God has 'worked salvation'

Psalm 98:1–9 (ESV):  

1  Oh sing to the Lord a new song, 

for he has done marvellous things! 

  His right hand and his holy arm 

have worked salvation for him. 

 2  The Lord has made known his salvation; 

he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 

 3  He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness 

to the house of Israel. 

  All the ends of the earth have seen 

the salvation of our God. 

 4  Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; 

break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 

 5  Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, 

with the lyre and the sound of melody! 

 6  With trumpets and the sound of the horn 

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! 

 7  Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; 

the world and those who dwell in it! 

 8  Let the rivers clap their hands; 

let the hills sing for joy together 

 9  before the Lord, for he comes 

to judge the earth. 

  He will judge the world with righteousness, 

and the peoples with equity.

What an uplifting psalm, one that inspires praise for God has done ‘marvellous things’! What are the marvellous things you see that He has done? 

One of those marvellous, incredible things is that God has worked hard to bring salvation. God put in effort, and went through pain in order to allow you to enjoy salvation. It hurt Him and was difficult for Him to allow His son, Jesus to be the ultimate sacrifice to abolish all sin. At the moment of Jesus death, for the first time in history, God and His son were separated. It was not an easy task to plan His son's death, but it was necessary for us to know forgiveness. God ‘worked salvation’ and suffered for our freedom. It was difficult, but God did it anyway. God wanted to achieve a way for all people to be made righteous. So, He planned it, put in effort and persevered even when it broke His heart. He wanted to ensure that there was a way for you to be free from sin and the associated guilt and shame. 

Yet, God’s salvation plan did not end there. He didn’t let salvation be a one time only thing. The pathway of salvation hasn’t withered, gone out of date, or been lost in decades past. God has ensured that all people of every generation, throughout history, and well into the future, can find their way to Him. For He has ‘made known his salvation’. The life, birth, death and resurrection of Jesus are not secret. There are historical eye witness accounts of it and people who follow God explain it. God’s salvation plan has been worked out and revealed for centuries. God is making sure that ‘All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God’.  He wants everyone to have the opportunity to know forgiveness and restoration through salvation, it is freely and universally available because of God’s love and faithfulness. God has worked salvation!

Interestingly, the same verse that tells us that salvation was worked out by God also says that salvation is ‘for him’, for God. Have you ever considered that? It is easy and natural for us to accept that salvation is for us as we get all the benefit of forgiveness, acceptance, being made new plus a restored relationship with God. It seems like it is all for us because of God’s great generosity and love. So what does salvation bring about for God? 

Well, God has always wanted a family. He started with Adam and Eve, and that was great for a while, but they sinned. Then time went on and Noah was saved out of the rest of the Earth, then we hear about Sodom and Gommorah. The pattern of humanities descent into sin and chaos is repeated throughout history. Yet so is the fact that God rescues, restores and favours a few. He notices those who follow Him the best they can despite the despair and dysfunction around them. So, He takes care of them and saves them even though they are not perfect. Why? because God wants a big family. He wants to be with people who know, love and appreciate Him, is that not what most of us want too? (No surprise there as we are made in His image!). This is why God has worked hard to bring salvation. He wanted to make a way for you to belong to Him so that you can enjoy His presence and He can enjoy yours. Salvation gives you the opportunity to know Him and approach Him as His son/daughter and that is what He has always wanted, this is why salvation is for Him.

What a reason to be joyful and appreciative of God’s kindness and great love! The whole of creation sings, claps and testifies of His goodness because He is righteous, fair and kind. How do you make your happiness known because your God loves you and has ‘worked salvation’ for you?

Do you have new life?

 Next, Jude puts into context the problem with what the false teachers are promoting. Jude connects with the hearers of his words by recalling what has occurred through history with those who do not fully follow God. Jude demonstrates that the reality is much more than an individual person or sin, but has historical, spiritual and eternal significance;

*5*Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. *6*And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— *7*just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 

Jude 5–7.

Firstly, Jude calls to remembrance the fact that Jesus has always existed. We know that the physical incarnation of Jesus was not around when the Israelites escaped Egypt, but he was with his Father in heaven. He was seated with God when it all occurred and had a hand in their deliverance, and the destruction of those who did not believe. The generation that left Egypt were not the ones that entered the promised land (apart from 2) because they were not obedient and did not trust God in what He said He could do. Jude is drawing this parallel to the situation that the current believers are facing. Believers in Jesus have left their ‘Egypt’ - symbolically their old lives and slavery to sin - so why try to carry it into the future? 

Sin and sensuality cannot be permitted. This is what Jude is reminding his readers here. Once you have faith in God and understood who Jesus is, you cannot keep looking back or carrying habits/sins of the past because they are not part of your new life. The persons that follows Jesus is the person has left Egypt, and is now on the way to the promised land. Remember, only those who walked with genuine dedication and obedience to God (Joshua and Caleb) saw the fulfilment of God's promise. Just as the Israelites had to learn all those years ago, so the readers of this letter also need to learn; sin is not accepted in the kingdom of God, and it is not acceptable to live with it in our lives. Jude makes it clear that some ‘believers’ were destroyed before they could enter the promised land because of their lack of understanding of who God really is and who they were as a result. The same is true for us. You and I can be cut off from the people of God if we do not deal with the things that hold us back. If we are not serious about aligning our body, heart and minds to God's design, then we too will not enter into the promises God has for us. 

If you are still not convinced, then consider what Jude says about the angels - if heavenly beings cannot escape condemnation and judgement, how can we? It is important that we as humans recognise our, ‘own position of authority’ just as the angels needs to. We do have authority, but this position has limitations and boundaries just like the angels. God has made clear the expectations He desires us to live by, not because He is a tyrant or dictator, but because He is a loving Father and knows what is best for us. Being fooled into believing that living a life that enjoys and endorses sin and sensuality is ok is living outside of God’s will, and will do you harm. God wants to save you from that, this is why Jude is writing explaining about the reality of what will happen if those who have got it wrong do not change their ways. Just as the disobedient angels were removed from God's presence, and the original Israelites did not enter into the promised land, so all sin needs to be eradicated. The good news for us is that is why Jesus died. Jesus died because he took on all the sin of the world; past, present and future, so that we can be free from the power of sin, guilt and shame and have a relationship with God and a hope for the promises of God fulfilled in our lives. 

There follows a third example, just in case the message of abandoning God’s will, not trusting and dedicating your life to Him was not enough with the examples of the Israelites in Egypt and the fallen angels, we are now reminded of Sodom and Gomorrah. Two towns renowned for deplorable activities, for immorality, ‘unnatural desire’, these towns seem to epitomise sin in how they are portrayed. The lesson we can learn from these towns is that people who wantonly permit and promote sin are destined for destruction. Throughout the Bible it is clear that sin requires dealing with severely. It requires death. That is why in the Old Testament people made sacrifices to atone for their wrongdoings. Sin is such a big issue because it destroys our relationships. It severs the relationship we have with God and damages the relationships with those around us, let alone the relationship we have with ourselves. Sin is serious. It effects how we feel, how we see things, how we behave and how we relate to others and God, as well as our own sense of self-worth. Thankfully, Jesus has dealt with all sin. He has taken the punishment, the death required for every wrongdoing ever. Jesus has made it possible for us to be restored to God and others and even given us a chance for a new life ourselves. 

Have you embraced this new life? 

It is never too late to do so. Maybe today is a chance for you to put things right with you and God, you and others, and even you and yourself. You have the opportunity to be free from the guilt and shame of sin, to escape destruction and enter the promised land. Are you going to take it?