Jesus - The Rock of my Salvation

 

Psalm 62:1-2

In both the Old and New Testaments reference is made of God and Jesus as being a ‘Rock’. In this article we are going to take a scriptural look at just how significant this reference is to us as born-again Christians in our spiritual walk in Christ Jesus.

Let’s have a look at the Old Testament First!

The first scripture we will examine is this one:

Genesis 49:24 (NLT)

But his bow remained taut,

and his arms were strengthened

by the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,

by the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel.

This scripture forms part of the blessing that Jacob, on his deathbed, pronounced upon his son Joseph, that’s right the one who was sold into slavery by his brothers and after many trials and tribulations ended up as being Prime Minister of Egypt, second only in authority to Pharaoh.

In the above verse we can see that God is referred to in three different ways, the Mighty One, the Shepherd and the Rock. Two of them, Shepherd and Rock, reach across time to the New Testament and speak prophetically of Jesus – our Shepherd and our Rock.

But in this article, we are going to be looking at the word ‘Rock’ in reference to Jesus as the ‘Rock of our Salvation’.

At this stage, dear reader I would like to remind you that our God has always been and always will be a triune Spirit – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

John 10:30 (NIV)

I and the Father are one.

Romans 8:9 (NIV)

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ.

I would also like to remind you, dear reader, that The Holy Trinity is the same always, never changing, what the one is, so is the other in essence, nature and character.

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Right, now that we have that reinforced, let’s return to examining just what God the ‘Rock’ meant to Israel.

We will start by looking at the Hebrew word for rock which is abir (aw-beer – Strong’s 46) and its full meaning in the spiritual sense is: a place of refuge, immovable and an overhanging place of shelter and protection and a safe refuge from everything evil!

King David, in one of his Psalms, shows us how he fully understood the significance of the Lord being his ‘rock’, and we all know that David was a man after God’s own heart!

Psalm 18:2 (AMP)

The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and the One who rescues me;

My God, my rock and strength in whom I trust and take refuge;

My shield, and the horn of my salvation, my high tower—my stronghold.

David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and in particular from the hand of Saul from whom God had removed His Spirit.

The Lord rescues us from the enemy and leads through the trials and tribulations of life! When we remain in Him, He remains in us

John 15:4-6 (NKJV)

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 

David was a man that worshipped God from the heart! A man whose life was a fine example of the reality of the Christian walk. He sinned, he fell, and he got back up again many times just like I have, and I suspect just like many of you have who read this article.

David was quick to repent, he kept his eyes on Jesus. He knew that the world would bring its troubles and he knew that in Christ Jesus we are overcomers of the world and our arch enemy, Satan! He knew that his real battle was not against flesh and blood but against the spirits of evil!

David worshipped the Lord in Spirit and in truth! Jesus was the Rock of his salvation – he knew this with all his heart! David was a true worshipper in spirit and in truth.

Psalm 95:1-2 (NIV)

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

John 4:24-25 (NIV)

23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

Moses was another of the great Old Testament men of faith who knew the Rock of his salvation and worshipped God in spirit and in truth. Just look at the next who verses from the song of Moses.

Deuteronomy 32:3-4 (NIV)

3 I will proclaim the name of the Lord.

Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

4 He is the Rock, his works are perfect,

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

upright and just is he.

Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, a person just like you and I, was also a woman of great faith that fully understood the God of the Rock of her salvation and worshipped him in spirit and in truth.

1 Samuel 2:1-2 (NIV)

Then Hannah prayed and said:

“My heart rejoices in the Lord;

in the Lord my horn is lifted high.

My mouth boasts over my enemies,

for I delight in your deliverance.

2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;

there is no one besides you;

there is no Rock like our God.

The Israelites in the wilderness were given a classic demonstration of just how majestic and caring the Rock of our Salvation is and were clearly shown that He is able to meet all our needs in any situation no matter how dire they may seem to be! He brings forth rivers of living water both physically and spiritually.

