Rescue. According to Wikipedia rescue refers to operations that usually involve the saving of life or prevention of injury. I have been rescued many times in my life. When I was about 5 I found a marble behind the couch. I put it in my pocket as my dad took me to the grocery store. While we were shopping I put the marble in my mouth and was rolling it around with my tongue when suddenly it went the wrong direction and became lodged in my throat. My father saw me choking, pulled out his handkerchief and tried to grab hold of the marble. The store clerk saw what was happening, grabbed me from my dad, turned me upside down and slapped me on the back until the marble flew out. He rescued me.
Another word for rescue is salvation. When Jesus entered the world the Jewish nation was under the rule of Roman authority. Their picture of the Savior or Messiah was one who would rescue them from foreign bondage, much as Moses had done from Pharaoh and the Egyptians. So when Jesus came and was communicating a kingdom coming they could get behind that. They wanted to be rescued.
We often see salvation as a place in heaven and an avoidance of hell. And that definition is true but Jesus came to provide something so much more. Salvation is not the finish line it is the starting line. Being rescued is more than looking forward to a place and skirting another. Being rescued is a way of life...a new way to see the events of daily life. Being rescued is a new outlook on relationships and giving meaning and purpose to every moment. Jesus came to give us abundant life today.
Brian McLaren writes, "salvation means being rescued from fruitless ways of life here and now, to share in God's saving love for all creation, in an adventure called the kingdom of God, the point of which you definitely don't want to miss. Plus, of course, the wonderful gift of assurance that you will not perish after this life, but will be forever with the Lord."
So everyday, wake up and experience the new life of Jesus. You have been rescued!
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