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"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God; As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins," Mark 1:1-5
The Message of John
The land was parched, thirsty, and in need of living water. For four-hundred years there had not been a prophet heard in the streets of Israel. However, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a new prophet was heard on the banks of the Jordan River. John, called 'the Baptist', had suddenly appeared out of the wilderness, dressed in camel's hair and wearing a leather girdle, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. So the people came to him confessing their sins and he baptized them with water in the Jordan River. The people came from Jerusalem, Judea, and all the region around Jordan. They flocked to Bethbarah, 'the ford of crossing over,' where Joshua, Elijah, and Elisha crossed the river. From a distance a man stood watching the crowds before he approached the banks of the Jordan River. On the dry desert air could be heard the voice of someone crying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." " I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness; preparing the way of the Lord; making His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth. All flesh shall see the salvation of God." "O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth, therefore, fruits worthy of repentance, and don't say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Also, now the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore, every tree which does not bring forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire." The people began to question, "what must we do?" John answered them saying, "Whoever has two coats, give one to him that has none. Whoever has meat, give to those who are hungry." Then the publicans came to be baptized, and said, "Master, what should we do?" John said to them, "Take no more than what is appointed to you" Also, the soldiers demanded of him saying, "What shall we do?" He answered them saying, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages." As the people questioned in their hearts if this man could be the Messiah, John responded, "I indeed baptize you with water; but there stands One among you Whom you do not know. He Who is coming after me but is preferred before me; Whose latchet of His shoes I am not worthy to unloose. He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire. Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and will gather the wheat into His garner; but the chaff He will burn with fire unquenchable." As John watched the man approach the river's edge he said, "I have need to be baptized of You and You come to me?" But the man answered, "Permit it at this time; for in this way it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." John, therefore, baptized the Man called Jesus, and when Jesus came up out of the water the Holy Spirit descended on Him in the likeness of a dove and a voice from heaven was heard, "This is My beloved Son; in Whom I am well pleased." The next day when John saw Jesus coming to him he said, "Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin of the world. This is He of Whom I said, 'After me will come a Man which is preferred before me because He was before me.' I did not know Him, but because He must be revealed to Israel, I have come before Him baptizing with water." John, therefore, witnessed saying, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and remained upon Him. I did not know Him, but He that sent me to baptize with water said to me, 'Upon Whom you shall see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, the same is He which baptizes with the Holy Ghost.' I saw, and witnessed that this is the Son of God." The hope of the Jewish people was expressed in a term that denoted the kingship of God. His throne was said to be coming to the earth. The redemption of man and earth would restore that throne to its rightful place. It was understood that before the fall of man, the "Kingdom of God" was over the entire earth with Adam as the earthly ruler under God. This term was replaced by a synonym, "The Kingdom of Heaven", or the "Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven". This was a phrase that was known by every Jew during the first century. The Jews understood from the scriptures that God 's promises were to one day restore all things. This restoration was called, in Hebrew, the 'basar' which means "good news". The universal reign of God, the reestablishment of the house of David, the future glory of Israel returned to God, the ingathering of the exiles, the resurrection of the dead, and the reward and punishment in the last judgment was included in the basar. So the word was given, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." God was coming! God left all His glory in heaven and came to earth in the form of a man. He came in the form of a man called Jesus. John called Him the "Lamb of God." The blood of bulls and goats could not remove the sin of the Hebrew nation, so, at the time of God's own choosing, He sent His Son into the world. Born of a virgin, conceived of the Holy Spirit, Jesus came unto His own. His own refused to believe Who He said He was, and, because of unbelief, they condemned the Son of God even though no guilt was found in Him. They crucified Him upon a wooden cross, where He died, and His friends buried Him in a borrowed tomb. But on the third day God, being appeased by His death for our sins, raised Him from the dead for the justification of all the world. Jesus ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand of God interceding for you. He is holding back the hand of God's wrath until the end of times when He will return and bring justice and judgment into the earth.
