All Shall Be Well
In Jesus’ final exchange with His disciples before He ascended to heaven, He gave the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations … And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19,20b, NIV)
God calls us to go and share His Good News, that Christ has died and risen again to forgive sin and redeem the world. And we know that “[w]hoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:12)
Yet some of us may ask, “Well, what will happen to those people who never hear the Gospel, through no fault of their own?”
Whole books have been written that ponder this very question. Yet we do know this:
- that God’s salvation plan is in Christ Jesus,
- that God’s love and His justice are perfectly pure, and
- that the end of salvation is a mystery to everyone but God Himself.
In other words, God is good, and we can trust Him.
Christians have been asking the same question for centuries. Saint Julian of Norwich, who was a Christian contemplative living in the late 14th century, was troubled about the fate of those who had never heard the Gospel. God never gave her a direct answer about this, except that all that He does is done in love and that therefore "that all shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well."1
Not only did Jesus command us to share His love with others, but we also believe that it will be their joy to know Him too! We know that following Christ in this life is infinitely better than this life without Him. In Christ, we are brought from darkness to light, from sin to righteousness, from death to life.
So … whom do you know that may not know God’s love?
We cannot control how others will respond to the news of God’s love. Yet, we have peace knowing that God is sovereign and that His goodness and His love authors the story of eternity.
Pray for your loved ones, your community, and for all those around the world who have not yet heard the Good News.
O God of all the nations of the earth: Remember the multitudes who have been created in your image but have not known the redeeming work of our Savior Jesus Christ; and grant that, by the prayers and labors of your holy Church, they may be brought to know and worship you as you have been revealed in your Son; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (“The Book of Common Prayer,” Contemporary Collects for Various Occasions)
All manner of thing shall be well… therefore go and make disciples. Amen!
