Our Savior Serves Us in Two Ways, Resulting in Two Kinds of Blessings
In this message we will cover the reality of salvation—one Savior, two ministries, and two blessings. In this universe there is only one Savior. No one else can save you except the universal Savior, Jesus Christ. This Savior has two ministries, and out of these two ministries He renders us two kinds of blessings. You may think of Jesus Christ as a religious man, or as the head of a religion, or even as a marvelous person. But you must realize that He is your Savior. As your Savior He has two ministries. The Greek word for “ministry” can also be translated as “service.” Jesus Christ serves you in two ways. He also renders you two kinds of blessings.
One Savior: Jesus Christ
First Timothy 4:10 reads, “We have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.” Whether you have believed or not, you need a Savior. This very God, Jesus Christ, is the Savior of all men, whether good or bad, fast or slow, yellow, white, black or red. As long as you are human, the Bible tells us, Jesus is your Savior! There are no exceptions. As long as you are human you need to be saved. And as long as you are human Jesus can save you.
Two Ministries: Earthly and Heavenly
The Savior’s two ministries are these: His earthly ministry and His heavenly ministry. According to His earthly ministry, He saved us from our sin, the world, the power of Satan, our self-life, our fallen nature, and all the negative things. In His heavenly ministry, Jesus saves us by giving us more of Himself.
His Earthly Ministry
First Peter 2:24 shows us how the Lord Jesus blessed us with His earthly ministry: “Who Himself bore up our sins in His body on the tree, in order that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness; by whose bruise you were healed.” His earthly ministry took care of our sin by His dying for us on the cross. We are all sinful, even full of sin. Sin has become a power, dominating every person. No one can be freed from the power of sin. Whether you like it or not, you commit sin. But the Bible tells us that when Christ died on the cross He shed His blood for us, and through His blood our sins are forgiven. His blood cleanses us from all our sins. In His earthly ministry, He bore up our sins in His body on the tree.
Sin is everywhere. Sin is not just the deeds we do. It is part of the satanic kingdom. Everything on this earth and in the worldly system can become sin. We may think that to be president is a good thing. But many people have committed sin to become president. There is corruption in business and in politics, not just in the bars or obviously sinful places. As long as there is man, there is sin. Man is in full communion with sin before he is saved.
But when Jesus bore our sins on the cross and died in our place, we died to sin. Once you become a Christian, sin is still there but it doesn’t attract you anymore. Once you are saved you are cut off from sin. Sin will still come and tempt you, but you have died. There is nothing sin can do because you have died to sin.
And more than that, you live to righteousness. You are alive to anything that is righteous, that is of God. As a Christian you like to hear the name of Jesus. You like to see people read the Bible. You like to see people preach the gospel. You like to go to Christian meetings. You like to pray, calling on the Lord’s name. You were made alive to righteousness. Christ has fulfilled His earthly ministry by taking care of sin.
His Heavenly Ministry
In His heavenly ministry He intercedes for us. Romans 8:34 says, “Who is he who condemns? It is Christ Jesus who died and, rather, who was raised, who is also at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” And Hebrews 8:6 tells us, “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as He is also the Mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted upon better promises.” We all appreciate the Lord’s earthly ministry because He cleansed us from our sins. But what makes Jesus so precious is not just His earthly ministry, but also His heavenly ministry. He has a more excellent ministry because He is also the Mediator of better covenant.
In the Bible, the Old Testament represents the old covenant, and the New Testament is the new covenant. The better covenant is the new covenant that is enacted upon better promises. In the old covenant, the promise was God’s word through Moses under a condition. The new covenant came in through Jesus Christ accomplishing salvation. The end result of this salvation is seen is Colossians 3:4: “When Christ our life is manifested, then you also will be manifested with Him in glory.”
An unbeliever’s body has sin indwelling it. His soul is under the negative influence of the sinful nature of the body, and his spirit is dead. He lives in sin. Jesus came to cleanse him of all his sins and the death element within him. Jesus also wants to come into him to become his life. Jesus Christ took care of sin in His earthly ministry, and infuses us with Himself as life in His heavenly ministry. Christ is within us. We still sin, but everyday Christ is interceding for us and reminding us of the new covenant. He has accomplished everything. Today He is our life, our salvation and our blessing.
Day by day, as we call on Jesus, His divine life increases within us. The heavenly blessing is that we would always have the increase of His divine life. This satisfies God. Not only does God bless us, but we can bless God by growing in the divine life. When Christ is our life, eventually He will return, and we shall manifest Him in glory. How happy that moment will be. God and man will be totally satisfied.
Two Blessings: God Blesses Man and Mans Blesses God
Out of these two ministries, there are two blessings. The earthly ministry takes care of our needs. The heavenly ministry takes care of God’s needs. We can understand that man has needs to be taken care of. But it is hard to believe that God is in need. Man is here because of God’s need. As a father, I do not like to refuse my daughter when she asks me for something. Even if I can’t give her what she wants I try to tell her gently. I am her source and she is my offspring. When I try my best to satisfy her, she is so satisfying to me. It is the same with God. We feel that God is so marvelous because He meets our need and takes care of us. But we must realize that not only does God bless us, we also can bless God.
We may think that to always have good health is a blessing. But what will happen when you become sick? Is God against you then? Someone who has often been sick has the opportunity to learn how to handle his health, so that it does not control him. Outward blessings are not real blessings. You may think that marriage is a blessing. At certain moments it can be a blessing, but the blessing can also leak away. You may feel that to have a good house, a good family, a fortune, success, and power will show that you are blessed. But God does not agree. The one Savior in His two ministries has only two kinds of blessings. One blessing is for man, and the other is for God. God desires to bless you, and God desires that you become a blessing to Him. In the whole universe there are only two real blessings, one which meets man’s need, and the other which meets God’s need.
This is against our concept. Our concept is that God is all-sufficient, all-mighty, eternal, able to control everything, and able to bless everyone. But through the Savior, Jesus Christ, we can become a blessing to God. Before we were saved we could not bless God. But based on the salvation of Jesus Christ, we are a blessing to God. The Savior not only meets our need, but in the Savior we also can meet God’s need. Many times Christians are self-abasing. We despise ourselves, feeling we are nothing and can do nothing. But this is not the right attitude. Not only does God bless us, but we bless God. Not only is God so important to us, but we are so important to God. Not only do we need God so much, but God also needs us very much.
If you have not believed in Jesus, turn to Him right now. If you already have believed in the Lord Jesus, tell Him that you want to be a different Christian. “Lord, I want to love You and enjoy You not only in Your earthly ministry but also in Your heavenly ministry. Bless me, Lord, that I can become a blessing to You.”
