Dead Lifeguards Can’t Be Saviors
March 24th, 2008Author: Frank Harber Ph.D
Jesus came to earth to save mankind from penalty, power, and the presence of sin. Jesus is the Savior of the human race.
The image of Savior is not unlike that of the lifeguard. The job of the lifeguard is to save drowning people. To qualify as a lifeguard, one must be “willing” and “able” to save someone from drowning.
In the same manner, man is drowning in sin. The Bible tells us that man will die physically because of sin, but sin also causes spiritual separation from God (Rom. 6:23). To die in one’s sins is to be separated from God for eternity. This everlasting separation is what the Bible calls the second death (Rev. 2:11).
Throughout history, various religious leaders have sought to assume the role of the religious lifeguard in order to help those drowning in sin, though they themselves were drowning with the rest of humanity. Unfortunately, being mere men, these religious leaders did not have the ability to qualify as Savior.
Jesus Christ came to earth as creation’s cosmic lifeguard to save mankind from the second death. To be a Savior presupposes that one has the ability to save. Thus, how do we know that Jesus could do what He said he could do? What makes Jesus different from all other religious leaders? The answer is found in the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth — it has no tenant. The bones of all other dead religious leaders may be found buried here on earth; however, the tomb of Jesus remains empty.
A dead lifeguard can save no one. Christianity does not ask its followers to follow a dead religious leader, but to follow a resurrected Christ. This was the message of the Early Church.
The early Christians preached the gospel or “good news” of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.