Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
9 One day Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee, and John baptized him in the Jordan River. 10 As Jesus came up out of the water, he saw the heavens splitting apart and the Holy Spirit descending on him[a] like a dove. 11 And a voice from heaven said, “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
We might think that the world-changing and history-making beginning of Jesus’ ministry would begin with a major announcement.
We might even reasonably expect that this history making event would come out as a big deal—like when a nation’s president or prime minister is elected.
But the heavenly declaration that opens Jesus’ ministry is rather low key.
It is also rather private, personal and extraordinarily intimate—Jesus had not announced himself yet gathered any disciples or followers to witness this event.
It was a deeply personal event exclusively meant for exchange between a father and his son – a father and son moment – with meanings deeper than we know.
What’s more, the heavenly power does not swoop in like a great eagle with exposed talons, swooping in while it is shrieking at the very top of its lungs.
You do not get the idea it was meant to be observed by human eyes and ears.
Instead it is described as gently arriving like a dove.
The Spirit of God, who had hovered over the waters of creation (Genesis 1:2), similarly graces the person of Jesus, giving us an unmistakable sign that a new creation is getting under way and this new effort will also be good, very good.
Mark’s gospel has an emphasis on showing the reading audience who Jesus is.
He is the Servant of All and He is about to immediately begin His ministry and His mission of making a difference, if not THE difference in the affairs of man.
The first eight verses of Mark focused on the immediate anticipation of Jesus’ arrival.
Remember that the gospel opens calling for people to literally drop every last priority they have, immediately begin to prepare the way for the king’s arrival.
The blessings of the Heavenly King … Humbly Clothed in His Divine Majesty …
Let all the Earth Rejoice … Let all the Earth Rejoice …
Everything, if not everybody in your life is immediately about to be changed.
Every circumstance is about to become immediately subjected to redemption.
Your life is about to be strengthened – thy self-esteem about to be maxed out.
Get hyper-excited because thy salvation is about to become genuine reality.
Immediately answer for yourselves this question: HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD?
Get your hearts and souls ready by confessing your sins because the mightier, indeed very the mightiest One is coming who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.
One question that we have when we come to the baptism of Jesus is why was he even needed to baptized?
The answer is in verse 9: we see the humble king of all created things quietly arriving, slowly processing into humanity, for his royal coronation ceremony.
Open your versions of God’s word to Mark 1:9-11 to see this coronation scene.
Here in the Gospel of Mark we are given the heavenly insight that Jesus is the unique and truly loved Son with whom His Father God is beyond well pleased.
Today’s highlighted verses tell us about God’s great love for His Son Jesus and how, as He came up, out from the water He has expressed His love for His Son.
We see God’s wonderful expression of deep affection and deep pride in Jesus.
It must have been a beautiful, inspiring moment and blessing to each of them.
The great thing about this event is this: Jesus has immediately provided each of us with the blessed assurance of both God’s great favor and abundant delight.
Christ’s death on the Cross not only paid the price for our sins, it also opened up the way to the loving-kindness and great goodness of God. Just as the Father was proud of His Son, God can now cherish and embrace us in the same way.
Are not these the words we all need to hear from the ones we love the most?
Look at what was being said by Father God: “I completely claim you as my child! I completely, utterly love you! I am fully, utterly completely max pleased with you!”
The Father shared these incredible affirmations with his Son.
And by extension, our Father God shares these incredible affirmations with us.
In the subsequent verses, the man Jesus will face the temptations of Satan in the wilderness armed with the understanding his Heavenly Father lovingly and proudly claims him as his child – those words infusing Jesus with God’s might.
You know, when we were baptized,
I cannot help but believe my God immediately quietly expressing the very same fatherly sentiments about you and me – with the exact same degree of His love!
In this moment, what does that thought immediately do for your self-esteem?
No matter what you or I think of or about ourselves, here is a wonderful hint:
OPEN WIDEST THOSE EYES OF YOURS, GIVE GOD YOUR “GOD” SMILE NOW …
God has entered the affairs of all mankind, come into the world with the loving intention of bringing about a new creation that includes you. What in your life needs to be re-created by the transformation and blessings of Savior Jesus Christ?
Jesus himself declares inChapter One verse 15: “The time has come. . . . The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and (hardcore) believe the good news!”
No matter who you are or what you’ve done; no matter how you’re feeling or what you’re going through right in this exact moment, please know this: You are a beloved child of God, lifted up by His grace, and cherished by Him forever.
Just a Quiet, Timely Reminder of Exactly Whose Beloved Child You Are?
He was the Son of God.
He was the Son of Man.
He came down from heaven. He was born in a stable.
Kings came to his cradle. His first home was a cave.
He was born to be a king. He was a child of Mary.
He was the greatest among rulers. He was the least among servants.
He was loved and honored. He was despised and rejected.
He was gentle and loving. He made many enemies.
He counseled perfection. He was a friend of sinners.
He was a joyful companion. He was a man of sorrows.
He said, “Rejoice.” He said, “Repent.”
“Love God with all your heart.” “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
“Don’t be anxious.” “Count the cost.”
“Deny yourself.” “Ask and receive.”
In him was life. He died on a cross.
He was a historic person. He lives today.
He was Jesus of Nazareth. He is Christ the Lord.
He was with God in the beginning of all created things because He is God!
And there is exactly NOTHING the darkness of sin and death can do about it!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
ABBA, My Loving and adoring Father, I know I do not merit your love and grace. Yet, dear Heavenly Father of mine, I am completely and utterly overwhelmed with them and beyond thankful for the abundance of them. As your beloved child, please know that I love and adore you… even in those times when I make wrong choices and also when I succumb to temptation’s power. Father, do not ever let the evil one strip my love for you from me or let him cloud my eyes to your love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
26 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, 27 “How long shall I put up with this evil congregation who murmur [in discontent] against Me? I have heard the complaints of the Israelites, which they are making against Me. 28 Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just what you have spoken in My hearing I will most certainly do to you; 29 your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness, even all who were numbered of you, your entire number from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against Me. 30 Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, not one of you shall enter the land in which I swore [an oath] to settle you. 31 But your children whom you said would become plunder, I will bring in, and they will know the land which you have despised and rejected. 32 But as for you, your dead bodies will fall in this wilderness. 33 Your sons shall be wanderers and shepherds in the wilderness for forty years, and they will suffer for your unfaithfulness (spiritual infidelity), until your corpses are consumed in the wilderness. 34 According to the number of days in which you spied out the land [of Canaan], forty days, for each day, you shall bear and suffer a year for your sins and guilt, for forty years, and you shall know My displeasure [the revoking of My promise and My estrangement because of your sin]. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I will most certainly do this to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed [by war, disease, and plagues], and here they shall die.’”
Mark 1:11-15Amplified Bible
11 and a [a]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”
12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.
Jesus Preaches in Galilee
14 Now after John [the Baptist] was arrested and[b]taken into custody, Jesus went to Galilee, preaching the good news of [the kingdom of] God, 15 and saying, “The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life] and believe [with a deep, abiding trust] in the good news [regarding salvation].”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The wilderness is a place that captures the imagination and stirs the soul.
Native Americans, for example, will journey into the wilderness on a vision quest; thrill seekers will flock to the mountains and remote places in search of adventure; those who are overworked will retreat there for peace and solitude; and Christians will even go camping in the wilderness for the purpose of fasting and praying, confidence building exercises, for adventures, looking unto God.
The wilderness just innately seems to continuously beckon unto people.
Jack London authored a book entitled The Call of the Wild, and Country Music songwriter John Denver once asked, “Does the call of the wild ever sing through the midst of your dreams?”
In the Hebrew {old} Testament, King David declared,
“Oh, that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest. Indeed, I would wander far off, and remain in the wilderness” (Psalms 55:6-7).
There’s an intrinsic romanticism concerning the wilderness.
In the physical sense, it represents peace and finding oneself.
In the spiritual, however, it can represent confusion and becoming lost to oneself, and realizing a deafening silence from God.
Whenever the Lord allows His children to enter a spiritual wilderness, there’s nothing very romantic about it! The wilderness is a place one hopes to flee!
I once read a story about a distinguished painter who was conducting a class for aspiring artists.
He was speaking to them on the subject of artistic composition.
He emphasized that it was wrong, for example, to portray a wooded area, a forest or a wilderness, without painting into it a path out of the trees.
When a true artist draws or paints any kind of picture, such as a landscape, he always gives the picture an “out.”
Otherwise the tangle of trees and the ceaseless, endless, trackless spaces will depress and dismay the onlooker.(1)
(1) Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc., 1996).
The same thing can happen in your spiritual life whenever you feel as though you’re in a wilderness.
If life ever appears as a tangled mass of branches under a dark leafy canopy or a vast expanse of dark forest with no obvious way out, then you can become down and discouraged, and even seriously distant in your relationship with the Lord.
Somewhere along your spiritual journey you might enter a season in life where you will feel as though you are deep in a vast wilderness with no way out.
In this message, I am going to compare and contrast two possible reasons why you might enter a wilderness period, and prayerfully show you and me how to make it through to the other side; as we try to compare and contrast following Jesus and both the “sin-driven wilderness” and “Spirit-driven wilderness.”
A Sin-Driven Wilderness(Numbers 14:26-35)
Sometimes when we have a wilderness experience in our life, it’s the result of sin.
This is called a “sin-driven wilderness” – one where you are driven into the wilderness because of “your own” sin. This is what happened to the Israelites.
The Bible says in Numbers 14:26-35:
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “How long shall I bear with this evil congregation who complain against Me? I have heard the complaints which the children of Israel make against Me.”
“Say to them, ‘As I live,’ says the Lord, ‘just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in’.”
“‘But your little ones, whom you said would be victims, I will bring in, and they shall know the land which you have despised. But as for you, your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness. And your sons shall be shepherds in the wilderness forty years, and bear the brunt of your infidelity, until your carcasses are consumed in the wilderness. According to the number of the days in which you spied out the land, forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one year, namely forty years, and you shall know My rejection’.”
“‘I the Lord have spoken this. I will surely do so to all this evil congregation who are gathered together against Me. In this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die’” (Numbers 14:26-35).
The Lord said, “The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness” (Numbers 14:29).
The sin mentioned in these verses which resulted in the Israelites being driven into the wilderness was “complaining against God.”
