Title: J=CD
Focus: In the name of Jesus, we find the key to complete salvation from sin, misery, and death.
Function: To move the people to place their trust completely in Jesus’ saving work.
Text: Acts 4:1-22
Confession: Lord’s Day 11
A number of years ago I thoroughly confused my little niece in Holland. She was about 6 years old, and I played a game with her. I said: “Tell me, how much is 1+1?” She said: “Two.” I said: “Wrong! Let’s count on my fingers and I’ll show you how much 1+1 is. It’s five.” Of course, I was wrong. One plus one equals two. Thank God that this is true! Otherwise we would never balance our checkbooks.
Mathematical equations such as 1+1=2 are very important for daily living. They bring order in our lives. Albert Einstein’s famous equation on the relationship between mass and energy [E=MC^2}also turned out to be enormously important for science and physic scholars alike. Today, I will hold before us another, earth-shaking, life-changing equation: Here it is: J=CD. That’s short for JESUS EQUALS COMPLETE DELIVERANCE.
Students, here’s what you do: go back to school tomorrow and tell your friends and teachers this awesome equation: J=CD. Mom, Dad, go back to work tomorrow, call your friends and tell them: J=CD. That is, in the name of Jesus we find the key to complete deliverance from sin, misery, and death.
Now the
equation J=CD is found in Acts 4:12, where the apostle Peter makes the
bold claim that “Salvation is found in no one else (than Jesus), for
there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
The physician, Dr. Luke, (who is the apostle Paul’s travel companion in Asia Minor) tells the story of how the apostles Peter and John healed a crippled beggar at the temple gate called “Beautiful.” They did so in the name of Jesus.
In chapter 4, Luke tells us the rest of the story. Here’s the flow of the story:
· vs. 1-7 deal with the arrest and imprisonment of Peter and John by the authority of the ruling Council, (called the Sanhedrin) made up of aristocratic rulers and religious teachers who are primarily members of a priestly party or sect, called “Sadducees.”
· Vs. 8-12 focus on Peter’sdefense before these religious leaders; and
· Vs. 13-22 provide us with an account of the Sanhedrin’s court shenanigans and ruling. They just don’t know what to do with this Peter and John who speak in the name of Jesus. Such, then, is the flow of the passage.
The focus of the passage is all on the name of Jesus. That name evokes power; it exerts authority. It stirs faith in the hearts of some, anger in the hearts of others. The name of Jesus has the power to bamboozle religious types, and it has the authority to restore paralyzed muscles of a crippled man. The name of Jesus frightens the willies out of Politically Correct University professors and ACLU members alike. The name of Jesus leads numerous American judges to revise constitutional history; and it drives some atheists, bent on a crusade, “bananas.” The name of Jesus was, and is, and continuous to be a lightning rod. You know why? Because J=CD.
Luke focuses our attention on Jesus’ name by highlighting the preaching of Peter and John. They were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. Listen to Peter, speaking to the rulers and elders of Israel: “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.”
Note now how Peter moves with ease from the healing of
the crippled man by Jesus’ name to the awesome resurrection of Jesus from the
dead. There is a direct relationship between the healing of the crippled man
and the resurrection of this man called “Jesus.” And that relationship can be
summarized in one word: salvation, or deliverance.
”Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under
heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
In the Scriptures we find many signs or references to salvation. Here are a few: healing miracles, the power of forgiveness that sets us free from condemnation and guilt, and the gift of reconciliation. Salvation in the Bible points to resurrection from the dead: not only Jesus’ resurrection 2000 years ago, but also the resurrection of the dead at the end of time, when Jesus comes again. In fact, salvation is also pictured in the Bible as the renewal of all things, or as eternal life. In Hebrews 11 we notice that complete deliverance is pictured in terms of a “heavenly country, or city.” Every day of our lives, we may see signs of deliverance. Complete deliverance or salvation, however, will come when Jesus returns in glory at the end of time. This is why we can say: J=CD. Jesus embodies complete deliverance from sin, misery, and death.
THE CATECHISM: L.D.11
Now let’s sit down with our “mentor,” the Catechism teacher. He comes to us and he says: “So, you recite the Apostles’ Creed, right? Good. Tell me, why is the Son of God called ‘Jesus,’ meaning ‘savior’?”
When Rosanne and I named our children at birth, we gave them names that captured our dreams and hopes for them: Jessica: Grace of God; a gift from God; Joy: may she have the joy of the Lord and bring joy to others. Elliot: the Lord is my God. May he live with that confession on his lips; and Eric: the Lord is my strength. May he live with that awareness in his life! Some of us pour a particular significance in names; others don’t.
