Good News for All

Jesus rose from the dead the third day after he was crucified. Many people saw him afterwards and believed in him as the promised Saviour. His life from the dead became the foundation of our hope of Heaven, because the God of Israel, Jesus and the Church is not the God of the dead, but of the living! Salvation is not just about the forgiveness of sins and dealing with the past, it is about becoming truly free and being able to live the life God meant you to have.

Resurrection Power

There is a sense in which we could say that the blood was for God, but the empty tomb was for us. God required the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross as the foundation upon which he could justly forgive sinners. We need to be united with Jesus if we are going to live for God day by day. We have a powerful enemy in Satan, and our own unaided strength is insufficient to overcome sin and temptation. But Jesus is not dead, he is alive!

The Bible says that, "He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification." Justification is not only about acquittal before the law, it is about being made just in practical terms. One very important aspect of the resurrection of Jesus was to help us live right through his life working in us. God does not mean us to be alone to struggle against sin. He wants us to live in complete victory over it, and to be truly just, not only in our relationship with him, but in every aspect of our behaviour. The life of Jesus is working in us to overcome sin and death. His wisdom is on offer to guide us in the choices we make. The sneaky deceptions of temptation cannot trick Jesus, and if we listen to his voice in our hearts we will not be deceived by them either. Temptation can be hard to defeat even when we recognise it, but we can draw on resurrection power to overcome. Jesus overcame Satan at every turn and was never defeated. When we are hard pressed and call on Jesus for help, he is alive and ready to share with us and help us through to victory. Because he lives, we live also!

Restoration

The term "salvation" in the Bible represents a Greek word, "sozo" that means "to be made whole". Salvation is about forgiveness of sins and our eternal destiny, but it is much more than that. The term "sozo" is what was used by Jesus when he healed people. They were saved from their disease or deformity and made whole. Being made whole involves undoing the effects of sin and restoring us to full health in spirit, mind and body. Salvation means that our relationship with God is restored to health. It means that our thinking can be restored from confusion and deception to understanding and clarity. It means that our physical health can be restored. When the life of Jesus becomes our life, we will have the same relationship that he has with his Father. We will think like he thinks and not be deceived by Satan or by the world's systems of thought. Jesus is not sick in mind or body, and he shares what he has with us. Just as he healed people when he ministered on Earth, he will make us whole us as we place our trust and confidence in him.

 Sozo (Greek σῴζω)

Strong's 4982 sṓzō (from sōs, "safe, rescued") – properly, deliver out of danger and into safety; used principally of God rescuing believers from the penalty and power of sin – and into His provisions (safety).

sṓzō is the root of: 4990 sōtḗr ("Savior"), 4991 sōtēría ("salvation"), and 4992 sōtḗrion (what is "saved/rescued from destruction and brought into divine safety").

In the Bible it is translated as: bring...safely (1), cured (1), ensure salvation (1), get (1), get well (2), made...well (6), made well (5), preserved (1), recover (1), restore (1), save (36), saved (50), saves (1), saving (1). For example, Matthew 9:22:

• GRK: πίστις σου σέσωκέν σε
• NAS: your faith has made you well.
• KJV: faith hath made thee whole.
• INT: faith of you has cured you