Complaining was just one manifestation of hearts an souls and spirits that were full of sin and lacking in even a minimum measure of faith in God’s deliverance.
Since (I believe anyway) we have studied this passage before, this is a bit of a review; however, a review is necessary to get to the heart of the message.
In Numbers thirteen, we read where the Lord sent twelve spies from the tribes of Israel on a reconnaissance mission into Canaan to check out its bounty.
When they had returned, they reported how it was a land flowing with milk and honey just as the Lord had promised to them; however, they also brought back a seriously negative report of how the land was occupied with giants whom they could not overcome. This is when they began to become fearful and complain.
In Numbers fourteen, we read where they refused to go forth and possess the Promised Land as God had commanded, and they attempted to select leaders and return to Egypt. The only ones who were faithful were Joshua and Caleb, who both repeatedly tried to encourage the people that the land could be taken.
The Israelites refused to possess Canaan and the people were sentenced to wander in the wilderness forty years, until all who were twenty-years-old and above had perished.
The Lord told Israel, “And you shall remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you” (Deuteronomy 8:2a).
This particular sin-driven wilderness served as a test for the people of Israel.
Whenever you enter a sin-driven wilderness, you need to realize that it’s your sin that has driven you there – your sin – and not the Lord.
It is not a God-driven wilderness, but a sin-driven wilderness.
Whenever we enter a wilderness period because of our own sins, what happens is you and I are allowed to suffer from the wrong choices of our sin, and too be tested by the consequences of sin – just how long do we allow ourselves to hurt?
The Bible says that sin leads to death (Romans 6:23).
It was sin that resulted in the first man and woman being evicted from the Garden of Eden.
In a sense, the sin-driven wilderness is a form of punishment, because God allows it to happen when He could actually intervene; but ultimately it is a person’s own fault for winding up there through their own disobedience to God.
Whenever you find yourself in a sin-driven wilderness it’s because the Lord is allowing you to be purged of sin and purified. The Lord allowed Israel to enter the wilderness in order for the generation that sinned to perish and die out, so that Israel would be purged and cleansed of her negative and rebellious attitude.
The Lord will allow you to enter the wilderness in order to be chastened and cleansed of sin, so that you will emerge on the other side as a different person, and hopefully a better and more faithful follower.
Hebrews says, “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (12:11).
A wilderness experience will either make or break you.
You will either grow closer to the Lord or become distant from Him.
You might feel like Evan Baxter on “Evan Almighty,” when he said,
“[Lord], I know whatever You do, You do because You love me, right? Do me a favor: Love me less.”
When you should inevitably ever enter the wilderness experience because of sin, be sure to permit the experience to refine you into pure gold tried in the fire.
Job 1:20-21Amplified Bible
20 Then Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head [in mourning for the children], and he fell to the ground and worshiped [God]. 21 He said,
“Naked (without possessions) I came [into this world] from my mother’s womb, And naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
A Spirit-Driven Wilderness (Mark 1:12-13)
Sometimes when you have a wilderness experience it’s the result of sin; however, there can be other times when you enter the wilderness even though you’ve been faithful to the Lord.
This is likely a “Spirit-driven wilderness” – one into which the Holy Spirit leads you.
Even Jesus underwent a Spirit-driven wilderness.
The Bible says in Mark 1:12-13:
Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him (Mark 1:12-13).
We read how “the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness” (Mark 1:12).
Over in the book of Matthew, we read, “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (4:1; cf. Lk 4:1-2).
It was the Holy Spirit who led Jesus into the wilderness.
The apostle John had a similar experience on the island of Patmos,
for he said of the Lord,
“So He carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness” (Revelation 17:3).
These are not isolated examples in the Bible.
In Nehemiah, we read concerning Israel’s exodus from Egypt,
“You did not forsake them in the wilderness . . . [but] gave Your good Spirit to instruct them” (9:19-20); and in
Isaiah we read, “[God] led them through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness, that they might not stumble. As a beast goes down into the valley, and the Spirit of the Lord causes him to rest” (63:13-14).
It was the Holy Spirit that drove Israel from Egypt into the desert, and then onward toward the Promised Land.
The Israelites actually endured both a Spirit-driven and sin-driven wilderness during the exodus:
Spirit-driven Wilderness – First, the Holy Spirit drove the people into the desert (a wilderness-like place) as they made their exodus from Egypt to the Promised Land.
This was supposed to be a short-lived experience, for it was only an eleven-day journey to Canaan.
Sin-driven Wilderness – Later, however, when the Israelites sinned by refusing God’s command to go forth to possess Canaan, they were sentenced to wander in the actual barren and remote wilderness for forty long and very hard years.
It’s one thing to enter a wilderness as the result, or consequence, of sin.
This can sometimes seem more understandable when it happens.
You can arrive at a time and season in your life, examine your life and say,
“Oh, it all makes sense now! I can remember the time when God asked me to do this or that, and I was disobedient and did my own thing. Now I know I’m being humbled mightily and I accept I need to be chastened for my sin by my Savior!”
The concept of a sin-driven wilderness seems easier to grasp than the Spirit-driven wilderness.
Some of the most confusing and defeating times in life can be the ones in which you have been fully, completely faithful to do what God asked of you, and then you either trip and do a “face plant” or land flat onto your back in a wilderness.
When you enter a wilderness period, and you know deep in your heart that you’ve remained faithful to God, then it’s likely that you have entered into a Spirit-driven wilderness.
The Israelites had remained faithful to the Lord while they were in Egypt, and they had all their basic needs met.
Daily provision meant that God’s favor rested on them.
Once in the desert, however, their stability was shaken and they questioned and cried why they had ever left Egypt and the provision they once had (Nm 11:4-6).
All at once they suddenly wondered where “all of” God’s inevitable favor had gone. When the Spirit drove them out into the desert it didn’t make any sense!
The Israelites probably wondered what they had done wrong.
They very likely felt that God had been unkind to them by forcing them into the desert to leave all the provision of Egypt.
A collective thought process similar to one like this: “If only I/We had kept their focus on the primary reason why I/We, was/were being led out!”
When the Holy Spirit pushed them into the desert it was because the Lord had a much better place in store for them down the road!
When you find yourself in a wilderness period even though you’ve been faithful to the Lord, it’s easy to feel like you’ve done something wrong and it’s easy to complain; but if you know deep in your heart you’ve been obedient to the Lord, then you must be in the wilderness because the Holy Spirit has put you there.
If the Holy Spirit has led you there, into a time and a season for “hitting the reset button on my life” then you can rest assured that it’s for a good reason.
Why was Jesus led into the wilderness?
The answer is “to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).
This temptation was a test for the “Son of Man” in order to try Jesus’ spiritual stamina to remain faithful to the Lord in the midst of the temptation to sin.
This test also proved to Satan that he couldn’t touch Jesus.
The wilderness served to demonstrate to us Jesus’ faithfulness, and it resulted in an encounter with the Father’s presence as “the angels ministered to Him” (Mark 1:13; Matthew 4:11).
When you an I enter a Spirit-driven wilderness, the every same thing will likely happen to us.
You will grow spiritually and grow closer to the Lord.
What seems like an unfair thing, to enter the wilderness when you’ve remained faithful, can actually have an indescribably abundant and beneficial end result.
What seems like a bad thing might just be a display of God’s love, for the Lord says, “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten” (Revelation 3:19).
Biblical Commentator John MacArthur says,
God’s plan and purpose [is] to use Satan’s temptations as a means of testing and strengthening our faith in Him and of our growing stronger in righteousness. God allows testing in our lives in order that our spiritual “muscles” may be exercised and strengthened. Whether the testing is by God’s initiative or is sent by Satan, God will always use it to produce good in us when we meet the test in His power.
John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, Matthew 1-7 (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1985), pp. 87-88.
You might even be driven into the wilderness by the Holy Spirit in order to receive some much-needed rest.
Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord: ‘The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness, Israel, when I went to give him rest’”(Jeremiah 31:2).
Jesus advised His disciples, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31).
Sometimes your faithfulness to the Lord can result in some harsh persecution and stress in your life as you take a stand for Jesus Christ.
For example, in today’s context, consider any pastor who has taken a stand against sin in his congregation, and has become physically and emotionally drained. He has taken great abuse for the Lord and has remained faithful.
Then one day, out of the blue, he finds himself blind-sided as he is asked to resign from his church.
He then loses his ministry, his purpose and his livelihood, and then enters a wilderness.
He/she could then become incredibly frustrated, angry against their fellow Christians, as it doesn’t appear to make any sense; but actually it does!
The Lord could be “forcing” them to take a much-needed break, as He refreshes them and works to slowly restore their passion and love for Him and His people.
If anything similar to this has happened in your own life, then take heart!
God sees your faithfulness, and you’re in the wilderness for the very reason that the Lord God is doing some cleansing and hardcore refining, a new work in your life!
God is growing you, God is handling you, God is maturing you and God is preparing, refining you, for something else and for a closer walk with Him!
Keep your focus on the Lord while you’re in the wilderness and do not lose hope!
Oswald Chambers said, “If God gives you a time spiritually, as He gave His Son . . . of temptation in the wilderness, with no word from Himself at all, endure it; and the power to endure is there because you see God.”
Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest, in Logos CD-ROM, version 2.1E (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers, 1989).
Time of Reflection
Do you feel as though you’re in a wilderness right now?
If so, then ask yourself, “Am I in the wilderness because I’ve been disobedient to the Lord, and have sinned against Him?”
If you can genuinely and with your whole heart and soul answer “yes” to this question, then you need to confess your sin and ask God for His forgiveness.
The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
If you should examine your life and you can’t identity any known sin, then ask yourself, “Am I in the wilderness even though I’ve been faithful to the Lord?”
If you can answer “yes” to this question then try not to become discouraged.
Psalm 37:27-29Amplified Bible
27 Depart from evil and do good; And you will dwell [securely in the land] forever. 28 For the Lord delights in justice And does not abandon His saints (faithful ones); They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked will [in time] be cut off. 29 The righteous will inherit the land And live in it forever.
The Lord has not forsaken you.
The Lord God is upholding you while He is resetting you, while He refines you.
In fact, you’re likely in the wilderness because Father, Son and Holy Spirit led you there in order for you to achieve that more intimate encounter with God.
How will you an I respond to the wilderness?