What if you woke up one morning and every newspaper and every media source in the world were declaring, "Repent, God is Coming!" Ridiculous? Repentance has become a word that no one desires to whisper. The word itself implicates wrongdoing, but what if God were to come today? Would He consider you to be righteous, holy, and pure? What would your life reveal in the light of Jesus Christ? No matter who you are we all have one thing in common, we are all born with a sinful nature. We all know how to do good and how to do evil. This nature is an inherited nature. Inherited from the first man Adam who chose to disobey the command of God and brought sin into the world. Sin, there's another word no one wants to whisper. It's a word that says you are accountable to someone for something you have done that offends them, isn't it? It's something for which we need to seek forgiveness or there is a penalty or penance to pay. There isn't a person in this world that has not had feelings of remorse or been sorry for something they have done. From our youth up we have been taught the meaning of regret usually through punishment. From the moment we begin to speak intelligible words one of the first words we learn in any language is the word "no." A word that generally comes from our parents instructing us on the do's and don'ts of our formative years. When we become older, based on these instructions, our conscience becomes our guide on what is considered socially right or wrong. What affects the world's society as a whole are the laws which control that society. When good, just, and honorable laws are designed they keep both ethical and moral order within the society. Their sole purpose has and always will be to protect the innocent and to punish the guilty. Anything that is done contrary to these laws brings judgment and sentencing; there is a penalty to pay. Many laws in the world have been based upon the commandments of God because these laws are just. These laws begin with the words 'you shall,' and 'you shall not.' Laws concerning man's relationship with God and man's relationship to his fellowman, to keep society ethical, moral, and righteous. Laws spoken into the world over five-thousand years ago by the voice of God. The major difference between manmade and God honoring laws is manmade laws can be changed or redefined within the society to appease for the rights of the individual whether or not they are good or bad for the whole. Jesus said not one jot nor tittle shall pass from the Law until all is fulfilled. Not the smallest letter nor the minutest line; not one word will be changed or redefined. What God spoke over five-thousand years ago will never change. God's laws came into the earth to reveal the righteousness of God, exposing the sinfulness of man. If you have sinned without law you will die without law. If you have sinned under the law you shall be judged by the law. Those who hear the law are not just before God, but those who observe to do the law shall be justified. You may not have the law, but, by nature, you may do things contained in the law; therefore, they become a law unto themselves. You show the work of the law written in your heart through your conscience which convicts you of right and wrong. It either accuses or excuses what you have done. Most of what your conscience convicts you of are the choices you make during your lifetime. Choice, now there's a word we not only whisper but shout in the streets. Your rights, your choices, your decisions about your own life is a personal subject with which we all can identify. Your life is full of the choices that you have made, some of satisfaction and some of regret. Choices that define your character, your nature. If you were to put your life to pen and paper and place it on a bookshelf you would find that the volumes would be divided by the choices you made. Choices that divide the seasons of your life. At various points in your life something changed the course in which you were going or altered the way you believed because of the choices you were given. Your individual right of choice is very important because it is a God given right. It is a divine right because, in the end, it is about how your choice affects you personally. Inevitably, it will be your choice that will judge whether you are justified or found guilty. Before God comes we all have been given a divine choice, to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. There is no other way we can enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus came not to condemn the Law but to fulfill it. Every jot every tittle has been fulfilled, accomplished through one man's willingness to sacrifice Himself for your sins. He became the perfect Lamb of God so that you might have eternal life. For two-thousand years the church of Jesus Christ has been preaching the same news as John, "Repent, God is coming!" We do not know the day nor the hour, but He is coming. Perhaps at the midnight hour when you least expect it. Even so, Jesus will come.
John came preaching the kingdom of heaven was at hand, the 'basar,' the "good news." He stood at the banks of the Jordan River in the very presence of God. How awesome and how humbling that must have been. If we could only imagine what it is like to stand in the presence of God. What if God were to come today? Would you be able to stand in His presence? Jesus stood far off and watched as the crowds came to John to repent and be baptized. "For the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Will you come to the banks of the Jordan to repent and be cleansed? Will you stand at the cross and accept God's offer of forgiveness? Your life is a precious gift. It is something that has been given to all of us because we are loved. Someone loved you before you were ever conceived. That someone is God and from the foundations of the world He has promised to restore all things. To restore the earth to it's original creation and to bring man back into the presence of God. That restoration began two-thousand years ago in a tiny village called Bethlehem where the Son of God was born. In the quiet of the night when no one was watching, Jesus came as an infant. He grew in the love and admonition of God and man and at the right time He came to John to be baptized and to be revealed to the nation of Israel. For three and one-half years Jesus walked upon this earth preaching the kingdom of God, healing the sick, and raising the dead. He was in the world but the world did not know Him. He came to His own and His own did not believe Him. He was tempted just as we are tempted yet he never succumbed to that temptation. He knew no sin because His very nature was pure, and just, and holy. Yet the world looked upon this man and pronounced Him guilty of crimes He did not commit. His own friend sold Him out for the price of a slave. They beat upon His body with a whip, called Him names, and laughed at Him. Then they took Him to the top of a hill and nailed His bruised and beaten naked body to a tree. For three hours the Son of God hung from a wooden cross for all the world to see, and from the cross Christ pleaded forgiveness from God our Father for you and for me. We were guilty, both you and I, but He took our place and pleaded our case before the Judge of all the earth. Because of His willingness to stand in our place we have been offered a reprieve, a pardon from God called grace. Through the Jews unbelief salvation was given to the the whole world. God has offered His free gift of grace to all of mankind, to all who believe in Jesus Christ both Jew and Gentile. Today is the day of salvation. Through God's acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice for our sins God raised Him from the dead so that we might be justified in Him. And through our belief in all that Jesus has done we are given a second chance. All things become new, our nature is changed from sinful to righteous in Jesus Christ. We are restored and are able to stand in the presence of God. Today Jesus stands in heaven watching and waiting for you. You have been bought with a price. The cost - the life and blood of Jesus Christ. The penalty has been paid in full. Will you accept His offer of forgiveness? It is a choice you have been given. A choice that can alter the course of your life. A choice that can transfer you from a world of sin into the kingdom of God. A choice that promises restoration, peace with God, and abundance of life - eternal life in the presence of God.
June 19, 2004 |
