Why did God save us?
Part 1
27th April 2008
I've heard several sermons on 1 Peter 2v9:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
But most of them were just on the first half of this verse.
It's wonderful that we - the church - are God's chosen people, we are a royal priesthood, we are a holy nation. It's not as if we deserve to be. It was God's sovereign choice to make us individually part of his holy nation:
Ephesians 2v3-5
All of us also lived among them [the disobedient] at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature
and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy,
made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 1v11-12
In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything
in conformity with the purpose of his will,
in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
God, in his mercy, saved us into His kingdom, adopted us into His family, made us spiritually alive.
The question I want to look at this week is: Why?
Why did God save us?
There are lots of good Biblical answers to this. One, for example, is "because of His great mercy". Another is "because we asked Him to". But let's rephrase the question slightly: For what purpose did God save us?
I don't hear much about this question. I hear a lot of preaching about what God has saved us from. I hear less about what he has saved us into. As a consequence of our being saved, we will end up in Heaven, not Hell. That's one reason why He saved us: so we could spend forever with Him in Heaven. And that's a great reason, isn't it!
There are still several other good, Biblical answers to our question. One of these can be found in two of the scriptures we've looked at so far:
As 1 Peter 2v9 tells us, it's so that we may declare the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Ephesians 1v12 says it's in order that we might be for the praise of his glory.
God saved us so that He would be praised. Firstly, this tells us not to neglect to sing and speak His praises clearly and with conviction whenever we have opportunity. Secondly, it means that we should live lives that result in praises to Him.
Matthew 5v14
"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light
to everyone in the house.
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in
heaven."
Every moment, our actions, words and attitudes are being observed - always by angels and demons, often by men and women. We have been saved in order that their reactions will be praise to God. That's one purpose that God has saved us for. How are we doing at it?
I'll talk about another of God's purposes for us next week.