The Parachute

by O. E. Bickel

The Bible makes an amazing claim: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God's wrath remains on him" (John 3:36).

You might wonder: How could anyone be that indispensable? Well, some things in life are indispensable. For example, when you jump from a flying plane, a parachute is essential to survival. Selecting a soft-looking green pasture to land on won't help. The ground and gravity will combine to make a hard fact that will smash you.

We all fall to temptations and fail to match up to God’s standards.  Someday, you and I will die. After that, God will evaluate our lives.  Did we live in such a manner as to deserving of entry into life with God in heaven?  The Bible warns, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). The hard fact is that God is really holy and cannot permit unholy people into heaven. None of us attain this standard. We can no more be holy than we can fly. Every day we plummet closer to a jarring impact with the holy God.

To survive the day of God’s judgment, we need the indispensable parachute that God has designed to rescue us. A parachute is very carefully designed and carefully constructed of sound material to open up, catch the air, and slow one's speed for a safe landing. God our Father, who loves us though we are wayward children, designed a Savior, made of divine material, who would meet the eternal laws and successfully save us from our fall into sin.

The holy Jesus, who never sinned, let God place on him the sins of us all. Therefore, at the cross Jesus received the due punishment of our sins. He rose from the tomb with victory over death for each of us. He promised, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." (John 11:25)

Of course, to be saved by a parachute, you need to put it on. So to be saved by Christ, you need to wear Christ, consciously placing your trust in Him and letting Him take over your life. The Bible says, "They that have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians 3:27). Merely knowing about a parachute is not enough. The most experienced parachute instructor will die as easily as an ignorant novice, if he jumps without a parachute.

The jump to judgment before God comes at your death or at the Last Day when Jesus Christ returns to earth. Neither day is marked on the calendar. So, you need to be prepared. Do you have Christ? Do you possess Him? Are you wearing Him? You may claim Him by confessing your sins today and strapping Him on by faith and wearing Him all the time.

When you wear Christ, He will show. People will ask about Him, just as if you were wearing a parachute all the time. Yes, you will find He is a kind of burden, but He said, "My yoke is easy and My burden is light" (Matthew 11:30). But when you are falling in death, plummeting toward Judgment Day, Christ doesn’t weigh anything at all. Then He's as light as a feather and as indispensable as two wings.