saved from those “sins” and was my sin even a sin?
But then everything changed and I realized. The truth is, no, this is not Romeo and Juliet, though it is a love story of two ‘can’t be’s’. I realized Jesus sacrificing his life on the cross was no capricious act nor was he in any way surrendering his cause. He knew what he was doing and he did so with a purpose.
This week I realized what Jesus did truly at its core. As mundane and insignificant as it may seem I realized when I picked up a stray dog. Yes, this is an analogy, an allegory, or a parable of sorts but hear me out.
Last week as I was walking my dog on one of these hot Houston summer days I noticed a weak, panting dog lying on a grass lawn. My dog sniffed her because she was a girl and Max loves girls but she walked away in fear.
Later, I decided to go on a bike ride and I saw her again. I examined her closely and realized she wasn’t antisocial, she was actually scared and alone. I felt pity for her because she was dirty and nothing but skin and bones. I jumped off my bike and walked close to her but she ran in fear as she’d done before. Slowly, I tried again and again but she kept scurrying off.
Bit by bit I began gaining her trust. I biked back home quickly, determined to feed her. I took a small paper cup and a plate of Max’s dog food, which I clumsily dropped on the way out due to excitement and a sense of urgency to save her. I walked midway down the street hoping she’d still be there.
There she was lying on the grass lawn again panting and waiting as the sun was setting. I set the plate close to her; she hesitantly walked closer to it and smelled it. Once she realized it was good she ate.
I wondered where she might stay for the night; it looked like she had no intention of going anywhere but that grass lawn. I thought, “Maybe I can make a makeshift bed for her in front of my house and feed her.” But I didn’t know how I’d get back home with her. That’s when I ran back home and grabbed one of my dog’s old towels. I went back to her and tried to grab her, but she would run off in fear of the towel when I draped it over her body. After a few attempts she finally nervously submitted and made herself small. She lied on her back, as if asking for a tummy rub. As she rolled around, I took one of her rolls as an opportunity to grab her. She was heavy as a corpse and I felt I might break her by just holding her.
Wrapping her better in the towel, I held her tighter in my embrace to reassure her. Slowly I walked back home with her in my arms. I fed her a bit more and provided her with a bowl of water.
Yes, my family was a bit upset when I brought her home. I promised them I’d only feed her! That night she had to stay outdoors, as she did for the next two days (the last of which it rained!). I prayed to God in tears asking him to take care of her. I cried because I wondered about her difficult past. Was she abandoned, abused, or mistreated?
The next day I found her at my door and she looked like a new dog, revived again. She even smiled and wagged her tail at me. Day after day she kept coming back and would lay all night and almost all day outside of my front door.
I watched after her each day, afraid she might not make it. I fed her hoping she’d fatten up quickly, but I also didn’t feed her too much as I’d read too much food might make her sick since she had been starving for who knows how long.
We have to learn to chew God’s word slowly in order to eventually gain a fervent hunger for true knowledge and understanding.
I contemplated giving her to a shelter but I worried she might never find a home or that she might end up being euthanized.
After two days, I had greater hope she would overcome this. She seemed to be eating and recovering well. God thawed my family’s previously cold stone heart and I was able to buy her a cage, cans of food, and give her a bath. She hated that part and ran away, jumping off the table I stood her on as I washed her. She flung her body whenever she found an opening, without a care for her safety. She jumped off many times, even clinging to my back with her claws at one point. We used a flea comb to remove as many fleas as we could, dipping them in a jug of hot water. The soap suds that washed off her body were a dirty brown color. My mom even named her “Solovina” because she said “solo vino,” meaning, “she just came.” Yes, my mom is a bit funny!
The next day we took her to the vet and it turns out she had everything we expected: ringworm, hookworm, heartworms, and fleas, but it could’ve been worse. I was glad everything was treatable. Meanwhile, I looked for someone who might be able to take her in. I wanted to keep her but I didn’t know if Max would adjust to her well.
She’s very sweet and friendly. One morning my sister felt pity for her after seeing her alone in the cage so she brought her into her room. She said Solovina only slept and lay around and it seems like she’s potty trained.
The next day we let Solovina roam around our home for a bit and as we watched her my sister told me she felt bad for her every time she looked at her. Then tears began running down her face and she sobbed. “She’s so grateful too,” she noted and it’s true. She loves to lick you, she is very obedient, and affectionate.
As I watched my sister in tears my breathing constricted and I was extremely moved. I knew why my sister felt the way she did. Dogs are very pure and the world is no place for them, but it’s all they’ve got.
My sister is a Veterinarian Assistant and day in and day out she sees dogs with terrible owners; matted hair, flea infestations, emergency situations that could’ve been avoided had the owner brought in the dog sooner, abuse, they’ve even abandoned dogs at her clinic. She’s seen the worst of humans and most times prefers animals. I agree with that sentiment, but I love humankind too.
