For Everyone – January 14, 2021

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.
Isaiah 49:6

For Everyone

Every year I enjoy watching the New Year celebrations beginning in Asia and then crossing the globe all the way to the west coast of North America. Those celebrations were a little different this year, but it was still the same principle. As the earth turns, the darkness of New Year’s Eve is lit up by artificial light at midnight, and then a few hours later comes the dawning of a new morning in a new year.

When Jesus was on earth as a human being, he celebrated his New Year in Israel. He was a Jewish man. There was a sign on his cross that said, “King of the Jews.” People could have understood his work to be simply for Jewish people since he was one of them.

But 700 years before Jesus was born, the prophet Isaiah quoted God the Father speaking to his Son, Jesus, and saying, “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles.” Gentiles are any people who are not Jewish. Jesus is not just the glory of the Jewish people of Israel. He is a light for all of the Gentiles as well.

That means Jesus brings light to the lives of people no matter where they live in the world. The good news about forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus has gone to the ends of the earth. People’s eyes are opened, and their hearts are changed from darkness into light as they come into contact with that wonderful news.

Today that news of salvation can make it around the world through the internet even faster than the world can spin. It’s a blessing to see it happen, and it’s a privilege to be part of that effort.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, Light of the world, shine brightly and bring many more to faith in you. Amen.