When you need a savior from harm of any kind, God loves you enough to come to your rescue.
In the Old Testament, what would you say is the defining act of God, apart from Creation? The people of Israel would undoubtedly answer it was when God saved them from the iron-smelting furnace of Egypt. He saved them from slavery to Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who were too strong for them. He redeemed them with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, pouring out judgments on the Egyptians and then parting the Red Sea so that Israel could march through on dry ground.
Why did God save them? He explains: “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son” (Hosea 11:1 ESV). God saves because he loves. His love is a saving, redeeming, rescuing love.
In Psalm 18, David described being in great danger, but then God came on the scene: “He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me” (Psalm 18:19).
God’s love-inspired rescues are the story line of the entire Bible. God created humans; Adam and Eve fell to sin and Satan; and the rest of the Bible is the story of how God saved our fallen race.
Moreover, salvation is the story told again and again throughout the Bible. God saves Noah and his family from the flood; Abraham and Sarah from Pharaoh; Jacob from Laban; David from Goliath and then from Saul; Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar and his vast army; Israel and Esther from Haman and the annihilation edict of the king; Daniel from the lion’s den; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace; Jehoshaphat from the hordes of Moab, Ammon, and Mount Seir; Jeremiah from the false prophets; Peter from prison; Jesus’s body from the grave. The Lord never tires of this plot. He loves saving people because he loves people.
When God’s Son became a man, the Father named him Jesus, which means “save,” and the angel explained, “[Mary] will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21 ESV).
When you need a savior
So, what does God’s saving love mean for you? It means he saves you from what threatens to harm you. He is still in the salvation business, large and small.
It’s as natural for God to save as it is for you to breathe. Redemption—a rich biblical word for salvation, emphasizing the idea that God brings good out of bad—is God’s nature, and it’s the nature of love.
If there is some harm that threatens you, whether spiritual, financial, physical, social, relational, or whatever, call out to God. As David prayed, “Save me in your steadfast love!” (Psalm 31:16 ESV).
Our way and God’s way
Our way: In pride, fallen people don’t want God’s help. We want to save ourselves through our own goodness and skill.
God’s way: In love, he saves those who are poor in spirit, who are humble enough to admit their need and ask for help.
Life principle: In all things, the Lord is your salvation from harm.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)