“So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.”
- Romans 10:17
On Beautiful Feet is dedicated to encouraging people to share the Good News of Jesus Christ and Proclaim the very real Peace that such Good News brings. While the root verse of that mission is Isaiah 52:7, Saint Paul references those verses in this chapter of Romans. Paul parallels his audience to the messenger from Isaiah 52. His audience, the early Christians based in Rome are now to be messengers of Good News and Peace, of which comes from Christ and Christ alone.
The Early Church:
The church in Rome at the time was a far shot from what it looks like today. In fact, the church then would look more like a church in China or other countries of persecution than our comfortable American churches. Which is not to say one is better than the other. But that when we hear these words about being a messenger of Good News, we must understand the urgency and purpose of it all.
They met in their homes and neighborhoods. In secret they would worship, pray, and teach the scriptures to one another. No lights, no tech, no special programs, just doing life and trying to live the faith.
The goal was simple, spread the Good News. That was the Early Church’s one and only mission. They are to live like a messenger. No place to really call and claim as their own, but the simple charge to do good and share about Jesus.
Good News:
To one degree the Good News is simple, it’s about Jesus Christ. But then you start thinking about what all that means,
Far too often we have simplified the Good News to be about our personal salvation. That Jesus Christ came to save me from my sins, and now offers me a new and better way to live, so I can get to Heaven.
While that may appeal to some of us today, I believe that is only a small portion of what the Good News is meant to be. We lose some of the gravity of it all when it just becomes about “me.” For when the Fall happened, it was not just the Fall of Adam and Eve, but of all humanity and creation. It was broken and separated from the wholeness it was before, when it walked in union with God.
The Fall resulted in all of humanity being cut off, for Adam’s original sin and then our sin that followed behind, all of which being rebellion against God. Yet, God was not willing to simply wipe everything out or to leave it all to waste, God wanted everything to be Good.
So did an act of recreating through the Flood. Making covenants with Noah, Abraham, Israel, and David. Now the last covenant is with the church established by Jesus Christ. All with the intent of restoring creation and humanity to the original status as “good.”
Christ made that possible. The rebellion, within every single one of us, can be put to an end by the death of Christ. The Good News restores goodness. The Good News will continue as we look for Christ to return in full glory so that creation and humanity will be recreated.
The Good News is that Christ has given us opportunity, though we do not deserve it, to once again live in creation that God calls “Good.” Regardless of whether we believe in it all or not will not inhibit the recreation from happening, God’s purposes will not be slowed or changed. Though we lived in rebellion, God has called those of faith His children.
Messengers:
Today, as true as yesterday and the early church, those who believe in Jesus are messengers of the Good News.
Romans 10:17 is about encouraging us all to live into being messengers of Good News and Peace. For while there is always Good News, we also experience good news all the time. For we believe in a God who not only sent the Son to save us but a God who sent the Spirit to dwell among us, and can enjoy life with God even as creation and humanity are still not good.
To live as a messenger is to seek every opportunity in life to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, while also sharing the good news you are experiencing from your life. These do not always have to be profound, but they have to be honest and real. Sharing with others about what God is doing in your life and even the greater hopes of Christ return.
Our goal as messengers is simply to share the Good News, whether that be of Jesus or of encountering God in your day. What people do with the Good News we share is not up to us no should concern us too much, but we should be in the practice of sharing the Good News. There may not be instantaneous conversions by any means, but trust that faith will spring from within them the more they hear about the Good News of what God is doing in this world.
Final Blessings:
We all have some Good News we can share, from our own lives or simply the life and work of Jesus. Perhaps in this New Year you can walk On Beautiful Feet, as a messenger of Good News and Peace. Perhaps your life could be the voice of news someone has been waiting to hear to build their faith in Jesus Christ.
Now may the Lord of Life and Redemption be with you in every step, every breathe, and every heartbeat of your journey.
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