Exodus 17:5-6 (NIV)

5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel.

Jesus is our Rock and when we believe in him rivers of living water will flow from us in the power of the Holy Spirit.

John 7:38-39 (AMP)

38 He who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Me], as the Scripture has said, ‘From his innermost being will flow continually rivers of living water.’” 39 But He was speaking of the [Holy] Spirit, whom those who believed in Him [as Savior] were to receive afterward. The Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified (raised to honor).

Let’s now have a look at the New Testament!

The Apostle Paul says when he was talking to the Church at Corinth tells us about how God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Tis is a great depiction of Father, Son and Holy Spirit as one – God as the Rock in the Old Testament and Jesus as our Rock in the New Testament and the spiritual water being the Holy Spirit!

Today we all eat the same spiritual food when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour and become born-again Christians.

When we build our lives on Jesus and continually walk in the Spirit, we build our house on the Rock that can never be shaken and will always sustain and deliver us through the trials of life that will come our way. We have perfect peace when we stand on the immovable and unshakeable Rock of our Salvation – Jesus!

Matthew 7:24-27 (NIV)

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

John 16:33 (AMP)

I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.]

Jesus is also described as the ‘cornerstone’ foundation of Christianity – the brick (rock) that holds everything together. Not only of our salvation and Christian walk but the foundation of everything! This was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before Christ’s birth and reiterated by the apostle Peter.

Isaiah 28:16 (AMP)

Therefore the Lord God says this,

“Listen carefully, I am laying in Zion a Stone, a tested Stone,

A precious Cornerstone for the [secure] foundation, firmly placed.

He who believes [who trusts in, relies on, and adheres to that Stone] will not be disturbed or give way [in sudden panic].

1 Peter 2:4-7 (NIV

4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For in Scripture it says:

“See, I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and precious cornerstone,

and the one who trusts in him

will never be put to shame.”

And the Apostle Paul tells us that we can lay no other foundation for our salvation and Christian walk than through Jesus Christ! Our salvation lies in no other name but the Name of Jesus! When we build on Jesus the Rock of our Salvation, God dwells in us through His Holy Spirit!

1 Corinthians 3:11 (NIV)

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 2:20-22 (NLT)

20 Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. 21 We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. 22 Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

But just as Jesus is the Rock of Salvation to born-again Christians so is He the rock of offense to all those that refuse to believe in His name!

1 Peter 2:7-8 (AMP)

7 This precious value, then, is for you who believe [in Him as God’s only Son—the Source of salvation]; but for those who disbelieve,

“The [very] stone which the builders rejected

Has become the chief Cornerstone,”

8 and,

“A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense”;

for they stumble because they disobey the word [of God], and to this they [who reject Him as Savior] were also appointed.

Romans 9:33 (NIV)

As it is written:

“See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble

and a rock that makes them fall,

and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”[Isaiah 8:14; 28:16]

When we reject Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we become enemies of God and we are then destined to spend eternity in Hell where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Eternal torment and eternal death which is eternal separation from God – from this there is no escape for those that do not believe! If your name is not written in the lamb’s (Jesus’) book of life you will spend eternity in Hell.

James 4:4 (NIV)

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Revelation 20:15 (NIV)

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.

There is only one name by which a person can be saved and that is the name of Jesus, the Rock of our Salvation!

Acts 4:11-12 (NIV)

11 Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,

which has become the cornerstone.’

12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Prayer:
Dear Lord
I pray in the Name of Jesus that you would lead me by your Holy Spirit this day and every day. I pray that you would help me to keep my eyes and my focus on you alone and that you would guard my heart from sinning against you. I thank you that you are the Rock of my Salvation and that you are my provider and my deliverer from the evil one. Bless me this day, Lord, so that I may be a blessing to others and bring glory to your name. Amen!

To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!

Jesus, the Name above all Names!

Remember: Reading this article is no excuse for you reading and studying the Bible foe yourself. I am flawed, the Bible is not.