The other day I was praying and I confessed to God that through this experience I’ve realized how much effort it takes to nurse a sick dog and how much effort it takes to care for even one of God’s creations. I also confessed that I wanted to be as grateful for my salvation as this dog is for hers. She always wags her tail when she sees us and emanates love. It’s like she’s only got eyes of love for us and nothing gives her greater joy.
I want to love God in this way; in which I only look to him and am endlessly grateful.
As I was relaying to God the chronological account of how things unfolded with Solovina I confessed that I realized I was like Solovina: once abandoned, lonely, close to death, thirsty for the truth.
God took me in and fed me with his words of truth. He cleansed me of all the dirty things in my heart and all my bad actions. He redeemed me and called me his.
He called me and when I heard that calling he tried to save me, just as I did with Solovina. He saw how I reacted to his words as I read the Bible and attended bible studies; as I asked questions and prayed. He slowly healed me with his words. They were my medicine, my sweet remedy, they became honey to my soul. Knowing just the right words to speak to me and just the right experiences to bestow upon me, he worked to save me. The Holy Spirit was always with me leading me closer to Him.
It’s quite hard to understand salvation until you experience it; I didn’t fully understand it until recently and I’m sure my understanding will only continue to grow. To be saved you have to admit you need saving. You need to let the hero pick you up and take you far away from the villain tormenting you, otherwise evil will overtake you and destroy you. Picture if a civilian rejected a superhero’s help?
God brought me to his kingdom and prepared a place for me closest to Him, alongside the Savior.
Just as God had to send Jesus to save us. God worked through my body to save his creation.
It wasn’t simply in the act of Jesus’ sacrifice that God saved all humankind, but all the previous words God spoke and the new words he spoke through him, the Messiah. The previous history of the Old Testament was a building block, a foundation, on which the New Testament and new word could stand. All God’s word is connected. The Bible, though thousands of years old, still remains and reflects various basic moral beliefs held by many societies in this world.
It wasn’t just Jesus dying on the cross that saved us. My pastor once said something very wise, “Believing in something brings about action and action is what brings about salvation”. It’s the act of confessing our love to God and to others through our actions that we are saved, not simply in believing.
Jesus did just that. He believed and he acted on his belief until the end.
It’s in the hope that we might recognize Jesus dying on the cross as an act of love that God relied on, that through this act many would come to believe in his words. Jesus was crucified because they misjudged him thinking he spoke his own words and not God-inspired words. They thought he was disregarding the Old Testament, but “He didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it” (Matt 5:17). He came to fulfill the prophecies.
God’s hope is that we will become one with the Savior Jesus who is love and become a being of love.
The simple act of me saving a single dog, cannot save many or have as big an impact as many people physically going out to save millions. I saved Solovina, yet sadly there are thousands and thousands like her. Saving all of them isn’t possible so I’ve done as much as I can. I can only hope to share my story and inspire others to do the same.
In the same way, Jesus giving up his life on the cross inspires us to have such profound love for each other-even to the point of death. It inspires us to “turn the other cheek” (Matthew 5:38-40).
Jesus couldn’t and didn’t physically save many through his martyrdom, but spiritually he did save many. His sacrifice was a condition of sorts for he said, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there.” (Galatians 5:24).
He took the blame, even if he wasn’t to blame. He took our sin and repented on our behalf, petitioning to God, sacrificing his life so that we might become children, if we believe in him who God sent and thereby believe in God’s words.
There was no other path, no other way but the path of sacrifice in exchange for a path of glory. Through Jesus’ sacrifice everything was finished (John 19:30).
His will was completed. He preached all the words he could have in his lifetime, took action in body and spirit and the Trinity worked upon the disciples so they could continue to spread the gospel. Humankind (though I am aware, not all) realized he was the messiah, the savior God sent to save us, through his words. The disciples became apostles and they became passionate preachers of God’s word spoken through Jesus, which is only a word of love. It is too profound a word to understand. I cannot tell you what Jesus’ sacrifice did in a short blog, or even with many words. It’s indescribable. It’s beyond me and this world.
Key point: You have to read the Bible and understand it to truly understand Jesus’ sacrifice. To understand even one thing, you have to know the whole. Sorry there are no shortcuts to faith. You have to read the entire bible-only then will you come to a greater and fuller understanding of God.
I can testify that through reading the bible I came to realize deeply about Jesus, love him, and understand how he saved me. The bible is how you recognize God and the Savior’s heart. The Bible is a love letter through which God shares his intimate story with humankind.
Physical people cannot understand it, but those with spiritual sense will see beyond and make genuine efforts to seek God.
“Ask, seek, knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt 7:7).
Solovina knocked on my heart. We should knock on the door of God’s heart seeking answers to all our questions because the answers are there. He is always knocking on our door, waiting to share and reveal plainly.
