Webster gives the following definitions of “extraordinary”: 1a – going beyond what is usual, regular, or customary. 1b – exceptional to a very marked extent.  Some synonyms include: exceptional, phenomenal, singular, uncommon, unique, and unusual. *

Last week, the Creekwood church of Christ hosted a Vacation Bible School with the theme: “Come and See Our Extraordinary Savior.”

Why was and is Jesus so unique, so extraordinary?

J. Hampton Keathley III summarized some of the unique qualities of Jesus: **

• The anticipation of His coming in Old Testament prophecy.

• The nature of His birth: miraculously conceived in a virgin named Mary through the Holy Spirit of God.

• The uniqueness of His person – both God and man.

• The uniqueness of His life: “His life is unparalleled in beauty, scope, character, and effect.”

• The uniqueness of His death: fulfilling prophecy and despite His sinless character.

• The uniqueness of His resurrection: the empty tomb.

The following well known anonymous composition of the nineteenth century beautifully demonstrates the uniqueness of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World.

One Solitary Life

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself.

He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against Him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves.

While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His garments, the only property he had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race.

All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life.**

Jesus was unique and uniquely qualified to be our Savior, for only Jesus, the sinless Son of God, could pay the price for our redemption from sin (Ephesians 1:7).  He did this by dying on the cross for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

God will save from sin and give eternal life to those who place their faith and trust in Jesus (Acts 16:30-31), turn from their sins in repentance (Acts 17:30-31), confess Jesus before men (Romans 10:9-10), and are baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38).  He will continue to cleanse from sin those who continue to walk in the light of His Word (1 John 1:7-9).

Jesus is the Extraordinary Savior and He will save YOU if you will submit your life to Him.

-- David A. Sargent

* “Extraordinary.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extraordinary. Accessed 22 Jul. 2022. ** “The Uniqueness of Jesus Christ” by J. Hampton Keathley III, www.bible.org

David A. Sargent, Minister

Church of Christ at Creekwood 
1901 Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama  36695

Archived issues of Living Water can be viewed and accessed from our website at: www.creekwoodcc.org