Will you and I gripe and complain, or will you and I gracefully endure until the Lord molds and refines us, into the man or woman of God that He has planned?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
My God in Heaven, everything has crumbled around me. Everything has collapsed deep beneath me. Everything has burned above me. My God in whom I strive to trust more, Yet You remain! I call out to You to save me. Lord, You have never failed those who hope in Your name. In Jesus, You have demonstrated Your great love for me. Regardless of this illusion of hopelessness, grant me the grace and strength to be hopeful for I know of the coming days of glory. In the hope of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 [a]Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the [b]Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus); 11 and a [c]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”
12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
The first chapter of Mark has it all. God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Angels and even Satan are all compacted here in the very same place at seemingly the same time, during the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist and Jesus’ temptation by Satan.
The presence of John the Baptist arriving on the scene was the sign, the signal, and the moment that told the man Jesus to leave Nazareth, begin his ministry.
So, the Narrator Mark, speaking to his audience of readers, begins to present to them a step by step recitation of first introducing Jesus, then relating to readers a strong recommendation how they are to respond to God and this Good News.
First – Recognize that these Word’s of God are the Truth of God – spoken by God and are therefore trustworthy and true. God is active and attentive to their need.
Second – Recognize that God Himself, through His Son Jesus Christ, through His messengers -God’s Prophets Isaiah and Malachi through John the Baptizer has a prophetic message of promise and fulfillment for them – God needs them!
Third – God through His Son Jesus Christ, through His Messenger Mark, is now in need of their fullest possible attention – begin to shape the Kingdom of God.
The called of God, those children of God, in the first century moment respond – “We hear God – we believe on His Son Jesus Christ, what must we do now?”
A great expression of affirmation of faith followed by and even greater question.
Mark’s response is to follow in the example set by John the Baptist and Jesus:
Mark 1:9Amplified Bible
The Baptism of Jesus
9 In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.
First: Come willingly from wherever you are and recognize the authority of God.
Second: Make a decision to service unto the Kingdom of God and your neighbor.
Third: Recognize the absolute sovereignty of Jesus Christ over your entire life.
Fourth: Fully, Maximally, Utterly, Surrender the entirety of your life unto God.
Fifth: Present your whole body as a living sacrifice unto Christ and get baptized.
God needed His Son, the man, Rabbi Jesus to be “seen of man by man,” baptized as the necessary first step or visual sign of the beginning of his earthly ministry.
As one commentator said: It was a moment of decision; it was a moment of identification; it was a moment of God’s approval; was a moment of equipping.
Mark 1:10-11Amplified Bible
10 [a]Immediately coming up out of the water, he (John) saw the heavens torn open, and the [b]Spirit like a dove descending on Him (Jesus); 11 and a [c]voice came out of heaven saying: “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased and delighted!”
When he Jesus, came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
A voice, and a message for the people came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, whom I am delighted in, in whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
This is one of the only places in the Bible where all three persons of the Trinity are in the same place at the same time communicating to those who are there!
The most significant moment of all – the first Moment of “God’s First Contact!”
This makes it one of the more important events in Jesus’ life and the people’s.
By visualizing the moment – the people are visualizing connecting their lives with God in the same way – to hear the exact same words Jesus heard from God.
“You are my beloved children, whom I am delighted in, in whom I love and with whom, by this act, your choice of obedience – to this baptism – I am well pleased!”
The people visualize, gain their most important “first impressions” of the man: why they should sacrificially, willingly, joyfully, utterly graft their lives into his.
The man, just like every other man present in the moment – the man, Jesus is immersed into the every day events of humanity, subjected to all the very worst.
Sixth: Repent and Prepare the entirety of yourself for maximum service by God.
Mark 1:12-13Amplified Bible
12 Immediately the [Holy] Spirit forced Him out into the wilderness. 13 He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted [to do evil] by Satan; and He was with the wild animals, and the angels ministered continually to Him.
The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. “…and he was in the wilderness forty days, being mercilessly tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and all during that absolute worst misery: “the angels attended him.”
Here we see that Jesus was tempted and triumphed, something humanity could not do because mere man couldn’t overcome the worst of the worst absent God.
The people visualize that despite the worst of the worst – Jesus endured it and did not surrender one ounce of his faith in God – did not yield to Satan 1/8 inch.
The people can visualize for themselves that the worst of the worst is a definite possibility when they are seen as being for Jesus Christ and not for the Emperor.
But we can visualize ourselves enduring that worst of the worst because we can visualize Jesus doing it.
When the worst of the worst arrives, we can identify with it and instead of our submitting to the inevitability of being overcome by it – we identify with Jesus.
We visualize Jesus being continually administered to by the Angels.
We visualize ourselves – during our own worst of the worst – being continually administered to by the Angels also.
We identify with the moment of continuous comfort because it’s God’s promise.
It is God’s faithful promise of His continuous presence and continuous comfort.
Because: “The Word of God for His Beloved Children” is the absolute TRUTH!
We identify with God.
We identify with Jesus.
We identify Jesus with God
We identify Jesus’ victory over the very worst Satan can throw at us.
We identify with Jesus’ victory over the very worst Satan can throw at us.
Through that identification we can endure all things through Christ who is our strength through every single “worst of the worst” circumstance Satan inflicts.
Our faith remains sure and our faith remains strong, steadfast and immovable.
We are united in Christ, so that his victory might be our victory; so that when we are tempted, we can look to him and the living example Jesus first set for us.
Why was it important for Mark to provide these details?
Mark wanted to stress to his readers that Jesus is the only road to salvation.
The Maker of Heaven and earth declared His only begotten Son, Jesus to be his anointed one, His chosen one. He is real; He is credible; He is alive in us today!
Through these four rather short verses from the Gospel of Mark’s narrative ….
First: we can immediately identify with the absolute truth of that reality!
Second: we can immediately identify with the absolute truth of His credibility!
Third: we can immediately testify to the absolute truth of His being 100% alive!
Fourthly: we can immediately identify with the love of God and Jesus’ efforts towards preparing us for our ministry, mission: finish the Great Commission!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord God, Father to my Savior Jesus Christ, my Way-maker, my promise keeper. I know you have a destiny for me to achieve in this life. I want to follow the plan that you have laid out. Help me to understand and follow your call. Show me your will for my life and what I need to do right now to get started. Enable me to know who I am in Christ alone, and the special gifts and abilities you have given me. Give me the spirit of wisdom and revelation as I seek to know you more intimately. Amen.
4 [a]John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness]. 5 And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were continually going out to him; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a [wide] leather [b]band around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals [even as His slave]. 8 As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] [c]with the Holy Spirit.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Where did the Gospel actually begin?
Where did God’s Good News originate?
Narrators Matthew and Luke began their accounts of Jesus’ life with the stories surrounding his Genealogy an his birth.
Narrator John began his narrative before the creation of the world where the Son of God was not only present, but he also did the creating.
Mark, with his focus on Good News, chose to begin in a different place.
If folks are going to be open to the Good News of God, then someone is going to have to be a servant and prepare the way for Jesus to come and for his word to be heard. In many respects, the Good News always begins in this way.
The real question is whether we are willing to be used as servants like John the Baptist — who is introduced in verse four — and immediately, if not sooner, to begin to prepare the way for Savior Jesus’ Good News to be heard by our friends.
The next question for the reader of Mark’s narrative then becomes …. where do you immediately begin, when you do not know where to immediately begin?
A very valid question to ask when an immediate response to change is required.
At work, your supervisor suddenly hands you an outline for major project with major financial implications for your company which has never been attempted before – and the supervisors instructions are: I need this ASAP, as in 7 days!
With that kind of pressure and responsibility on your shoulders, ever sat and stared at a blank piece of paper or computer screen, wondering where to begin?
Any sort of task or project always has a beginning, and sometimes starting can prove a challenge especially when there is no previous effort to be inspired by.
You can further complicate this situation by being the first person to do it.
That is what Mark faced.
His written story of Jesus will be the first ever!
Perhaps his narrative will serve as a model, inspiration for any future writers.
Mark 1:1-3Amplified Bible
The Preaching of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah 40:1-4 and Malachi 3:1-3:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way— 3 A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, [b]Make His paths straight!’”
So far, Mark has hit us with a big (seemingly logical) opening sentence,
“The Beginning of the [facts regarding the] Good News of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.”
Then used an Old Testament quote from the writings of God’s Prophet, Isaiah.
The Old Testament quote, while making sense to Bible scholars, may or may not be the one to immediately grab your or your supervisors undivided attention.
I noodled over Mark’s choice of those first verses because I believe there is no superfluous material anywhere in the Biblical Canon.
All the words are there because God’s intention is that every word speak to his children – every word of every verse, however obscure it (they )may be – is the source of an important life lesson for someone, somewhere and at some point.
2 Timothy 3:16-17Amplified Bible
16 All Scripture is God-breathed [given by divine inspiration] and is profitable for instruction, for conviction [of sin], for correction [of error and restoration to obedience], for training in righteousness [learning to live in conformity to God’s will, both publicly and privately—behaving honorably with personal integrity and moral courage]; 17 so that the [a]man of God may be complete and proficient, outfitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
In the process I reached a “Holy Spirit inspired” conclusion.
The divinely inspired conclusion: Mark wants to make sure we understand that Jesus coming to planet earth is huge AND has always been a part of God’s plan.
Later Narrators, such as Matthew and Luke, will accomplish this drawing on Jesus’ birth and lineage. Mark made the same point with much fewer words.
Now Mark, in his typical “get to the point” style starts with Jesus’ ministry—and Jesus’ ministry begins with his baptism by a fella named John the Baptist.
As I read and continually re-read verses 4-8, and know John the Baptist’s story, I’m again getting that one feeling that it is easy for me to rush past these verses.
Let’s not
– because God put it there for His own very specific reasons. (Isaiah 55:10-13)
John the Baptist’s current modus operandi is that of an Old Testament prophet.
He wants to make sure the people of his day understand what is happening.
We would also be well advised to give our immediate, if not sooner, attention to first engage God in prayer, then come to the divinely inspired understanding;
Amid a world where things are wrong:
God is definitely coming (immediately, if not sooner) to put things right.
People, even (or especially) religious people, need to therefore get themselves fully turned around to the ONLY “right way around”. They need to repent.
