The Great Rescue

It was an icy day in January 2009. US Airways Flight 1549 from New York's LaGuardia Airport in New York City had just attempted takeoff headed for Charlotte, North Carolina, when a flock of birds flew right into both engines, causing a loss of power to the aircraft. Captain CB Sully had no alternatives to landing the plane in the frigid waters of the Hudson River. Within minutes, ferries arrived to rescue people who were now clinging to the outside of the aircraft's wings, as well as others who were floating on available rafts, while some had been thrust straight into the Hudson River. However, no matter where they landed, they were all rescued!

 It has been said that Captain Sully refused to leave the aircraft until all his passengers had safely evacuated. This rescue is known as the Miracle on the Hudson. I am sure the captain and his crew had practiced, discussed, and walked through emergency procedures countless times, which had helped to make the rescue that day successful. Not one life lost!

Although there have been many extraordinary rescues throughout history, from every kind of vehicle, apparatus or otherwise, that were successful in defying death, there is one that is even greater. Greater than defying physical death? One with a single instruction that assures a hundred percent rescue. Sounds too good to be true. I thought that is what you would say, and so did those who considered themselves religious because of the Old Testament Law they followed with its complex set of dos and don'ts to be right with God. All of which created a central stumbling block to their understanding of what it takes to be righteous or acceptable in God's eyes. 

The Israelites had the Law, but there was always that one thing (we all have a one thing, don't we?) that kept them from being fully forgiven and accepted by God. According to their Law, if you messed up on even one point, there was a whole lot of sacrificial work to be done, rules to follow to get back in "good with God." In the end, they always came to the same conclusion: this was impossible to keep! Because in the process of trying to "get things right," they did something else wrong. They could never arrive at knowing they had been forgiven. 

We are no different from those who follow the Law given by God to the Israelites, except that we have a reliable, I would go so far as to say, a no-fail rescue plan provided by our Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps you do not believe that He is the answer to the uncertainty of your standing before God, forgiven. Still, I assure you that the Law given long ago to restore the Israelites in their relationship to God is crucial for understanding that we can never measure up on our own.  Sacrifices, rituals, or observances of holy days fail in comparison for what God demands for us to be righteous before Him.

 The fact is all their works did not restore them but instead exposed their bent to sin. 

The same is true for us today. Although the Law reveals God's expectations, it does not have the power to compel us to obey them. Only the Spirit of God living within us does that. Its purpose was to show us our inadequacy apart from Christ. Through His death on the cross, his burial in a borrowed tomb, and his unmistakable resurrection - some eyewitnesses saw Him, we have been given the Great Rescue Plan. It shows us how we can escape this running on the hamster wheel mentality, sin, sacrifice, hoping for right standing, sin sacrifice, and so on... Never-ending, never measuring up.

The Great Rescue Plan

• Understand that the Law was given to show our ever-present need for a Savior.
• Accept that we can never measure up to God's standard of righteousness by our works.
• Be conscious of the Law's purpose to convict us to turn from sin to Christ.
• Trust Christ has come as our ultimate sacrifice on the cross. He is the end of the Law for righteousness because our belief and trust in Christ as Savior and His finished work on the cross is our righteousness.
• Believe there are no add-ons, no VIPS, no loopholes. All come to Him in admission of sin, falling short. No need to worry that you can't remember every sin; you will only commit more tomorrow, but rather have an understanding that any sin, even one, separates you from God without the acceptance of Christ as your sacrifice.
• Positions, social status, skin color, religious sect to which you belong, wealth, or education level are not significant, not even recognized by God. All he sees is you wrapped in faith in Christ - that's it! You can never rescue yourself.
• Live in faith for what He has done for you!

Disclaimer:

Do not fall prey to the thoughts that will entangle you. People will try to remind you of all your shortcomings, so what if someone who knows you and accuses you by saying, 'You did... or said... or went...' Remember the hamster wheel. Before Christ, we were all on it. And now, if you mess up, then fess up—not to be "resaved" over and over, that was accomplished one time on the Cross of Calvary, but rather to be restored to fellowship with God through Christ. Your debt has been paid in full through Jesus. Walk in His grace because, in the end, that is what holds you securely now and forever.

The word of God says:

Therefore, by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:20 KJV

... for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:10 NASB

D. Lee. "10 Heart-Stopping Rescue Missions." Humans, 2 Feb. 2024.