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- This week in our small groups and
in Sunday school, we will be exploring compromise and the following Scripture
is taken from the lesson.
- "And after the handing over of
John, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the Good News of God, and saying, 'The
time has been fulfilled! The kingdom of God has drawn near! Repent and believe
in the Good News.'" (Mark 1:14-15, translation
mine).
- What is the Good News and how is
God's kingdom revealed?
- John "handed over" marks
the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus.
- Herod Antipas, the Rome appointed
King of the Jews, thought he was merely eliminating his outspoken critic, but
John's imprisonment and eventual execution means so much more.
- The handing over and brutal death
of John reflects the eventual handing over of Jesus, which is part and parcel
of preparing the way for the coming of God's kingdom.
- Without the injustices carried out
against Jesus when he was handed over, the suffering, burial, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus would not have happened.
- Mark tells us, Jesus began to
preach at that time in Galilee the Good News of God.
- The Jews of that day would've
understood God's good news as the arrival of the long-awaited Messiah.
- The expectation of his coming
brought the people great hope as they waited for the one who would break the
power of sin and launch the kingdom of God on earth.
- The end of John's ministry begins this
time of fulfillment.
- Jesus said, "The time has been fulfilled" and the Jews of that day
understood, or thought they did, exactly what Jesus meant.
- The Messiah had arrived to fulfill
or launch the long waited for kingdom of God.
- God had stepped into human history.
God's D-Day against the dark powers of hell had begun.
- This historic turning point begins
with the preaching of Jesus.
- "The kingdom of God has drawn near," said Jesus.
- God himself has flung the door to
his great future wide open.
- As the story of Mark unfolds, those
who experienced the ministry of Jesus encounter one like no other.
- The glory of God draws near in the
preaching and miracles of Jesus.
- He announces that God's rule over
the world is about to be revealed.
- But what will the people expect?
- God is visiting his people to bring
grace and judgment, set things right, conquer evil, sin and sickness, up root
worldly rulers and re-establish the Israel of God, i.e., the earthly kingdom of
God.
- The problem comes as the Jewish
people misunderstand the nature of this kingdom.
- God's kingdom began when he broke
into history in the person and work of Jesus Christ, but Christ came first as a
suffering servant and he will come again as Ruler and Judge.
- God's kingdom is God's rule in the
hearts of people. It was not yet a visible kingdom, but near enough to those
who make Jesus King over their lives.
- No matter what the people's
expectations are, however, the kingdom of God has drawn near enough to touch in
the person of Jesus Christ.
- Jesus preaching is inseparable from
his person. You can't take one without the other.
- Because Jesus is the long-awaited
Messiah, the King of all the Earth, he has the authority to appeal to everyone,
calling all to repentance and faith.
- The King's subjects are called to submit
to his authority in two ways.
- First, Repent:
- In his call to repentance, Jesus
message echoes the forerunner, John, who preached a baptism of repentance for
the forgiveness of sins.
- Repentance requires two things: one, turning away from sins, changing life for
the better; and two, turning toward
God to receive new life.
- Jesus called his listeners to do a
180, turn around completely, totally changed the direction of life, stop, look,
listen, and pay complete attention to the arrival of God's kingdom as displayed
in Jesus Christ.
- Second, Believe: Believing
is the second way the King's subjects submit to his authority.
- By inviting everyone to believe,
Jesus invited everyone to believe two things: one, that God's kingdom is actually arriving; and two, that God's kingdom is present in the person and
work of Jesus Christ.
- But more questions are raised than
answers.
- If God alone is King in Jesus Christ, then…
- Why does the world continue to be in such a sorry state?
- Why is it so hard for Christians to see God's purposes?
- Why is the world still under Satanic influence and control?
- Why isn't justice prevailing over evil?
- But God's plan is hidden.
- God cares and is working out his plan behind the scenes to a specific
end.
- God works out his plan in phases that come to light at different times in history and only he knows what time it is.
- Nothing human is permanent; everything is dependent upon God. He breaks
into the present to intervene in his time.
- In first
century Palestine, the ministry of Jesus
breaks into the presence of doubt.
- The arrival of Jesus on the scene
on the heels of John being handed over preaching the good news of God doesn't
clear up doubt or get rid of it.
- Doubt must be faced with faith and trust, belief in God's word.
- John was handed over and brutally
executed, and Jesus was also handed over and brutally executed. There's nothing
new in that! Jews were executed at that time by Rome quite regularly.
- But we know that God's new thing is
using injustice to secure forgiveness.
- In his being handed over, Jesus
defeated the dark powers of this world, brought forgiveness of sins, and
unleashed the power of God in the lives of his followers (many of whom also
experienced being handed over, brutal treatment and even execution at the hand
worldly authorities).
- The hidden victory in Mark's Gospel is the power of the cross.
- While many recognize the power of
God in the person of Jesus, many cannot accept the paradox that God's power was
displayed in the cross.
- They do not accept Jesus or
recognize who he really is.
- They miss out on God's Good News.
- We have already noted several times
the natural human tendency to ignore, deny, and explain away the Bible's
claims, especially those of Genesis.
- When the claims of Genesis are
ignored, denied, or explained away, how can people even be open to hear the
good news of Jesus Christ?
- Rejecting the Bible's teachings
about the origins of the universe, Original Sin, and evil creates an
environment for people to dismiss the claims of Jesus Christ easily.
- Genesis 3:15 is the seed of the gospel. "I will put
enmity (hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and
her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." (ESV).
- At the end
of his curse upon the serpent, God hinted at the victory to come.
- It was the
offspring or seed of the woman, foreshadowing the virgin birth of Messiah Jesus,
who would crush the serpent's head.
- The
woman's seed would deal a fatal blow to the one behind the serpent, Satan
himself.
- God did
not make that pronouncement so that we would expect all snakes to be killed for
sure.
- He was
pointing to his plan for victory over Satan and declaring that everyone should
resist the devil until Christ's finished the work on the cross and his return.
- Repentance
includes learning to accept all God says in his word as true, believing what
God says.
- Since what
God says is true, it must be obeyed.
- When we believe Jesus fulfills all the
Bible teaches, God's kingdom comes in us.
- Repentance is more than emotion. It is
belief, conviction of mind and heart, which drives action.
- Roger Day
tells the story of British detective Grant Smith, who was sentenced to a
three-year prison term after confessing to Scotland Yard that he had planted
drugs and other evidence on for men in an effort to brighten his promotion
chances.
- All four
had been convicted. As a result of Smith's confession, they were given pardons
to clear their names. Smith turned himself in shortly after becoming an elder
of an evangelical congregation.
- "I
want to be totally committed to Christ", Smith told the authorities.
"I feel I cannot do that until I have come to terms with my fellow
men."
- When we believe Jesus fulfills all the Bible
teaches, God's kingdom comes in us.
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