Greetings in the name of Jesus, who is worthy of praise for His life, death, resurrection and loving reign over all things!
鈥淟et us fix our eyes on Jesus鈥� is our theme for the new academic year at SA国际传媒. What an important encouragement this is in the life of every seminarian and professor; in the life of every pastor, missionary and deaconess; indeed, in the life of every Christian.
The life of a Christian is a life of praise to the Lord who has created and redeemed us. At the Seminary, I pray that not only our worship in chapel, but that all of our teaching and learning, our serving and planning, our friendships and activities 鈥� all that we do 鈥� would ultimately be for the honor and glory of Jesus鈥� name.
In the final years of his life, as Martin Luther was lecturing on the Scriptures in seminary classrooms at the University of Wittenberg, he drew inspiration from a verse in the Psalms: 鈥淚 will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being鈥� (Ps. 104:33 ESV). The work of the seminary classroom, the goal of forming future pastors, is no mere intellectual exercise. It is an expression of praise to God, and it aims at kindling confidence in Christ and praise to God in the hearts of the students.
As the Lord fixes our eyes on His beloved Son, His Spirit brings forth praise from our hearts, lips and lives. Beholding God鈥檚 Son and His saving work, we see with certainty the forgiveness of our sins, our own sonship before God and the certainty of our own resurrection on the Last Day. Our hearts joyfully confess, 鈥淛esus is Lord!鈥� Our lips tell forth Jesus鈥� great love and all He has done to redeem us. Our voices join together in public confession and praise. And our lives, in word and deed, unfold 鈥渋n the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him鈥� (Col. 3:17 ESV).
God grant this to you and to all of us, for Jesus鈥� sake. As the sainted Martin Franzmann wrote in his powerful hymn 鈥淥 God, O Lord of Heaven and Earth鈥�:
O Spirit, who didst once restore
Thy Church that it might be again
The bringer of good news to men,
Breathe on Thy cloven Church once more,
That in these gray and latter days
There may be those whose life is praise,
Each life a high doxology
To Father, Son, and unto Thee (LSB 834, v. 4).
In Christ鈥檚 love,
Dr. Thomas J. Egger
President