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Romans 1:8 "First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world."

 

Lately, the promises throughout Scripture that all nations will come to know and serve the Lord have been really speaking to me. I just can't wait for that to happen - for every tongue to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord; for everyone in the world to feel the incredible love and peace that come from knowing we are all children of the same God who loves us more than we will ever be loved by anyone else! I think as the hatred, violence, acrimony, lies, immorality, and all the other calling cards of the devil, grow stronger in the world, the promise that one day we will all be unified in worshiping God is a soothing balm to my soul. It's a reminder to me that all of this, too, shall pass (although we have to go through it all first, unfortunately).

 

Paul refers to God as "my God" here, not possessively, as if God is only his God, but personally, because he knows God so well. Paul has the joy and peace that come from knowing God, and wants everyone else in the world to have that, too. In his salutation to the Romans, Paul says he is a servant of the Lord "for the sake of his name among all the nations". (Romans 1:5). The Christians in Rome are close to Paul's heart because they are helping this happen. Their faith is so strong that it is "proclaimed in all the world." This is how we get from Point A (the violence, hatred, and lies), to Point B (all nations and peoples knowing and serving God) - by our strong faith being a witness to Christ's love in the world.

 

The evil of the world will often tempt us to act contrary to our faith. We may want to counter violence with our own retaliation, lies with our own "spin", hurtful words with our own spite. If we do that, we are not living a faith that will be proclaimed throughout the world. We are making Christianity look no different from any other religion, or even none at all. But if we have the deep faith of the Roman Christians, God's grace will help us resist the temptation to answer evil with evil. We will be able, with His grace, to show love to all, even those who are hurting us. Then our faith will be talked about among the nations. Then we will be helping lead all people to God.