We all love the drama and suspense of great rescue stories, don’t we? Especially when the rescue stories are true!
On September 11, 2001, our country suffered the most horrific attack against our sovereign nation in its history.
A little-known story of rescue on 9/11 was led by a man named Rick Rescorla. Rescorla was the Director of Security for Morgan Stanley, whose offices were in the South Tower of the World Trade Center. When the Port Authority issued an announcement that everyone in the South Tower was safe and should stay calm and remain at their desks, Rescorla, fearing the worst, disregarded the announcement and immediately began an evacuation process for the 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees. With a bullhorn in hand, he ordered the Morgan Stanley employees to evacuate the building. Before the second plane struck the South Tower, most of his 2,700 colleagues were on their way down the stairs.
Incredibly fearless and courageous, Rescorla reentered the South Tower one last time to be sure that all of the Morgan Stanley employees had safely left the building. He was last seen near the 10th floor, on his way up to help the last of his colleagues leave the building. When the South Tower collapsed, Rick was still in the building. His body was never found. Because of his actions and ultimately his self-sacrifice, 2,687 of the 2,700 Morgan Stanley employees were rescued that day. One of the 13 who perished was the rescuer, Rick Rescorla, himself.
The Scripture I want to share explains our respective role in another dramatic rescue story. I believe this rescue story is the greatest rescue story in human history ever orchestrated and executed.
My thesis is this: The God of the Bible is the God who rescues all who trust Him to save and then calls each and every one of us who have been rescued to join him in His rescue mission to the rest of the world.
According to the Bible, this rescue story began to take shape in the mind of God in eternity past. The Rescuer entered this world the day that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, and His plan began to come to fruition in A.D. 33 when Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, suffered, was crucified, died an excruciating death, was buried, and was then miraculously raised from the dead. This rescue operation continues to this very day on a global scale. And we are all called—actually commanded—to jump in and assist and play our respective parts in God’s global rescue mission!
Romans 10:9-16 lays this mission out for us in two parts. Inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul gives us both the message of rescue and the method of rescue.
The Message of Rescue
“If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, ‘Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’” -Romans 10:9-13
That is the good news! Call on Jesus and believe in Him, and you will be rescued. How simple is that?
This good news is a global blanket promise and offer freely given to the entire world. Any man, any woman, any child of any and every faith background—or no faith background—who calls on the name of Jesus in faith will be saved!
But don’t get too excited, yet. The Apostle Paul tells us the sobering news that there is a problem—a delivery problem, a supply chain problem. And God tells us how to solve it.
God calls us all to three simple engagements.
First, God calls us all to pray.
“Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’” -Matthew 9:37-38
Second, God calls us all to bear witness.
“‘But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” -Acts 1:8
Third, God calls us all to make disciples.
“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” -Matthew 28:18-20
These three commands are all so clear, concise, critical, and missional. There are 8 billion people in the world, and more than 3 billion have never heard the good news of eternal rescue through Jesus Christ.
All of us are called to engage in the rescue effort to the billions of people on the Earth who are still lost and trapped and cannot rescue themselves.
Matthew 24:14 tells us that the rescue mission will eventually be successfully completed.
“‘And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.’” -Matthew 24:14
This is the global promise that all nations will hear the gospel. The word “nations” in the Bible means tribes or people groups. There are 17,000 people groups in the world today. More than 7,300 people groups have never heard the gospel. The Bible tells us that every single one of these people groups will eventually hear the good news!
The Method of Rescue
The Apostle Paul explains God’s method to finish the rescue mission.
“How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” -Romans 10:14-16
In reverse order, Paul says beautiful feet (yours and mine) are sent to share good news so people will hear and believe!
You and I have heard and followed the pathway of rescue that our Divine Rescuer laid out in His Word, simply by believing in Jesus by faith. But our response to our having been rescued is equally as critical—even more critical to the 3 billion people who have not yet heard.
Our response (after we have been rescued) is gratitude, thanksgiving, and—out of the overflow of that gratitude—obedient service in joining God’s global rescue mission.
We do not serve in order to be rescued or saved. Rather, we are saved in order to serve in God’s global rescue operation as an expression of our deep gratitude to our Rescuer for saving us.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus Christ showed the world unprecedented courage and gave His own life in order to rescue you and me.
In the South Tower on 9/11, the 2,683 Morgan Stanley employees who were successfully rescued only had to trust and follow the instructions of Rick Rescorla and exit the building to be rescued and saved.
God is calling upon you and me today to pray, bear witness, and make disciples among the unreached. And in the end, God’s rescue mission to the nations will wildly and wonderfully succeed—guaranteed!
Responding to the Great Commission
The Great Commission is not a suggestion; it’s a command. At East-West, we continue to dedicate everything to that truth. Every day, we are pressing into dark and distant places to bring the light of the gospel to those who have never heard it. God is on the move, and we refuse to stay still. Do you want to see how? Tap below to learn more.
