Dear Residents of the Goodhue area- Hello!
Some of you know me already of have met me in the seven years I’ve had the privilege of serving in this area as pastor at Grace Lutheran on County 4, and St. Peter’s Lutheran in town; others of you I hope I will yet meet. And I hope what I write in this and future columns will be something God uses to bless you.
In future articles, I hope, at times, to bring the light of God’s word to bear on various issues that people are debating in our time and culture, such as, “Is there a ‘Christian’ position on abortion?” (I believe there most definitely is!)
But today I want to talk about a question that’s even more important: Who is Jesus for?
For God’s answer, I direct your attention to the Gospel of John, Chapter 4, especially verses 39-42: (This and other Scripture quotes from the NIV translation) - Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him [Jesus] because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”
Who is Jesus for? If you are part of the world, then he’s for you. When he died on the cross, he paid for your sins, for he’s “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” (Jn 1:29) When he rose from the dead, it was to live as your Savior. For “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43) Even if you have messed up your life with your sins as badly as the woman from that Samaritan town had done (read the rest of John, Chapter 4), he came for you. And the salvation he came to bring you lasts forever, for “Whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). But if you persist in rejecting him, you will lose out on the salvation he came to bring you, for “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18) Don’t miss out on God’s salvation! No matter who you are and what you’ve done, repent of your sins and put your trust in Jesus, and you shall enjoy God’s salvation! For this man- Jesus of Nazareth- really is the Savior of the world!