John the Baptist notes differences between himself and Jesus.
First, that he is not worthy to untie the strap of Jesus’ sandal.
Second, that his baptism is with water while Jesus’ will be with the Holy Spirit.
He is immediately saying, “Don’t look at me (a mere man), look at Jesus!”
Look at Jesus Christ – “THE SON OF GOD!”
I began this reflection with,
“Wondering where to begin when you do not know where to begin?”
I noted Mark immediately began with the FACTS and TRUTH of Jesus’ ministry.
Yet, you might say that he started his Gospel about Jesus, with us in mind.
With you and with me!
Truth is: and a whole lot of other people the future writers of Hebrews noted:
Hebrews 12:1-2Amplified Bible
Jesus, the Example
12 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of [a]witnesses [who by faith have testified to the truth of God’s absolute faithfulness], stripping off every unnecessary weight and the sin which so easily and cleverly entangles us, let us run with endurance and active persistence the race that is set before us, 2 [looking away from all that will distract us and] focusing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross, [b]disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].
YES! And with very single generation of believers who have gone before us and every single generation of believers who will come after us – (Hebrews 12:1-2).
Narrator Mark wants to make sure that we more than merely understand the immediacy of his message of connecting and relating to what is happening in our world, and God’s plan for it all—but that this message penetrates and changes us.
We will in the coming days of Jesus’ ministry see some people as onlookers.
Mark suggests they will be immediately impressed by Jesus, but they will also immediately recoil at his new teachings, stay an arm-lengths distance away.
The question for us:
Will we be mere onlookers, standing aside, pondering curious points of the text, googling different versions, and even allowing ourselves to be distracted by curious characters, such as John the Baptist – as critically important as he is?
(It is so easy to do when we engage the whole length and breadth of Scripture.)
Or will we let God’s Word penetrate our hearts?
“Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.”
The Choice is always are to make ….
The immediate question is – when we aren’t sure if it is the right place to begin;
Search first for the TRUTH of God – is it YOURS or is it a divinely inspired one?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Creator God in this your exact time and in this your exact season dangling, suspended between all of our hopes and your fulfillment, let we never come any moment, to forget what you have done. May we be immediately overwhelmed by your great mercy, which flows in tsunami after tsunami from your Truth alone. May we be decisively honest about the darkness of sin within us, and immediately perceptive of the light of Salvation around us. May we begin, to prepare to make straight the path for the Lord, that together we may immediately see God’s glory revealed.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way— 3 A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, [b]Make His paths straight!’”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
“Are we there yet?”
Parents will often hear these words repeated several times from their children as their family travels on a long trip—or even a short one to the grocery store.
On school field trips, bus drivers will hear these words chanted by the teachers trying to keep the children interested and busy and engaged in the days events.
Sometimes, even us more mature adults will mimic these children as we go on planned shopping excursions with a group from one of our community centers.
Adults generally just want to have fun they have that awareness that they will eventually get to their destination by the time promised by the bus company.
Young, younger children, however, have an underdeveloped sense of time and distance that prevents them from understanding how long a journey will take.
Both God’s young, younger, youngest, maturing and mature adult children often have an underdeveloped sense of the obvious and not so obvious gap that definitely exists between their lives and God’s kingdom vision too.
Whatever stage of human development we are at, we would like to think and we would love to believe that we are each decent people who just need a few minor adjustments – a tweak here and a little tweak there, to become ‘right with God.’
We might just find ourselves rationalizing, “If I lose a little weight, try a little harder to be nice to my neighbors, and “if I budget better, give a little money to this and those charitable causes, then I’ll finally, really have my life together.”
In reality, there is much more that keeps us from recognizing God’s ideals.
Clean House is a home makeover and interior design television show, originally broadcast from 2003 until 2011 which aired 10 seasons of programs on the Style Network.
Clean House is a reality television show about three trained specialists who go into homes that are a mess.
In each episode, there is clutter everywhere.
In some homes there is so much junk that visitors must remain standing because the furniture is covered, indeed, buried, under all kinds of stuff.
The Clean House specialists face the challenge of convincing the residents to get rid of their junk.
And the strange thing often is—even though it makes their lives miserable, they yet remain reluctant and adamant don’t want to get rid of the clutter!
You and I can be the same way in our relationship with God and our neighbors.
We say we desperately want to clean things up, and we can see what’s got to go.
But so often we cling to things that make life miserable for us and for others.
The distance between speaking our “promises,” actually bringing them to the stage where we’re visibly pursuing and ideally engaging in them is significant.
Since sin entered the equation way back when on the Garden of Eden, resulted in our being unceremoniously thrown out, cast away from all of God’s ideals,
God created such an immeasurable, undefinable gap between His ideals and His beloved children yet still desired relationship- to keep His beloved children from straying too far and irretrievably away God, directly into a lifelong journey down Satan’s path, created within us an innate sense of emptiness and longing.
One day, God knew, His beloved children would want to return to His Ideals – on a 24 hour a day, seven day a week, every single last moment – permanent basis.
But God also knew His beloved children would need His help if they desire life under the most ideal circumstances anyone could ever dream, hope to imagine.
So, with an indescribable charity, God sent His Son into the world to save them.
John 3:16-17Amplified Bible
16 “For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] [a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him.
Except there was one inescapable truth God knew needed to be addressed first:
John 1:9-10Amplified Bible
9 There it was—the true Light [the genuine, perfect, steadfast Light] which, coming into the world, enlightens everyone. 10 He (Christ) was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.
The gap between God, His charity and His ideals, His beloved children and their charity and ideals, was so great as to be fully, completely and utterly unrecognizable.
The distance between God’s ideals and humanity’s ideals was so great that Jesus could not merely come into the world without an advance preparation.
The arrival of such a one to “prepare the way of the Lord” was prophesized:
Malachi 3:1-3Amplified Bible
The Purifier
3 “Behold, I am going to send My [a]messenger, and he will prepare and clear the way before Me. And the Lord [the Messiah], whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; the [b]Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. 2 But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He is like a refiner’s fire and like launderer’s soap [which removes impurities and uncleanness]. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi [the priests], and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the Lord [grain] offerings in righteousness.
As promised from Malachi 3:1-3, God sent someone to get us ready for him.
John the Baptizer, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth, came to help people recognize that the sin condition of this world needed a major turnaround.
He called God’s people to repent, to experience a new way of life (not just a few minor adjustments) that would be signified in baptism.
John the Baptizer was sent ahead of Jesus, helped people to realize the problem with their idea of life before they could be prepared to see the solution in Christ.
In the opening verses of Mark, we meet John the Baptist.
John the Baptizer was God’s appointed messenger, a specialist whose task was to get people to “clean house,” to get prepared for the coming of Jesus Christ.
John’s message was simple: “Repent!”
To repent means to recognize the moment for change, turn back to God and confess our sins, clear the junk out of our lives, do what God’s Word teaches.
There are at least Five Basic Points From Mark (Mark 1:1-3) for us to learn from.
Wait a minute. How can anyone get 5 points from 3 verses?
This is the beauty of Mark’s simplicity.
It is jammed packed.
Because it is so succinct, we miss much of Mark’s message of “preparation.”
Before I sketch out the 5 points, let’s first consider the narrative text.
It is largely an Old Testament quote – Malachi 3:1-3.
Mark does not use many of these, so when he does, we should really prepare ourselves to stand up, wake up, an gear ourselves up to give maximum notice.
“As it is written” is a phrase that prepares us for the quotation.
It is not immediately about Jesus, but about John the Baptist.
The point?
Something new and exciting and life and earth and heaven shockingly different has moved from the distant horizons of time to the forefront of human activity:
This gospel is new, truth is coming, and it has been part of God’s plan all along.
For four hundred years it has been prophesized through Malachi’s prophesies.
We never know God’s timing.
Sometimes it seems as if he moves quickly.
Other times, God requires us to be patient.
God requires our most immediate attention because God’s Truth has finally arrived and the facts and God’s messenger – John – are all presented here.
Now onto those 5 (five) critical to learn points.
Capturing the word gospelallows Mark to make a point. The Good News is a historical event. The Good News of Jesus Christ is no longer an abstract idea. It is definitely not fiction, not anyone’s made-up story. It undeniably happened.
It happened by being born in flesh and blood. Jesus, the Christ. The Good News inextricably connects the perfect ideals of God to flawed ideals of humanity—to us. Briefly, life isn’t always the worst possible news – Jesus Christ is Good News.
Its brevity is free of any window dressing. In its raw- in your face, matter-of-fact opening statement, Mark immediately communicates the Good News is basic and uncomplicated and from beginning to end, from start to finish – from Alpha to Omega – the absolute God spoken maximum truth.
While basic, this Good News is not an out-of-the-blue sort of thing. No, the Good News is inexorably connected to God’s Plan from the start of all ages.
Mark’s hard-hitting introduction is not meant to teach or inform. We are left wondering what he means by presenting this unadorned, eternal, basic plan of God, which took place on earth- connecting God to humankind, to us. The true answer: The Good News is meant to prepare us for God’s call and challenge us.
The Gospel calls to us to turn and follow.
The Gospel challenges us to prepare for something enormous and miraculous.
The Gospel challenges us to prepare ourselves and our neighbors to live for God.
Mark led by the Spirit of God is brilliant.
His use of the word’s gospel, Christ, and Son of God delivers points #1 – #3.
Point #4 is delivered by the use of the Old Testament quote.
Taken together, with its brevity, it is a call and a challenge.
The question is: Are we now prepared to actually prepare ourselves for God, to be prepared by God for service to our Neighbors – preparing them for His life?
God patiently awaits our response ….
And presents to us the Gospel of Mark for us to actually begin our preparation to prepare to give to Him our well prepared response to His covenanted summons.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
God of surprises you call us from the narrowness of our traditions to new ways of being church, from the captivities of our culture to creative witness for justice, from the smallness of our horizons to the bigness of your vision. Clear the way in us, your people,
that we might call others to freedom and renewed faith.
Jesus, wounded healer, you call us from preoccupation with our own histories and hurts to daily tasks of peacemaking, from privilege to pilgrimage, from insularity to inclusive community. Clear the way in us, your people,
that we might call others to wholeness and integrity.
