Salvation granted to all through the Cross


   We believe that we cannot merit salvation by our own actions. Salvation is not given to us because of our merits; it is a gratuitous gift from God the Father; so nobody can boast of the good they find in themselves, and no one should despise those who have not as yet opened up their hearts to God’s grace.
  But how have we gained our salvation? It is through the love of God which is so great that he gave up His only Son (Jn 3:16). Jesus became lowly for our salvation and that through his dying on the cross humanity could be once again reconciled to God: “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life” (Jn 3:14). When Jesus spoke about the lifting up of the Son of Man (Jn 3:14; 8:28; 12:32, 34), he was referring to his own personal exaltation and the judgement of the world. Jesus saw his mission here on earth as the expression of God’s love for the world in spite of the world’s rebellion against God. He had to die on the cross in order for us to be saved from our damnation. When God raised Jesus from the dead, Jesus became the way to eternal life for those who believe in him. Faith in the cross becomes the way through we encounter our own salvation.
   Though it is true that we gain salvation through the cross and not through our good works, good life and good works are a necessary response by us to God’s love. “He who believes in him is not condemned; he who does not believe in him is condemned already. To those who believed in him, he gave them the right to become his children; they have become a light to the peoples.”
   Due to God’s salvation through the sacrifice of His Son on the cross, we are now in the light and on a journey to the ultimate fulfilment in life (heaven). We have earned our salvation through a very durable and expensive means i.e., God sacrificing His own Son – the Son of Man – on the Cross. However, we can choose the dark if we refuse to follow God’s way. We can condemn ourselves to the life of unhappiness. We always bring unhappiness into our lives when we choose to live in sin. ‘God never punishes us because of who we are but for because of our sins.’ In other words it is the sin in us that punishes us.  Anyone who listens to what Jesus proposes from the cross, i.e., to give up one’s life in love for others, will find true happiness.

Points for reflections
·    The Bronze Serpent became an imagery to which Israel was saved when he was attacked by fierce serpents
·         By the Cross you have redeemed us
·         We look at him whom they pierced
·         Readings
§  John 3: 14 The Son of Man will be lifted up
§  Numbers 21:1-9 Moses lifted a bronze serpent prefiguring the cross of salvation

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