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The Word, Our Salvation

Jan 1, 2019

For a long time, I have wrestled - and am still wrestling - with the meaning of the central Christian statement: Jesus Christ saves. Though I recognize I will never have complete understanding of this matter, the knowledge I currently have is enough for me to confidently share what I’ve learned, which also completely affects the way I view my life, where I can say that I believe in Jesus Christ with full conviction of my heart, mind and soul. The hope is not that you will come to believe in the way I have come to believe, but that in sharing my understanding, you may be encouraged to start or continue seeking God more deeply in your life to see what amazing stories He has in store for you.



To begin, let’s break down the statement with clear definitions. Firstly, who is Jesus Christ? And secondly, what does it mean to save?

John 1 can give us initial insight into the matter:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.


…And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”



John 1:1-5, 14

Jesus Christ, his name meaning “the one who saves” (which the name itself is a claim of salvation) is the Word that became flesh. Through Jesus’ life, being made articulated most clearly in John 1, was the Word communicated. So in other words, we can re-frame the statement from: Jesus Christ saves, to: The Word saves. We will need to clarify who/what the Word is, but before we do that, let’s define what it means to save.

Let’s use a definition we can quickly pull from google: “keep safe or rescue (someone or something) from harm or danger”. If we take this definition to its eschatological extent, which is the correct frame of interpretation in regards to Jesus, to save is to be rescued from death, and by further extent if death no longer is a concern, being saved brings us to eternal life. To reiterate in simpler terms, to save is to be rescued from death into eternal life.

This is why eternal life is so significant in the message of salvation, and repeated so many times throughout the Bible.

Let’s re-frame the statement again: The Word rescues from death into eternal life. Now let’s revisit John 1 to get a clearer understanding of who the Word is.

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

The Word is the process that creates and structures reality, bringing order (patterns), out of chaos (potential). Think of a storybook. Without words on the pages, it is a potential of infinite stories, but there is no story. Once words are written on the pages, a story is realized, creating the universe where the story takes place.

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

Life comes from the Word, not only because the Word creates, but the Word sustains the process of creation, eternally. Life sustains the process of creation, and this sustaining of creation is the light of men - the one that illuminates the way forward for humanity.

Finally, we have this statement: The process that eternally creates and structures reality rescues from death into eternal life.



Now that the statement Jesus Christ saves is (hopefully) clarified, on a more practical note, I will quickly make points on the different layers of reality with which it applies to bring to awareness of how real and significant the the message of Christianity is. I won’t go into much detail, but I hope it is enough to encourage a greater desire to seek God.

  • The Word saves - physically - because Jesus Christ as the Word incarnate has demonstrated his power not only in healing the sick, but ultimately, he overcame death with his physical resurrection, providing hope of our own physical resurrection
  • The Word saves - metaphysically - because the Word itself is the eternal process that creates and structures reality, as explained above
  • The Word saves - practically - because it illuminates the path in our lives, revealing to us ways on how we should act, which gives us a sense of purpose and growth through responsibility, away from aimlessness which leads to death
  • The Word saves - narratively - because through Jesus Christ, the story of humanity has been redeemed from death to life, and we are invited to partake in this story of God’s by modelling the story of redemption in our own lives
  • The Word saves - mentally - because if we abide in the Word, trusting in God, we are alleviated from the anxieties of depending on our own understanding, the mindset which leads to death
  • The Word saves - spiritually - because through Jesus Christ, we have been shown a way to no longer be slaves to principalities, but can live our own true lives that God has predestined us to by living in the Holy spirit
  • Or similarly, The Word saves - our identity - because through the Word, we discover ourselves and the story we’re meant to live, the brokenness and the greatness. By living in faith and rejecting the identity prison of our own inadequate minds, we find fulfillment in the unfolding of our story the Word has for us.
  • The Word saves - historically - because through the work of Jesus Christ, we have been set on a path that has resulted in such immense prosperity and life in our modern age
  • The Word saves - relationally - because Jesus Christ’s command to love our neighbours, demonstrated by his own life, reveals to us the potential beauty that such sacrificial love can have in community
  • The Word saves - morally - because it is the arbiter of what is right, and through his revelations to us in Jesus Christ and in our own lives, we can know the righteous path that participates in eternal life.



So with all that said, I urge that every one of you will start or continue to choose life, despite how difficult your circumstances may be. Do not let darkness - the temptation of believing only in yourself, closing your mind to God - overcome you, but instead have the hope of eternal life, which is found ultimately in the Word as revealed by the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Bible along with the Word that God reveals in your own life when you trust and seek Him. Believe with all your heart, soul and mind that Jesus Christ, the Word of God, saves.

Through abiding in him with all faithfulness, I believe God will lead you on an amazing journey that will radiate so much life and joy wherever you go that there is no other way to respond but to worship. All glory be to God, hallelujah.



**If there is any feedback, critiques, or complements you want to send my way, I invite you to email me at gabecreates@gmail.com. Let’s continue to further seek God together. *

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