¹⁶ However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?” ¹⁷ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

The Word of God is central to the Christian mission. The Creator spoke the cosmos into existence. He addressed His first commandment to humans in the Garden long ago. God communicated to Abraham about His promise to bless the world through his lineage. The Lord laid out His expectations to Moses (in what is called the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). God spoke His Word through the prophets and writings of the Old Testament. Then, “the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). To the very end of everything, God’s “words are faithful and true” (Rev 22:6).

The good news of God’s Word is now here for us to share with others. Everything hinges on His Word, which is “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Heb 4:12). “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness…” (2 Tim 3:16). King David, the man after God’s own heart, waxed eloquent: “Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You” (Ps 119:11) and “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path” (Ps 119:105). Jesus, the Word of God Himself, said, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock” (Matt 7:24).

The Christian movement is a movement of the Word of God: “…those who received his [Peter’s] word were baptized …” (Acts 2:41). At the core of Christian faith is the objective Word. It is verbal, plenary, literary, propositional. Christianity is not founded on experiences or feel-good emotions, no matter how much we might speak of the miraculous. In the book of Acts it was “[t]he word of God [that] kept on spreading …” (Acts 6:7). The persecuted disciples “went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). Believers were depicted as those who “had received the word of God” (8:14). The spread of Christianity was described this way: “the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied” (Acts 12:24). Is it any wonder that Paul can summarize, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ”?

Lord, help me remember that sharing Your Word is the best evangelism.