Holy, transforming Spirit, you call us from fear to faithfulness, from clutter to clarity, from a desire to control to deeper trust, from the refusal to love to a readiness to risk. Clear the way in us, your people,
that we might prepare all our neighbors to know and live the simplicity, the beauty and indescribable and undeniable power and danger of the gospel.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
Sometimes, the truth is directly in front of our noses – things just need to end – despite all of one’s very best intentions, and “maxed out” maximum efforts, they have reached a point where things can go no further – but they need to.
A job which has no promotional future – that “dead end” job.
A job which is unfulfilling – we have been in it for a long time, dissatisfied, no amount of joy no matter how hard the effort being made to turn things around.
Not meeting our personal educational or family financial goals ….
A wrong career path ….
We have reached an age in life where developmentally, we cannot help but feel the need to try something new, something exciting, invigorating, challenging.
A relationship with some place, something, someone which is not mutually fulfilling or just plain became abusive to either one or both parties involved.
Perhaps we have come to that place in life where we realize that relationship is us unsuccessfully trying to get along with ourselves in a world of uncertainty.
Wrong choices made at the wrong times …. which has caused someone we care about very deeply – to feel betrayed, unloved, immeasurable needless distress.
Poor decisions now being lived out through lasting undesirable consequences.
We are just feeling empty, spiritually unfulfilled in too many ways to count.
Nowhere to turn ….
No place to run ….
No one to turn to ….
No one to trust ….
No more drugs and no more alcohol …. all the bottles are broken and empty.
This vessel we occupy called our body – our flesh and bones – broken, empty.
Life Sentence in a “maximum security prison of our own design and strength.”
Sick and tired of being sick and tired ….
Where do the descriptions end?
Where does the new life, the fresh start in life begin?
When does the new life, the fresh start begin ….
From our state of brokenness – from our state of utter emptiness, with such a severe distrust of everyone and everything reigning and ruling over our souls,
What else is there to try – what else is left for us to literally risk “everything we do not believe we have left to risk – in a “life or death struggle winner take all?”
Perhaps the answer is … the very Creator of our Life, the Author of our life itself!
The question we all dare need to ask ourselves – Do we need a fresh start with God?
If you do, the opening verse of the gospel of Mark has something for you.
It speaks of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to offer new beginnings to all who seek God’s mercy and strength in a time of need.
Mark’s opening words to his narrative remind us of the first verse of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1).
When all which came before was being defined, ruled, by unimaginable chaos.
God spoke into that undefinable, unimaginable, immeasurable chaotic mess.
And afterwards everything which came into existence, which proceeded from the mouth of God, which was created by God, was declared by God “to be good!”
Mark apparently wanted his readers to remember that God is present and at work in the beginning of all good things.
When God created the world, everything was good.
But Adam and Eve sinned against God, and things began to go wrong.
But that was not the end of the story, for God immediately set out to restore what was broken and lost, and his work centered on the coming of Jesus Christ.
What does this mean for us?
Well, we know God loves us and did not turn away from his rebellious creation.
God directly and decisively came into the world, entered (barged) into mans affairs through His Son Jesus, to save us from our sin and its consequences.
Because Jesus came to die in our place, paying the price for our sin, all who with their whole hearts confess and believe in him aren’t under sin’s curse anymore.
They are given a new beginning,
and that is what the gospel (“good news”) is all about.
Have you received a new beginning through Jesus Christ?
Is it time for you or I to consider a new beginning, a fresh start through Jesus?
Here are 3 signs God is calling you to start fresh in a certain area of your life:
1. If Guilt Has Been Hindering us from Moving Forward and Thriving in Life, The truth of Scripture is this: God Wants us to Embrace a Fresh Start with Him
Please read this carefully: I want us to be careful when using the phrase “fresh start” because as Christians we must always remember our “righteousness” in God’s judgement is based on Jesus Christ alone and never upon our own works.
One reason humans crave a fresh start is because we want the chance to do things right on our own – under our own “acceptable terms and conditions.”
We want a clean slate so we can have a chance of keeping our slates clean through our own flawed logic and severely flawed ideas of ‘our’ lack of sin.
But this is not the Christian way.
For as Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians succinctly teaches each one of us;
Philippians 3:8-9Amplified Bible
8 But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.
So the necessary first step of embracing your fresh start with God is:
by our fully embracing, surrendering ourselves to the truth, that no matter what has happened in our life, no matter what sins we have committed, we are still righteous before God if you have placed your whole faith in Jesus Christ because your righteousness is now based on Christ and not your own actions.
With that being said, even when we know these biblical truths intellectually, the actual real life lessons of our actual real life experiences can feel very different.
As Christians, even though we are fully righteous in Christ because he has justified us through our faith, we can still be burdened with shame and guilt because of the lingering memories, ongoing consequences, of past mistakes.
God does not want this for us.
So if you have committed a sin that you keep thinking about and is holding you back from living the life you know God wants you to live, it’s time to let that go.
The choices cannot be undone –
Decisions cannot be undecided
Consequences will forever still be the consequences we have to live into …
Now is absolutely the right time, God’s Kairos, to embrace God’s grace:
Psalm 103:11-13Amplified Bible
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. 12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 Just as a father loves his children, So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
If you have confessed it with your whole heart (Romans 10:9-13)
and repented, it’s over …. FOREVER ….
2 Corinthians 5:16-19Amplified Bible
16 So from now on we regard no one from a human point of view [according to worldly standards and values]. Though we have known Christ from a human point of view, now we no longer know Him in this way. 17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]. 18 But all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ [making us acceptable to Him] and gave us the ministry of reconciliation [so that by our example we might bring others to Him], 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting people’s sins against them [but canceling them]. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation [that is, restoration to favor with God].
God’s grace is ALWAYS and ABSOLUTELY enough,
Romans 5:20-21Amplified Bible
20 But the Law came to increase and expand [the awareness of] the trespass [by defining and unmasking sin]. But where sin increased, [God’s remarkable, gracious gift of] grace [His unmerited favor] has surpassed it and increased all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness which brings eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God’s grace is greater than our guilt. Lay it down. God has forgiven you if you confessed it (1 John 1:9).
You now need to forgive yourself, live in His Grace and start fresh with the Lord.
2. If Too Many Rules and Obligations Have Sucked the Life Out of You, It’s Time to Start Fresh with the Lord
As Christians, our journeys often start with an immense sense of freedom and joy when we realize we are not saved by obeying the Law but rather through faith in Jesus Christ and by God’s grace alone.
However, what too often happens as we begin to walk the Christian path is that we begin to subtly or not so subtly, overtly, covertly, start picking back up those self same rules and regulations that by His resurrection, Christ set us free from.
While God definitely want us to read our Bibles, pray daily, go to church, take communion, serve others, obey a whole host of other biblical commandments, God doesn’t want us to return to our old self-defeating ways, become legalistic.
Now that we have been saved by God’s freeing grace, we do not have to obey his commands out of fear and with a religious spirit.
Rather, now we can obey God’s commands because we want to, because it is a joy, and because we know it pleases the Lord.
If you have lost that perspective and have begun to dutifully obey the Bible rather than out of the freedom Christ has given you, this is a definitely a sign God wants us to reconsider our “self-defeating ways” start fresh with him.
The path forward is not to now throw away your Bible and act like there are no commands God tells us to follow.
Rather, the key is to embrace the freedom you have in Christ that has nothing to do with your obedience to the law.
When you and I know that you and I are free because of the free gift of Christ, you and I can obey God from a different spirit.
You can obey him out of freedom and not out of obligation.
Galatians 5:1Amplified Bible
Walk by the Spirit
5 It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].
Galatians 5:13-14Amplified Bible
13 For you, my brothers, were called to freedom; only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the [a]sinful nature (worldliness, selfishness), but through [b]love serve and seek the best for one another. 14 For the whole Law [concerning human relationships] is fulfilled in one precept, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, you shall have an unselfish concern for others and do things for their benefit].”
So if the overly complex, hard and inflexible “bondage” of rules and obligations have made you feel “chained” enslaved, to an old and outdated system of living and loving and stolen your freedom in Christ, it is definitely time to start fresh.
Just make sure you are starting fresh in the name of God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit – not in some new manifestation, same old wardrobe of worldly backwardness.
Embrace God’s grace.
Obey God …
not in order to be saved by him but because you already are saved by him.
3. If the Circumstances in Your Life Are Giving You a Fresh Start in a Certain Area of Your Life, This Is a Sign God Wants You to Embrace This with Him
Recognize sometimes we don’t need a total fresh start in every area of our lives.
Sometimes our walk with God is going great and we just need to keep growing with him.
What we often need is just a fresh start in one specific area of our lives like in the area of raising newly teenage children, our physical health, or our careers.
God is in control of everything, so if the circumstances of your life are panning out in a way where you have the chance to start fresh in an area you know you really need a fresh start – don’t fight it, embrace it.
For example, if you know your children are entering “dating life” and you remember your own efforts way back when was an utter mess for awhile but God had cleared the deck and there is now one relationship (wife) in your life,
see this as a fresh start with sharing a new facet of life with your child and a new life lesson for you both to be cherished and experienced with the Lord.
Or if you lost your job and now you are needing a new one, this can be a fresh beginning of learning, working on something even better than what you lost.
In short,
if you lost something in life, perhaps it is God’s Kairos, God’s time! God allowed that loss to happen to you because he wanted to get excited, to give you the new opportunity to start over, completely a fresh with him in that area of your life –
As much as you may or may not realize, desire or not desire, a deeper, fresher connection – relationship with God, with Savior Jesus through the Word of God:
The beginning verses of The Gospel of Mark immediately gives each one of us uniquely Christ Centered Kairos moments to immediately kickstart our hearts:
Mark 1:1Amplified Bible
The Preaching of John the Baptist
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord, my teacher, sometimes I find that I am too often confused when I need to make important decisions about my life’s work, my relationships with myself, my family and my friends, my health, or finances. Too many times I have failed and have failed very badly and the consequences are ever before me, plaguing me with their “finger pointing” and soul piercing eyes. Show me the way I should go when I just don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Advise me and guide me, Shepherd over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. My God, Thank you for these Kairos opportunities to start afresh through thy Son. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
We humans love to hear and tell stories.
When our children are young they ask mommy and daddy to read them their bed time stories – they want and desire our presence before they go to sleep.
We tell them, we read to them the same stories which had become our favorite stories which our own parents read to us every night when we were that young.
