| Yesterday's Bible Study |
In this verse from Matthew, we are told that Jesus fulfilled Isaiah's prophecy that the Gentiles will hope in the Lord. Today, we can rejoice in our salvation from a God who opens Himself up to all people, all over the world.
Sometimes, Christianity is presented as an exclusive religion. "How could only people who profess faith in Jesus go to Heaven?" a dissenter often asks. However, Christianity is anything but exclusive. Every person on Earth--regardless of their past, origin, family, social status, wealth, and sin--can call on the name of Jesus and be saved forever. No one is excluded from this promise. This is because, as today's verse says, the Gentiles (people who were not Jewish by birth) can trust in His name.
When Jesus died for our sins, He did not die for certain types of people or even certain types of sin. He wiped everything and everyone who calls on His name clean. He made it possible for everyone to become His son or daughter. That means whenever we meet someone, no matter who it is, we are meeting an individual whom Jesus dearly loves and died for on the cross. |
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As for what it means to trust in the Lord, that can have several meanings. The most essential is that we can trust that we have been saved. We trust that we can stand before the throne of God without fear; we know that we are clean before Him, not because of anything we have done, but because of His enormous grace. We do not have to be ashamed of ourselves or our pasts; we have only to look back at Jesus, the life He lived and then gave up for us, to know that our trust in Him is secure.
After we have trusted in Him for our salvation, we have the opportunity to trust Him for other things. We do not have to figure out our lives alone; we do not have to solve our problems alone; we do not have to be afraid of the future. Instead, like so many Gentiles and believing Jews before us, we can trust in His name.
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