But in the case of Jesus, God did. He instructed the angel to tell Joseph to give the name “Jesus” to the child to be born to Mary, “because …he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). Now the question: is there any significance in the name given to the Son of God?
The answer is J=CD. (Yes) “Because (Jesus) saves us from our sins. Salvation cannot be found in anyone else. It is futile to look for any salvation elsewhere.” Consider the following:
· Salvation is found in no one else but Jesus Christ: Many today look for comfort and security in possessions and financial treasures; others look for charismatic leaders who give them hope; others take refuge in philosophical ideas and ideologies that attempt to make sense of life and their circumstances. More and more people are turning to pagan gods (under the rubric “new age religion”); and again others find refuge in “Gaia” or mother earth. They seek to live in harmony or union with nature. But it’s all in vain. Why? Because these “gods” are phonies. They cannot save us from our sins. And that leads us to the next consideration:
· Sin is the world’s fundamental problem: This is the root problem of all our misery. The Bible is clear on this: It tells us that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). It reminds us that the consequences of our rebellion against God are misery, pain, and unrest in our hearts; they lead to a guilty conscience, or to an alienation from God. All of this is captured in Psalm 32. Listen: “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long….Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity, I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’—and you forgave the guilt of my sin.” Only Jesus Christ, the Son of God, can save us from sin, and from the misery and guilt and death that comes with sin. To be sure, Jesus’ reach of salvation does not only come to people; it also extends to all of creation. J=CD. In the name of Jesus we find the key to complete salvation from sin, misery, and death.
Here, then, is a further insight from Scriptures: If there is no other name to be found by which we must be saved, then it’s clear that Adam and Eve, believing Noah and his family, Abraham and all the patriarchs, Moses and all the circumcised believers who lived by faith in God and God’s promises of deliverance—they all find their righteousness, their salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
It’s as the writer of Hebrews says (Hebr.11) “All
these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive
the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance…they
were longing for a better country—a heavenly one (metaphor for salvation).
Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city
for them.”
In other words, these early or past believers of God’s promise of salvation find their salvation in Jesus Christ. They were looking forward to the first coming of Christ, God’s Son. We, today, look back to Christ. Together with all God’s people from the past, present, and future, we shall receive that complete deliverance when Jesus comes again in all his splendor and glory. So then, J=CD.
I know that this equation rankles our generation today. It’s politically incorrect to say that salvation cannot be found anywhere else or in anyone else but Jesus. Many will argue that just as there is more than one road to Rome, so there is more than one way to God. In fact, many voices (some in the Christian church) now maintain that all religions lead people to God. Therefore, all religions must be embraced as different pathways to God and to harmony or life with God.
But the mentor of Lord’s Day 11 comes back to us and asks: ‘Do those who look for their salvation and security in saints, in themselves or elsewhere really believe in the only savior Jesus?” The answer is a firm: “No. Although they boast of being his, by their deeds they deny the only savior and deliverer, Jesus. Either Jesus is not a perfect savior, or those who in true faith accept this savior have in him all they need for their salvation.”
I hear you! I hear it all the time: “But what
about those people who have never heard of Jesus? Who have never known the good
news of Jesus’ death and resurrection? What about those who die in infancy? Who
are aborted? What about all those people who have lived good and decent lives
and who expressed their trust in a higher being but simply never received the
Word of God and his Son the Lord Jesus as we have today? Are they all lost and
destined to perish for ever because they did not know the name—the works and
person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God?”
Relax. Consider how God reveals himself in Scripture. And embrace this fundamental truth: J=CD. There is no other name by which we must be saved. In other words, Jesus is the only Savior of the world. Then remember this:
a. God knows all people and he knows their hearts.
b. God is good and just and rules with perfect justice
c. God will hold them (and us today) accountable by his self-revelation—whether through nature, whether through visions, dreams and particular angelic appearances, or by his special revelation in Jesus Christ and the Scriptures.
d. God will do the right thing. There is no need to be anxious about anyone who has not heard of Jesus Christ and who therefore could not respond to him by faith. God will do the right thing. There is no need to give up the exclusive claim that says: J=CD.
There is no need to go the route of political correctness by saying that all religions are valid because they lead to God and eternal salvation. God will do the right thing.
But so must we today! Followers of the Lord Jesus Christ declare with deep trust J=CD. For it is in the name of Jesus that we find the key to complete salvation from sin, misery, and death.
Glory be to God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.