Sometimes we looked to our Grand Parents to tell us the stories of their youth, when they were the ones who were our age – we love to hear how they grew up.
We love to hear of their experiences, we want to partake of their wisdom, how they had “fun” in their day, what music did they listen to, where did they travel.
Sometimes we go to our Grand Parents first instead of our parents because we have stories we believe in our hearts we cannot or could, should not tell them.
Perhaps we are in a place where we do not trust our parents with our stories.
Telling and Sharing our Stories breaks the monotony of the “ho-hums” and the “hum-drums” of our own thoughts, our excruciatingly boring circumstances.
We tell them at work about bosses who think too much of themselves.
We tell stories to friends who give us feedback with laughter or tears or other stories in return. We tell stories around kitchen tables with families and friends.
The man, Rabbi Jesus entered into the lives of those first century Jews just by quietly walking into the moment, so often without any formal announcement.
What we do not read in the Gospels is this man, this Rabbi Jesus, does not raise his hands, clap his hands loudly together or raise his voice – “Yo! Here I am!”
Subtlety is his hallmark way of introducing himself into the life of the moment.
Matthew 5:1-2Amplified Bible
The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes
5 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the mountain; and when He was seated, His [a]disciples came to Him. 2 Then He began to teach them, saying,…
Jesus “saw the crowds” and without shouting “Hey, everyone, I see you!” he quietly went up the mountain and he quietly sat down, His went to Him absent any verbal summons from their Rabbi’s mouth, then he began to ‘teach’ them.
Luke 4:14-21Amplified Bible
Jesus’ Public Ministry
14 Then Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and the news about Him spread through the entire region. 15 And He began teaching in their synagogues and was praised and glorified and honored by all.
16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me (the Messiah), Because He has anointed Me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent Me to announce release (pardon, forgiveness) to the captives, And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (downtrodden, bruised, crushed by tragedy), 19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the favor of God abound greatly].”
20 Then He rolled up the scroll [having stopped in the middle of the verse], gave it back to the attendant and sat down [to teach]; and the eyes of all those in the synagogue were [attentively] fixed on Him. 21 He began speaking to them: “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing and in your presence.”
Coming out of His hardcore, deeply intimate temptation experience, He walked out of the wilderness, full of the Holy Spirit and straight into earthly ministry.
The “news abut him spread throughout the entire region …”
And he ‘began’ teaching in their synagogues …
He returned to his home in Nazareth, where he had been brought up and raised by His parents, His grandparents … heard their stories told and retold to him.
And “as was His custom …” “he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath …” and without him giving their leadership a chance to introduce him as an “Itinerant Rabbi” … he just quietly stood up … and instantly made his presence known.
Without any verbal or unspoken complaints for “being rude,” they handed Him the Scroll of God’s Prophet Isaiah, and without challenging Jesus’ credentials, they permitted him to take authority and full command of the sacred moment.
The man, Rabbi Jesus, without asking or saying “thank you” exercised that full and complete authority “granted (or surrendered) to him and read God’s Word.
John 1:1-5Amplified Bible
The Deity of Jesus Christ
1 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word ([a]Christ), and the Word was with God, and [b]the Word was God Himself. 2 He was [continually existing] in the beginning [co-eternally] with God. 3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being. 4 In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men. 5 The Light shines on in the [c]darkness, and the darkness did not understand it or overpower it or appropriate it or absorb it [and is unreceptive to it].
We have these words from the Gospel Narrative from John …
“In the Beginning [before all time] ….”
Telling us in no uncertain terms, Jesus is THE WHOLE STORY …. has always been THE WHOLE STORY and Jesus will forever remain THE WHOLE STORY!
We have the relating of these stories from ‘the beginnings’ of the Gospel’s of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John in the hopes we will “enter into them.”
God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit place these stories in front of us – in the sure and constant hope – our lives will be changed by entry.
God enters our lives by way of the myriads and myriads of these biblical stories.
We become truly human by taking these Words of Jesus’ stories into our lives.
Author Karen Lee-Thorp aptly remarked, “Most of the Bible consists of stories. Why? Partly because God knew people that like and remember stories better than lists of abstract propositions. And even more important, the stories remind us that all of life is His story, and that God is never an abstract doctrine, but a Person.”
The Narrator Mark begins his gospel account with the story of Jesus, not moral principles or ethical concepts. We enter into life with Jesus by way of the first words of this story, we first find our Jesus in the story of God’s salvation for us.
John the Baptist begins the story by telling us about Jesus.
But John the Baptist is only a part of the preface of this great story that begins quietly but immediately proceeds, is about to not so quietly unfold before us!
So we find that the beginning story quickly moves on to tell about Jesus, the promised Messiah, and his saving message: the good news of God’s kingdom.
Every story about Jesus also helps us recognize our own stories of sin, grace, and blessing. The gospel is the main story, and it shapes the stories of us all.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God of surprises you call us from the narrowness of our traditions to new ways of being church, from the captivities of our culture to creative witness for justice, from the smallness of our horizons to the bigness of your vision.
Jesus, wounded healer, you call us from preoccupation with our own histories and hurts to daily tasks of peacemaking, from privilege to pilgrimage, from insularity to inclusive community.
Holy, transforming Spirit, you call us from fear to faithfulness, from clutter to clarity, from a desire to control to deeper trust, from the refusal to love to a readiness to risk.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
1 The beginning of the [facts regarding the] good news of [a]Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2 As it is written and forever remains in the [writings of the] prophet Isaiah:
“Behold, I send My messenger ahead of You, Who will prepare Your way— 3 A voice of one shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, [b]Make His paths straight!’”
4 [c]John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins [that is, requiring a change of one’s old way of thinking, turning away from sin and seeking God and His righteousness]. 5 And all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were continually going out to him; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins. 6 John wore clothing made of camel’s hair and had a [wide] leather [d]band around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. 7 And he was preaching, saying, “After me comes He who is mightier [more powerful, more noble] than I, and I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the straps of His sandals [even as His slave]. 8 As for me, I baptized you [who came to me] with water [only]; but He will baptize you [who truly repent] [e]with the Holy Spirit.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
For everything under the sun – there is a time and a season.
For everything under the sun – there is a beginning and there is an ending.
For everyone under the sun – there is a time and a season.
For everyone under the sun – there is a beginning and there is an ending.
And then there is Jesus, the Son of God – the Son of Man who was there in the very beginning, by whom and through whom all things were created, He was continually existing, all things came into existence through Him, and without Him not even one thing was made that has come into being – Fathom all of that!
In Him was life [and the power to bestow life], and the life was the Light of men.
He was there in the beginning of all things – Co-Eternally with God the Father.
And of His Kingdom – there shall be NO END. (Luke 1:33)
He has NO ending – He is Eternal – Forever and Ever – Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Like all of the Gospel writers – they tried to Fathom the eternal Son of God.
Like all of the Gospel writers – they tried to communicate their understanding of the eternal Son of God, to the everyday men and women of their times, to a specific targeted audience – they desired for the everyday person to know Him!
Like all the Gospel writers Mark introduces us to Jesus Christ, the eternally begotten Son of God and prophesied Savior of the world, but we discover Mark’s specific focus is upon the humanity of Jesus, as servant of all – and the divinely appointed name of “Jesus’, which is specifically linked with His humanity, His name specifically means “God is Salvation’.
Luke 1:26-38 Amplified
Jesus’ Birth Foretold
26 Now in the sixth month [of Elizabeth’s pregnancy] the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee called Nazareth, 27 to a virgin [a]betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, a descendant of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And coming to her, the angel said, “Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you.” 29 But she was greatly perplexed at what he said, and kept carefully considering what kind of greeting this was. 30 The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 Listen carefully: you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob (Israel) forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end.” 34 Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin and have no intimacy with any man?” 35 Then the angel replied to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you [like a cloud]; for that reason the holy (pure, sinless) Child shall be called the Son of God. 36 And listen, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 For with God nothing [is or ever] shall be impossible.” 38 Then Mary said, “[b]Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.” And the angel left her.
The personal name “Jesus’ was given to Him at the time of His birth, for He will be great and eminent and will be called the Son of the most high and God shall give Him the Throne, God and shall save His people from their sin, He himself shall redeem a lost world by means of His sinless life and substitutionary death.
And although the Lord Jesus was the eternal Son of God, and equal in honor and glory with the Father.. Mark announces the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ from the human perspective – tracing the gospel of Jesus from His lowly birth in a lowly stable unto His glorious resurrection and ascension into heaven.
While Matthew wrote his narration to identify Jesus as the Jewish messiah and King of Israel, Mark’s narrative audience was primarily to the Romans, where their connection, relationship to Jesus is portrayed to them as the Servant of all.
John’s principal desire was to emphasize the deity of the eternal Son of God, while Luke’s narrative aim was to bring out the empathetic ministry of the lowly Son of Man – but from the beginning.. Mark’s emphasis is on Christ’s servant-hood, for we read that: even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. (Mark 10:35-45)
The gospel of Jesus Christ continues today and will extend into the eternal ages to come, and Mark simply records the beginning section of this good news.
From the beginning Jesus was the prophesied child of an everyday common woman of her times and her seasons and declared to be the promised Saviour..
Who came at the appointed time to tabernacle in the world with His creation. He came as the suffering servant of God, Whose life, death, burial and resurrection would be good news for all who would trust in His sacrificial death for salvation.
The Gospel Narrator Mark tells us all of Jesus’ historical beginning – when the eternal, uncreated God stripped Himself of the glory He had with the Father and stepped into time, by taking upon Himself mortal flesh and becoming a man.
And throughout His life the man Jesus demonstrated the only way humanity can live in fellowship, relate, connect, with a holy God:- by saying and doing those things He heard from the Father – by abiding in the Father; living in total dependence upon Him – and walking in complete obedience to the Father’s will.
Although Christ was the eternal Son of God… we discover Him to be the humble servant of God, Who walked in spirit and truth, lived in humble submission to the leading and guidance of the Holy Spirit and became servant of all – so that by His coming, by His life, His death, His burial and His resurrection, all who believe on Him should not perish but be saved by grace through faith in HIM.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ continues unabated, unhindered, unashamedly, to this day and we who have made our heartfelt full throated confession, came to belief, trusted in Him as Saviour, have been made ministers of this good news.
