Only Jesus Saves
ONE
We can destroy what we cannot rebuild.
A favorite game of my grandson Cormac is for someone to build a tower of blocks so that he can destroy it. The problem is – he can’t rebuild it. And unless someone else does – the game is over.
With Original Sin, Adam and Eve broke two things we could not rebuild: our relationship with God and our soul.
The tragic consequences of original sin were that they lost for themselves and the entire human race the indwelling presence of God that gave them supernatural life enabling them to live in Heaven. The powers of the body and soul were broken resulting in death. But without God’s life in our soul – where do we go after death – we go to Hell.
We broke what we cannot rebuild. We do not have the power to restore the relationship with God and we cannot heal our broken bodies and souls. So, unless God does – the game is over.
TWO
Romans 6 tells us the consequences of sin is death.
Death doesn’t just mean the end of our earthly life. Death as the consequence from unrepented sin means eternal separation from God, but also separation from one another and the complete loss of happiness. Imagine being locked in solitary confinement, completely alone – forever, with no hope that the pain would end. That is Hell. That is what Jesus came to save us from.
Why can’t God just forgive and forget the consequences? Why can’t God just hit the reset button? Because God made us free and with freedom comes responsibility which means dealing with the consequences of our actions. If we want him to remove the consequences, then He would have to remove our freedom and we would not be human.
Imagine playing a game with a young child. If every time the child made a wrong move you let them take it back, then the child was not really playing the game, were they? For God to excuse every bad move we make, He would have to take away our freedom.
For God to save us while respecting our freedom which means allowing humans to deal with the consequences, then that Savior would have to be both God and man. As God he would have the power to over death, as man he could bear the responsibility as a human.
That is why God became one of us. He suffered the consequences for us, He died and rose from the dead. Since Jesus is both God and Man, He could bear the consequences as Man, He could rise from the dead because He is God. By His death Jesus fulfilled the consequence of our sin. By His Resurrection He conquered death
THREE
Jesus restores union with God through the Sacraments.
The whole point of life is to be Reunited to God. Sin had separated us from Him and the distance between us was impossible to bridge. Imagine two shores separated by a body of water no one could swim. You would need a bridge to cross over. We need a bridge from God to man.
Where are God and man joined together? In the Body of Christ.
That is why Jesus gives us the Eucharist! The Body of Christ is the bridge to cross over to God. Jesus said; John 6:54 “Anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life.”
Through the Incarnation man is reunited to God:
● God is man.
● Now man can become God (460)
If Christ is the one who bridged the gap between God and man:
● then for humans to get to God,
● we have to go through Christ.
● There's no other alternative.
FOUR
Jesus heals our bodies in the Resurrection.
At the end of the world, when Jesus comes again in power and glory to judge the living and the dead, we will rise from the dead and be given a glorified indestructible body.
The Resurrection is not resuscitation – a return to normal human life:
● The Resurrection of Jesus was about breaking out
● Into an entirely new form of life
● Into a life no longer subject to the law of dying
● An entirely new dimension of human existence opens up
It is an Evolutionary Leap:
● to an Indestructible Divine way of Life
A new possibility of human existence is attained:
● Opens a new kind of future
Jesus did not return to a normal human life:
● He has entered the vast breadth of God himself
● Living forever in the power of God
The Resurrection of Jesus brings about:
● The union of the finite with the infinite
● The union of man with God
● Fellowship with God
● The conquest of death
● Permanently beyond the reach of death
Through the Resurrected Body of Jesus:
● We get a glimpse of what we will be like
● In the Resurrection of the Dead
● And in Life Everlasting
His presence after the Resurrection is entirely physical:
● Yet he is not bound by physical laws
● Not bound by laws of time and space
1. John 20: 11-18 The Appearance to Mary Magdalene
2. Luke 24: 13-35 The Appearance on the Road to Emmaus
3. John 20:19-29 The Appearances in the Upper Room
4. John 21:1-14 The Appearance in Galilee
The Resurrection is akin to an Evolutionary Leap:
● A new dimension of life emerges
● The Body of Jesus now belongs totally to the sphere of the Divine, Eternal and Indestructible Life
We share in His indestructible life by means of the Eucharist.
FIVE
Jesus will heal our soul.
Through Baptism, Jesus infuses us with the gifts of faith, hope, and love which heals our soul. Only God can give these gifts. Our job is to be open, to receive. We prepare in three ways:
Pray - spend time in solitude and silence with God in friendship – talking to him, listening and just being with him.
Ask for an increase of faith, hope, and love
Unconditionally surrender yourself to God. That is easier said than done, but the shortest and most effective path is to consecrate yourself to Mary and then live the consecration.
Mary was the person who surrendered herself to God perfectly so that she could receive God fully in the Incarnation. Therefore, if we want to cultivate a receptive openness to the Spirit then give yourself to Mary, invite Mary to come into your soul and live her life through you because she is the Tree of Life who always bears the fruit of Jesus.