October 16, 2004

THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD

"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' " (John 4:42, NIV).

The universality of God's salvation is highlighted in this all-encompassing title, "The Saviour of the World." This is the very essence of the gospel.

With powerful conviction, the Samaritan villagers declared, "We know that this man really is the Savior of the world" (John 4:42, NIV). For them this was no hearsay. They themselves were eyewitnesses of the fact they were proclaiming. Earlier in the encounter between Jesus and the woman at the well, she saw Him merely as a Jew (see verse 9). Then, with excitement, she introduced Him as "a man who told me everything I ever did" (verse 29). Now she and her fellow villagers have seen the light. They embrace Jesus as the Messiah, the Saviour of the world.

To these Samaritans, Jesus is no regional, national, or ethnic Saviour. He is the Messiah, the Saviour of the whole world. He came to Planet Earth as the universal Saviour of all humanity--Jews and Gentiles, men and women, with no exceptions for race, social or economic status, nationality, or ethnicity. The thrilling discovery that Jesus is the Saviour of the whole world soon became the keynote proclamation of the early Christian church. Jesus Christ is Lord of all and the Saviour of the world! The everlasting gospel is universal (see Revelation 14:6-12) because the Saviour it proclaims is universal. "Simple repentance and belief in Jesus as the Saviour of the world, prepares the soil of the heart for the reception of truth."--Signs of the Times, February 29, 1892.

My Prayer Today: Lord, I reaffirm with the Samaritan villagers that Jesus Christ is indeed the Saviour of the world. Amen.