Let us tell of this glorious truth, locally and abroad, of the glorious truth of the Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ Who came, gave His life as a ransom for many.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
My Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word and the wonderful truth that it contains. Thank You that Jesus set aside His heavenly glory and took upon Himself the humble status of a Servant of all.. so that He could identify with our humanity and pay the price for our sin – a price that we are unable to pay. Thank you for this Gospel of Mark, through which the common man may find a way to relate and to connect and identify with the deity He has always had. I pray that I may follow in His footsteps and live in humble submission to Your Holy Spirit all the days of my life, and only do those things that I hear from Your – this I ask in Jesus name, AMEN.
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there. 18 And some of the [a] Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the [b]Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.” 21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners visiting there used to spend their [leisure] time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.)
Sermon on Mars Hill
22 So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects. 23 Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN [c]UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He [d]served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things. 26 And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories. 27 This was so that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grasp for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. 28 For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of [e]your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ 29 So then, being God’s children, we should not think that the Divine Nature (deity) is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination or skill of man. 30 Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives], 31 because He has set a day when He will judge the inhabited world in righteousness by a Man whom He has appointed and destined for that task, and He has provided credible proof to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”
32 Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, [f]some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.” 33 So Paul left them. 34 But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
One Sunday as they drove home from church, a little boy turned to his father and said, “Daddy, there’s something weird about the preacher’s message this morning that I don’t understand.”
The father said, “Oh? What is it?”
The little boy replied, “Well, he said that God is bigger than we are. He said God is so big that He could hold the world in His hand. Is that true?”
The father replied, “Yes, that’s true, son.”
“But daddy, he also said that God comes to live inside of us when we believe in Jesus as our Savior.
Is that true, too?”
Again, the father assured the little boy that what the pastor had said was true.
With a puzzled look on his round face the little boy then asked, “If that is true, if God is way, way bigger than us and He lives in us, wouldn’t He show through?”
I love that little story; it’s cute, and it makes me smile. However to effectively communicate the good news it does take more than a smiling silent witness.
Don’t get me wrong there are times that it is appropriate.
But a silent witness, smiling or otherwise, in and of its self will never bring in the harvest called for by God – it will never get a conversion or commitment.
Sometimes it seems difficult to communicate the love of Christ to others. It is easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer weight of Biblical data and too become tongue-tied when trying to correctly share how one can know Savior Christ.
So what does it take to clearly and effectively communicate the good news of the gospel?
To find the answer to this question let’s turn to the manual.
The answer book!
God’s Word for God’s Children!
Come with me again to the Book of Acts of the Apostles, the 17th chapter.
This is the story of the Apostle Paul in Athens.
The Apostle Paul was arguably one of the most effective first century communicators of the good news of the gospel.
Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because;
1. He had a powerful passion for the message itself – it drove him forward.
Acts 17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols.
Please try to understand ‘passion’ – I am not talking about an emotion.
The greatest problem of emotions is that change, wax and wane too easily.
I am talking about the definition that Webster gives that says:
– An intense, driving or overmastering conviction.
Do you see what fuels passion according to this definition? —— Passion is fueled by a deep and unwavering conviction to “I must get something done.”
His passion was fueled by the conviction that every man, women, boy or girl faces heaven or hell – and Jesus Christ was the only path to one’s salvation.
That there is no in between.
No one will receive a sentence of 2 to 20 years.
It is a forever and ever and ever and ever sentence of eternal never ending separation from God – in torment and burning in hell. (Luke 16:19-31)
Why was he distressed?
Because of his deep conviction and understanding these people were doomed to an eternity in hell unless the strong power of idolatry was broken in their lives.
A. Notice what Paul saw – He literally saw the idolatry everywhere he looked.
1. As Paul moved about Athens he was not impressed by the great glitz and the grandeur of the Greeks, he wasn’t taken or overwhelmed by the Acropolis or the Parthenon – buildings considered even today to be true wonders of the world.
2. As Jesus’ own soul zealously saw the Israelites (Matthew 23:37) (Luke 13:34), Paul’s passion for Christ, Paul’s zealousness saw the lost ness of the Athenians!
3. What do we see as we walk or drive through our neighborhoods, walk through the shopping Malls, move about our own workplaces and visit the “sights of our cities?“
B. If we are going to be effective communicators we must look and pray to God our Father whose first passion sent His Son to us – for that same #1 Passion!
2ndly Paul was an effective communicator of the good news of the gospel because:
2. He engages people on common ground.
Acts 17:22-23
22 Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.
A. He uses the familiar to explain the unfamiliar or unknown.
1. Talks about them being very “religious” – trying not to offend ‘lesser god’s.’
2. Talks about one specific idol they have – all the god’s of the Greek Pantheon
3. Tells them he knows his God is their “Unknown God!” – known to Everyone!
B. Jesus used the same approach (common ground or interest) with the woman at the well in John chapter 4.
John 4:7-11 Amplified
The Samaritan Woman
7 Then a woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink”— 8 For His disciples had gone off into the city to buy food— 9 The Samaritan woman asked Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me, a [a] Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews have nothing to do with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew [about] God’s gift [of eternal life], and who it is who says, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him [instead], and He would have given you living water (eternal life).” 11 She said to Him, “Sir, [b]You have nothing to draw with [no bucket and rope] and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?
One of those barriers to effectively communicating the Good News of the Gospel is the belief that there is no common ground between them and the “stranger.”
No Common Ground – therefore No Conversation – therefore no “Known God.”
A quick shrug of the shoulders – no common ground – no conversation ensues and that “Unknown God” remains that “Unknown God,” lost to our “wisdom.”
Lost to our “wisdom” because in ‘our wisdom’ we feel we have nothing to say or somehow believe that our words have no value to the Kingdom (Exodus 4:1-5).
Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we are tired of words because too many of the “right words on deaf ears” already been spoken and ignored.
Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we find it too easy to be mad and get too easily offended – let emotions govern how we see our neighbors.
Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we raise the authority and the power of our words above and beyond the power behind the Word of our God. (Proverbs 1:1-7, 20-33, Proverbs 3:5-8, Proverbs 8:11-20, Proverbs 16:1-9, Proverbs 29:18, Isaiah 1:18-20, Isaiah 2:1-4, Isaiah 55:10-13, Hebrews 4:12)
Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we have somehow become too easily contented with being a “Divided” Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 1:10-17).
Lost to our “wisdom” because in “our wisdom” we think our words are wasted, useless, because God is going to do what God is going to do anyway. (Jonah 4:2)
So many excuses – too many wrong headed reasons, rationales to keep silent.
Too many opportunities to believe we have nothing to contribute nor want to contribute because we are too mad at everything and prefer to wash our hands of any responsibility or accountability to help our neighbors. (Matthew 27:24)
So many excuses – so many reasons and rationales – offered up to the God we allegedly believe and confess “we know” to let ‘the kingdom be the kingdom.’
For which Jesus gives an answer ….
John 13:34-35 (Amplified)
34 I am giving you a new commandment, that you [a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”
John 14:11-14 (Amplified)
11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe [Me] because of the [very] works themselves [which you have witnessed].12 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father.13 And I will do whatever you ask in My name [[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. 14 If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.
John 15:9-11 (Amplified)
9 I have loved you just as the Father has loved Me; remain in My love [and do not doubt My love for you]. 10 If you keep My commandments and obey My teaching, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. 11 I have told you these things so that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy may be made full and complete and overflowing.
John 15:12-16 (Amplified)
Disciples’ Relation to Each Other
12 “This is My commandment, that you [a]love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you. 13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.
C. I am thoroughly, passionately convinced that the Holy Spirit gives us these same scriptural invitations, GOD openings and opportunities every single day.
We just aren’t deliberately, intentionally, passionately looking for them and recognizing them with the same deliberation, intent, passion as Paul did.
Reminds me to the story … of a guy who “prayed” this prayer every morning:
“Lord, if you really and truly and passionately want me to Your witness to someone, somewhere today, please give me a sign to show me who it is.”
One day he found himself on a bus when a big, burly man sat next to him.
The bus was nearly empty but this hulking guy sat next to our praying friend.
The timid Christian anxiously waited for his stop so he could exit the bus.
But before he could get either very nervous about the man next to him, or as far away from him as he could as quick as he could exit the bus, the big guy burst into tears and began to weep uncontrollably, then cried out with a loud voice,
“Life is nothing to me anymore, just no purpose anywhere, I need to be saved. I am a lost sinner and I need the Lord. Won’t somebody tell me how to be saved?”
He turned to the Christian and pleaded, “Can you show me how to be saved?”
The believer immediately bowed his head, praying, “Lord, is this Your sign?”
Most of the time it just doesn’t happen like that.
But if we have a passion that is driven by a deep conviction we will be watching, looking for opportunities to “give an answer” in the message of the good news.
You see the point is this –
We don’t need another sign from God because we have a LIVING HOPE in Christ:
1 Peter 3:14-16 (Amplified)
14 But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness [though it is not certain that you will], you are still blessed [happy, to be admired and favored by God]. Do not be afraid of their intimidating threats, nor be troubled or disturbed [by their opposition]. 15 But in your hearts set Christ apart [as holy—acknowledging Him, giving Him first place in your lives] as Lord. Always be ready to give a [logical] defense to anyone who asks you to account for the hope and confident assurance [elicited by faith] that is within you, yet [do it] with gentleness and respect. 16 And see to it that your conscience is entirely clear, so that every time you are slandered or falsely accused, those who attack or disparage your good behavior in Christ will be shamed [by their own words].
You see the point is –
We do not need another “sign” to know IF God and Christ wants us to witness:
He has already commanded us to go, be his witness. Matthew 28:16-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:25-31 then 32-35 then 36-49, feed one another John 21:15-19.
Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, Ye shall be my witnesses … yea, unto the uttermost part of the earth: Acts 1:1-8KJV.
Apostle Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a deep, powerful passion, because he engaged the people on common ground and
3rdly because:
3. He kept it Simple!
Paul presented 3 simple points:
1- God is the Creator and owner of the universe …. Acts 17:24
2 – God wants everyone to know him … Acts 17:26-27
3 – Men must repent for judgment day is coming. Acts 17:30-31
You can’t get much simpler than that.
The point is that the enemy wants you and I to think and believe with our whole hearts the effective communication of the good news is complex and difficult.
