Romans Chapter 10 cont'd
But how will they be able to call on him if they don't know what to believe? And how will they know what to believe if they don't first hear the good news? How can anyone hear the good news without hearing it through a preacher? And how can anyone preach the good news without being commissioned by God to do so? But he has commissioned people to preach it, as the scripture says, "How beautiful are the messengers who bring to others the good news of peace and the joyful report of God's good gifts for people!" But not everyone who has heard it has welcomed the good news. As Isaiah laments, "Who has believed our report?"
So then, faith happens in response to truly hearing the word of God. So I ask you, has God's word really gone forth? Yes it has! As the psalmist points out, "all creation resonates with God's message to all the peoples of the earth."
Comments:
This section of Romans 10 reminds me of a book written by the brilliant historian/theologian and Anglican bishop, N. T. Wright, called Simply Christian. God is using him in a wonderful way to engage our postmodern and postChrisitan culture with the essence of true faith. He is generous, wise, engaging and compelling. The well-known author of vampire lore, Anne Rice, came back to faith in Jesus by reading his books. I even saw him recently on The Colbert Report...it was really hilarious. He is sneaking into all kinds of venues...major universities included.
In the first section of this book, the kind and erudite bishop posits that there are four basic universal longings of the human heart that anyone can identify with: relational connection, beauty, justice and spirituality. He compares these longings to an "echo" of a voice that is reverberating throughout history and creation. In the second section of the book, he presents Jesus as the original "voice" that created the echo and then, in his incarnation, puts a face to the voice. Jesus then personally bears and takes away the guilt and shame of all humanity...only to rise again to impart new life to the earth. The third section of the book is all about the people of God who have been ushered into the reality of the new creation inaugurated by Jesus...and their journey to reflect his love, beauty, justice and reality to God's broken, but beloved world.
The witness of creation testifies of its Designer through a gracious general divine revelation that the content of the gospel of Jesus more fully and specifically reveals, explains and confirms. These two witnesses are ordained by God and necessary in order for the whole world to come to know the love of God and return to him in loving friendship. There is a story told about the great American lady, Helen Keller, who was born deaf, blind and dumb and thereby totally cut off from communications with everyone and all that was around her. When she finally learned to communicate through the extreme and patient efforts of Annie Sullivan, her teacher...and she first heard about Jesus Christ...she said this: "I already know him, I just didn't know his name. Thank you for telling me his name."
What an honor it is to tell the people of the world (both the people God brings our way and also sends us to) about the love of God in Jesus. Let's unashamedly tell of his love, beauty, justice and nearness.
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