The Gospel is for Everyone

Allow me to begin with a simple truth; the Bible is an amazing book. The more someone honestly and humbly studies Scripture, the more amazed they will become at the beauty, transcendence, and excellence of God’s Word. Frankly, there is no book like the Bible. The providential wisdom of the Holy Spirit’s work of governing men not only to write what they did, but to also arrange their writings in the deliberate manner in which they did – is simply beyond human comprehension or explanation. As our church continues to work our way sequentially through entire books of the Bible, we are learning afresh just how magnificently the inspired author tied thoughts and ideas together in a way that is above and beyond any intellectual work of men. The Scriptures are inarguably of Divine origin.

Case in point, it was not until we began a verse-by-verse exposition of John’s Gospel that it became abundantly clear, the Apostle’s writings are not just skillfully structured, they are Holy Spirit situated in order to drive home eternal truths. Allow me to give you just one example of what I mean. 

In John chapter three we are introduced to Nicodemus, a religious leader of the Jewish Sanhedrin. In John chapter four we are told about a woman that Jesus encountered at Jacob’s well. To put it mildly, these two individuals are about as different as different can be. 

Nicodemus was a well-respected, religious male Jew. The unnamed woman at the well was a social outcast and was considered by the Jews of her day to be of impure blood; a “half-bred” as it were, because her family lineage was a mix of Jew and Gentile. Nicodemus hailed from the city of Jerusalem, educated in the law of Moses and by every outward standard, a very moral man. The woman at the well was an uneducated, immoral, five-time divorced female from Samaria, shunned by society because she was living with a man outside the covenant of marriage. 

As if these comparisons are not obvious enough, consider this; in John chapter three Nicodemus came to find Jesus. In John chapter four, Jesus came to find this woman (John 4:4.) Nicodemus, for whatever reason, came late at night under the cover of darkness to seek out Jesus, in contrast to Jesus who came to the woman at the well in the middle of the day. Then finally, we see that Nicodemus came to ask Jesus questions, but Jesus came to Jacob’s well to ask this woman questions. 

Take note dear friends, these two stories are not told back-to-back simply by random coincidence. Instead, this is by Divine design. What John and Jesus and the Holy Spirit would have us learn by these two contrasting real-life narratives is this – Jesus and His Gospel is for everyone. These stories are purposefully arranged to make every reader aware; that no matter who you are, where you are from, how religious you are, how immoral you are, or whether you are looking for answers or looking to be left alone … you need Christ. 

Both Nicodemus and this woman at the well, with all their differences, shared the same need – they both needed Jesus and His Gospel. Please hear me dear friend, regardless of whether you are educated or uneducated, male or female, Jew or Gentile – you need Jesus. Whether you are rich or poor, shunned by society or high-society, you need Christ. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is for religious people and irreligious people. The reconciling work of Christ is Good News for every person on the planet no matter who they are or what they have done. This is exactly why the Holy Spirit inspired John to record both these stories and strategically arrange them in the way he did. 

Can you not see the unparalleled wisdom of God in teaching deep eternal spiritual truths in the simplest of ways? By paralleling these two very different events of these two very different individuals, we learn one all-important truth – all people everywhere need Jesus. Whether someone like Nicodemus, or someone like this Samaritan woman, or someone like you and I, we are all looking for satisfaction and fulfillment that only God can truly provide.  

As I said in the beginning, the Bible truly is an amazing book. 

Read it, learn it, believe it, love it, live it and share it. 

Because Jesus and His Gospel is for everyone.

HHJ News