Cross Training - Doctrines of Faith and Salvation

I believe it was Fredrick Nietszche who coined the phrase "Ideation," which states that, “there are many possible conceptual schemes, or perspectives in which judgment of truth or value can be made. This implies that no way of seeing the world can be taken as definitively "true", but does not necessarily entail that all perspectives are equally valid.”   What he is stating is that truth can come at you from multiple angles, none being absolutely right and none being absolutely wrong. 

This last Sunday we began the next rung of the ladder of the Doctrines of our Faith and the doctrine of Salvation.  The doctrine of Salvation is one that needs to be understood correctly.  Here are some simple truths regarding salvation.

• Salvation did not begin at the cross, but in the garden.
• Salvation is a free gift - God gives all, we give nothing.
• Salvation is God's action for restoring His creation.

  Let me give you an illustration that might help you understand what God was doing in His saving activity. 

For her 54th birthday, Shirley Dygert of Teague, Texas, decided she needed some more excitement in her life. So this grandmother of three signed up for her first lesson to leap out of a plane from roughly thirteen-thousand feet.

When the big day arrived, Shirley suited up for her jump and strapped herself to her instructor, Dave Hartsock, in order to do a tandem dive. After jumping from the plane, instructor and student pulled the rip cord. The rip cord worked properly, but the parachute became tangled and only opened partially. Of course skydivers also carry a reserve parachute for such emergencies. Unfortunately, the primary parachute had wrapped itself around the release point for the reserve parachute. As Dave Hartsock tried to untangle the two parachutes, he realized they were running out of time. Later, Shirley Dygert said, "I thought … . this is how I'm going to die. I thought, God help us."

Spiraling toward the ground at a 40 mph, Hartsock gave Shirley a strange command: Lift up your feet. Although she didn't understand the request, she obeyed her instructor. Hartsock then rotated his body under hers in order to bear the impact of their landing. Dave Hartsock was going to be Shirley Dygert's cushion.  Hartsock told CBS News, "People keep telling me that it was a heroic thing to do. In my opinion it was just the right thing to do. I mean, I was the one completely responsible for her safety."

 I cannot explain the brilliance of God's salvation better than that, David Hartsock became Shirley Dygert's cushion.  In other words, God's plan of salvation, beginning in the garden and culminated at the cross was Jesus Christ becoming YOUR cushion.  What a wonderful story!!!.

Randy