Pathways to the Nations Sample

Day 1

Bringing Good News

In Isaiah 52, Isaiah prophesies good news for God’s people, joy and comfort as God shows His strength and redeems Israel. Yet even as messengers bring the good news to Jerusalem, Isaiah sees the news traveling still farther, all the way to “the ends of the earth.” 

The Good News of Jesus Christ blessed Israel as God had planned. But He also planned for that news to be taken to every nation, every group of people on earth. The Father sent Jesus but sends people as His messengers to carry the news about Jesus. For those who have not heard, God has a plan and the plan involves His people. 

One question we must answer, then, is how we can help bring the gospel of Jesus to every nation. When God redeemed us, He also called us from different circumstances and backgrounds to be His workmanship, created to do good works (Ephesians 2:8-10). He gave us gifts and opportunities so that we could be involved in reconciling the world to Himself (2 Corinthians 5:18-20). God wants to use us in His plan. 

How do we respond? How do we “bring good news,” act as the messengers of God’s great Message? 

In the coming days, we’ll look at ways that the Good News of Jesus has moved via very different messengers on diverse pathways. While one pathway leads God’s messenger into the life of a desperate widow in poverty, another brings the Good News to a tight-knit community. One young man makes an extraordinary commitment to carry the message, while his mentor brings the news from Jerusalem to Athens following decades of study.

Each messenger followed a path to help the nations of the earth “see the salvation of our God.”