Resident Savior - Lesson 4
- par Northwest Church
John 4
John 4:4-26 HCSB
He had to travel through Samaria, so He came to a town of Samaria called Sychar near the property that Jacob had given his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, worn out from His journey, sat down at the well. It was about six in the evening. A woman of Samaria came to draw water. "Give Me a drink," Jesus said to her, for His disciples had gone into town to buy food. "How is it that You, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?" she asked Him. For Jews do not associate with Samaritans. Jesus answered, "If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, 'Give Me a drink,' you would ask Him, and He would give you living water." "Sir," said the woman, "You don't even have a bucket, and the well is deep. So where do You get this 'living water'? You aren't greater than our father Jacob, are You? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and livestock." Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again-ever! In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up within him for eternal life." "Sir," the woman said to Him, "give me this water so I won't get thirsty and come here to draw water." "Go call your husband," He told her, "and come back here." "I don't have a husband," she answered. "You have correctly said, 'I don't have a husband,'" Jesus said. "For you've had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true." "Sir," the woman replied, "I see that You are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, yet you [Jews] say that the place to worship is in Jerusalem." Jesus told her, "Believe Me, woman, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, because salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will explain everything to us." "I am [He]," Jesus told her, "the One speaking to you."
A Sinful Past
Fact 1: God is GREATER than the Samaritan's past sins. (And He came, in the resident savior Jesus, to show her personally.)
Micah 7
Micah 7:18-19 HCSB
Who is a God like You, removing iniquity and passing over rebellion for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not hold on to His anger forever, because He delights in faithful love. He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
Suggestion 1
Because He's GREATER than our past, our past can SERVE us rather than rule over us. (There can be GOOD reasons to remember your past!)
Her Testimony Lead Others to Christ
John 4:39-42 HCSB
Now many Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of what the woman said when she testified, "He told me everything I ever did." Therefore, when the Samaritans came to Him, they asked Him to stay with them, and He stayed there two days. Many more believed because of what He said. And they told the woman, "We no longer believe because of what you said, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this really is the Savior of the world."
Suggestion 2
Our past can be a RESOURCE to be SHARED, in stead of something to be buried. (It's not your story anymore when you come to Christ! It's a resource to be shared.)
Suggestion 3
Even the BEST moments in our past are but a preview of coming attractions. Think about the moments in your past where you felt the MOST joy? NOW, read about what the prophet Isaiah foretells in Isaiah 65.
Isaiah 65
Isaiah 65:17-18 HCSB
"For I will create a new heaven and a new earth; the past events will not be remembered or come to mind. Then be glad and rejoice forever in what I am creating; for I will create Jerusalem to be a joy and its people to be a delight.
A preoccupied past.
If you & I do not know how to relate to our past, it can come out of hiding at any moment & eat into our present. How has your past drained you of the ability to live confidently today, siphoned you of your ability to enjoy the blessings of the present, or sabotaged your relationships of the present moment?
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