8 Accomplishments By Jesus That Make Salvation GREAT!

Have you ever wondered what makes your salvation so great? After speaking of the sovereignty and superiority of Jesus Christ in chapter one, we see a sort of parenthetical in Hebrews 2:1-3, where we read:

“We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift from it. . . How shall we escape if we are unconcerned with such a great salvation?”

The words “drift” and “unconcerned” show our impending danger. Not active rebellion, but apathy. Not opposing, but neglecting & drifting.

We are so often forgetful followers. Like the children of Israel in the Old Testament, we need to be constantly reminded of the great salvation achieved on our behalf. The currents of this world, in ways imperceptible to us, are always driving us one way or another. We need a daily reminder through the Word of who God is, who we are, what a great salvation we’ve received, and how we’re called to live.

Today, let’s look at 8 accomplishments our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, accomplished in his person and work—and why we, indeed, have such a great salvation!

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3 ESV).

The point: He has cleansed us from our sins and the guilt of our sins.

And this presupposes the total depravity of man. Our hearts were desperately wicked (Jer. 17:9)

how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Heb. 9:14 ESV)

⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

 ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

 ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

 (1 Jn. 1:7-9 ESV)

¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works. (Tit. 2:14 ESV)

So perfect was his atonement that he “sat down at the right hand” and never to be repeated again. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:1)

“For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers,” (Heb. 2:11 ESV)

He washed us, purified us, and cleansed us. But he has also sanctified us—and set us apart from the power of the devil and all sin.

“To sanctify” means to radically set apart one from another.

And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. (Heb. 10:10 ESV)

⁴ For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Heb. 10:14 ESV)

Christ's work of sanctification is guaranteed in the believer's life. We are His workmanship & He who began a good work will complete it. Amen!

“Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Heb. 2:14-15 ESV)

Jesus Christ entered into this world system and, through his death, he died for all those who was given by the Father.

Despite his defeat, the devil continues to attack and lure us. He and his minions try to get us off the path.

We must keep on the full armor of God and live under the power of God and God alone.

^“Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” (Heb. 2:17 ESV)

This verse speaks about the necessity of the incarnation, virgin birth, sinless life, and Christ taking on humanity. He had to a flesh and blood like you and me to represent his people before God above.

Propitiation means to satisfy the wrath and anger of God. The righteous anger of God abides in every sinner that is not under the blood of Christ (John 3:36). All the infinite, eternal wrath of God was shifted to Jesus Christ. As Christ died in our place, the Father unleashed all the fury on him that should be on us!

If you don't believe in God's wrath, you can never really understand God's love. Because God is holy he requires satisfaction for his wrath, and because God is love he makes satisfaction for us in Christ.

And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him.” (Heb. 5:9 ESV)

Salvation means a rescue from great danger and destruction.  And we know that is hell and damnation.

The Bible is clear: God saved you for Himself…God saved you by Himself…God saved you from Himself

Hebrews 10:31 says, “It is a terrifying thing to fall in the hands of a living God.” Saved us from himself and terror of falling into his own hands This is why our salvation is SO GREAT a salvation.

In short: If salvation, A to Z, is God's doing, his calling, his plan, his action and his work, then he deserves all the glory, all the time. Thank you, Lord!

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6 ESV)

From the first man pardoned in the Old Testament to the last man forgiven at the world's end, they all owe their pardon to Christ's death for them.

A benefit of God being unlike us: “I will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:7-8)

In grace, God doesn't close his eyes to our sin. No, he acknowledges that we are sinners, yet turns toward us with mercy and pardon.

In Psalm 51:1-4, David is broken over his sin. Yet he is not parallelized with fear or given over to despair. God’s lovingkindness and compassion give him the confidence to confess his sin with the greatest expectation of pardon. This is a necessary reminder for every believer!

Remember, the devil is a grave digger—and he wants us to be haunted by them.“But Christ…He has chosen to remember our sins no more. f you think you have sinned yourself out of the possibility of forgiveness, this is God’s invitation to you today.

“Let the wicked forsake his way . . . let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).

^“ he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.

 ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,

 ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

 ¹⁵ Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” (Heb. 9:12-15 ESV)

Redemption means the setting free of slave (us) from sin by the ransom (Christ). He released us from our imprisonment from sin,. If we are free, we are free, indeed.

The story of redemption is historical proof of the unstoppable sovereignty of God. God sovereignty is on every page of Scripture, it's true, and so is God's love, God's redemption, and God's mission. It is the Father to appoint, the Son to accomplish, and the Holy Spirit to apply the one work of redemption. And so God did for us!

"You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay?"(Isaiah 29:16). The great work of redemption is to set the world right side up. God above. Man below. Potter holding the clay.

Only by God bringing Christ back from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant can we have an assurance of salvation and redemption that is full and free. And, so, the painful hammers and saws of redemption are constructing in you something beautiful and eternal that you could not build on your own. Our righteousness will never be enough, but it’s okay because Jesus is our righteousness and our redemption. 

Jesus is our redemption, righteousness, life, wisdom, and power. Simply put, He is our everything.

“Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant” (Heb. 13:20 ESV)

Just as God is creator & sustainer of the world so He is creator & sustainer of our faith-for His glory & our glorification. Let's stop believing the gospel's power stops at conversion. The gospel is the spiritual power for justification through glorification. 

God doesn't love us to the degree we are LIKE Christ, but to the degree we are IN Christ, which is 100%. Our union with Christ doesn't come in an installment plan - 37% at justification, the other 63% at glorification.  From creation to redemption to our final glorification, God sends forth the light of his Word to pierce the darkness.

Salvation is ALL of grace. At every stage, from election to glorification, it is ALL by divine initiative. Start to finish, ALL of grace!

So, friend, how great is this salvation? How excellent is it? How perfect? Full? Complete?

I hope these 8 accomplishments have refocused your faith to consider what an awesome God we serve!