The Adversary wants you and I to think and believe that you, I, need to be an expert in Greek and Hebrew, Biblical Scholarship to communicate the gospel.
The Truth is simple; the gospel is simple
· Every man is a sinner
· God loves every man, wants a relationship with all sinners
· He died to pay the penalty for every man sin …
· By repentance and faith we can be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)
The point is every born again believer can communicate the gospel.
Apostle Paul was an effective communicator of the good news because he had a deep, and powerful passion for all things Jesus Christ, he engaged the people on common ground (issues), and because he kept it simple and finally because …
4. He was realistic in his expectations
A. We must realize not everyone is going to respond nicely when we present Christ, but we must yet continue to respond to him or her in faith and love.
Acts 17:32 (Amplified)
32 Now when they heard [the term] resurrection from the dead, [a]some mocked and sneered; but others said, “We will hear from you again about this matter.”
But we must also realize that the gospel the good news will not return void.
Acts 17:33-34 (Amplified)
33 So Paul left them. 34 But some men joined him and believed; among them were Dionysius, [a judge] of the Council of Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
And as discouraging and disheartening as this fact can definitely be ….
Believe that God gives us His Answer and His Assurance on this matter too:
Isaiah 55:10-13 (Amplified)
10 “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven, And do not return there without watering the earth, Making it bear and sprout, And providing seed to the sower and bread to the eater, 11 So will My word be which goes out of My mouth; It will not return to Me void (useless, without result), Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it. 12 “For you will go out [from exile] with joy And be led forth [by the Lord Himself] with peace; The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before you, And all the trees of the field will clap their hands. 13 “Instead of the thorn bush the cypress tree will grow, And instead of the nettle the myrtle tree will grow; And it will be a memorial to the Lord, For an everlasting sign [of His mercy] which will not be cut off.”
How eager are we for such an “Athenian Experience” as Apostle Paul was?
Are our hearts and souls as “greatly distressed and disturbed” as Paul’s?
What do we really think and believe to be the value of our “wisdom” to God?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
God, from the beginning, you were the word. You sent your only son to save us all and he even allowed himself to be tortured and crucified to obey you. Bless me with the gift of passion and understanding and of unshaken faith in you. Let me know the meaning of your words of ministry and mission in the Bible, how to live accordingly. Open the door of my heart, and fill me with your light and understanding. Amen.
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was greatly angered when he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he had discussions in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the market place day after day with any who happened to be there. 18 And some of the [a] Epicurean and Stoic philosophers began to engage in conversation with him. And some said, “What could this idle babbler [with his eclectic, scrap-heap learning] have in mind to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities”—because he was preaching the good news about Jesus and the resurrection. 19 They took him and brought him to the [b]Areopagus (Hill of Ares, the Greek god of war), saying, “May we know what this [strange] new teaching is which you are proclaiming? 20 For you are bringing some startling and strange things to our ears; so we want to know what they mean.”
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
In our Scripture text today we hear about the Apostle Paul in the city of Athens.
This Greek city was an intellectual centre of its day.
Here the philosophers, intellectuals, and students would gather to discuss the latest intellectual fads.
Athens was also a pagan city.
As many as 30,000 statues had been erected as idols to various gods in the city.
Archaeologists and Historians suggest that there were more idols in the city of Athens than in all the rest of Greece combined.
There can be no doubt that the Greeks were religious people.
They had a different god for almost every aspect of life.
They believed their gods were able to bring fortune or evil.
They had even spent the resources and built, dedicated an altar ‘To an Unknown God’ just in case they may have missed giving honor to one of the myriad gods.
It would have been easy for Paul to shy away from even opening his mouth in this pagan city.
We would understand that.
But Dr. Luke records,
“So (Paul) reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who met him. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also were conversing with him” (Acts 17:17,18).
In amongst all those pagan statues, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, debated with the great teachers of Athens and the Jewish leaders in their synagogues.
This was tough going.
It was even dangerous.
Paul knew that if he was going to speak with, debate, preach, teach anyone, he had to step out of his comfort zone, and put himself at risk to speak the truth.
Let’s face it – it’s easy to hang around with Christians.
We worship the same God, the Father and God the Son and Holy Spirit.
We share the same values, and we speak the same language (that is, we all know what we mean when we talk of Salvation, Redemption and Holy Communion.
It is natural for us to gravitate towards the people who are more like ourselves.
Paul had a lot to do with his fellow Jewish Leaders and Christian friends and the congregations that were scattered around in most of the large towns and cities.
When he was in Athens, we notice that (as was his tradition) Paul first of all had deep discussions with both Jewish leadership & Gentiles who worshipped God.
It’s worth noting how Paul intentionally stepped out of his comfort zone to share the Good News with those who were caught up in pagan ways.
Notice what I said about Apostle Paul’s actions – they were intentional – they were deliberately, innately made, a decision to make the most of the moment.
To hesitate, to stall, to put it off, would mean a lost opportunity.
Think what would have happened if Paul (who made all that effort just to get to Athens) hesitated, said to himself, “I’ll wait for a while and see what happens”.
Maybe you, like me, have let what we know to be a decisive moment go by and afterwards regretted not saying or doing something when we had the chance.
Paul followed a general pattern as he traveled.
Upon entering a city, he would go first to the local Jewish synagogue.
At some point, he would explain from the Scriptures about Jesus, the Messiah.
Some Jews and Godfearing Gentiles would listen carefully, ask their questions, Paul would answer and they come to faith, but others would leave and oppose Paul and angrily stir up crowds against him as he taught in the marketplace.
Apparently they did not want to risk “offending” any of the myriad known and unknown gods and idols and the myriad of “high priests and temple leaders.”
No one was going to be allowed to upset or disrupt their accepted “status-quo.”
To quiet the mobs and stay safe, (perhaps even to stir up debates there) Paul often had to leave, and the pattern would repeat when he went to another town.
In Acts 17, however, we see a change in the pattern, though. Paul went to Athens while Silas and Timothy stayed in Berea a little longer.
In Athens, Paul went to the synagogue and then to the marketplace, and some Greek philosophers brought him to the Areopagus, where ideas were debated.
When addressing the intellectuals of his day in the city of Athens, Apostle Paul discovered that his audience of hearers and listeners had been influenced by two fundamental ideas: Stoicism and Epicureanism.
The Philosophy of Stoicism holds that the events of the world are determined by a merciless, cold, and impersonal fate, while the Philosophy Epicureanism teaches that what is good is determined by what will bring the most pleasure.
Neither one of these philosophies hold up for the children of Almighty God.
One of the most distinctive features of Christianity is the way in which we are able to articulate our view of the world.
In contrast to much of the diverse culture around us, we know that every single second of our lifetime rests in God’s hands (Psalm 31:15)—that we’re neither trapped in the grip of blind forces nor tossed about on an ocean of chance.
Whether people have been drawn in by Marxism, Hinduism, nihilism, or any one of countless other philosophies and religions, they are all faced with myriad questions and hosts of complex nuances, insecurities, regarding their beliefs.
Have they been caught in a struggle for a classless society or in an endless cycle of birth and death?
Perhaps they’re convinced that overall, life has really little to no meaning at all.
No matter someone’s simple, complex or “unanswerable, or imponderable” their questions or hardcore beliefs are, God provides every answer they need.
Instead of their feeling as if they are living life caged by a senseless, uncaring fate or endless uncertainty, as believers we now believe with unfailing hope.
“Since you cannot do good to all, you are to give special attention to all of those who, by the sheer accidents of time, or of place, or circumstances, are brought into and unto a closer connection with you and God.” – Saint Augustine of Hippo.
We need to be especially deliberate and intentional when it comes to talking and debating about our Savior Jesus to unbelievers or those who have fallen away.
Like Jesus at the Samaritan well and Paul in Athens we need to be deliberate about connecting with those who are not part of the Kingdom of God.
Of course, there are risks – being ridiculed, being called a religious freak, having your physical body attacked or imprisoned or feelings hurt, but as is often the case when someone needs rescuing, there are risks and dangers.
If we are not so deliberate, if we are not intentional, then we can easily lose a golden “GOD” opportunity to speak God’s truth when it was needed the most.
We, like the Apostle Paul, those first, first century and early Biblical writers of the subsequent centuries, are now stewards of all the answers God has given us through His word—answers we must share with all the “Athens” of the world.
He has given us a great confidence, and the greatest answer: His name is Jesus.
The question, therefore, is not whether we have a message that can answer the deepest longings, most imponderable answers to impossible questions of every human, the various objections of every other philosophy and religion: we do.
The question is whether we will get all on fire for God and share that message.
Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God, and I care not whether they be clergymen or laymen, they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon Earth. Rev. John Wesley
When Paul was in Athens, he saw what others did not see, he did not enjoy the impressive touristy sites or stand in awe of the city’s intellectual reputation.
Quickened by the Holy Spirit, Paul saw a city lost in idol-worship, and “his spirit was provoked, “stirred up mightily” within him,” for every time an idol is worshiped, his, our, Savior Jesus, is robbed of the glory that He alone deserves.
“So,” without any regard for his own personal reputation, Paul reasoned with and proclaimed the gospel of resurrection hope to the inhabitants of that city. (Acts 17:18)
So, the Apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, jumps into the life of the city of Athens,
And with both feet securely cemented upon the Rock, Foundation of his Savior Jesus Christ and with a full throated oratory second to no one, talks about God.
He says:
• God made the world! Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not need even one temple to live in – let alone hundreds if not thousands of them. • God gives maximum life in abundance and breath to all living creatures. • God created all the people of the world and gave them countries to live in. • God is above all things and doesn’t have any particular needs that can be satisfied by the words of human wisdom, works of human hands and feet. • God is not, never will be far away from any of us, wants people to seek him.
Can you and I see what Paul has done for the rest of us on Mars Hill here?
He hasn’t hit them over the head with a whole lot of ‘Jesus talk’.
He has said very little that the learned teachers of Athens would disagree with.
He has built a relationship with them.
They are becoming curious and they are growing more curious by the moment and by the thoughts which are being freely expressed in that very public forum.
They are listening.
God is working ….
The Holy Spirit is weaving the words and simple truths of Jesus into their souls.
They are agreeing.
Paul knows that you can’t come in cold and expect people to listen to the important message he has to tell them. He first built a rapport with them.
The often overlooked if not completely, deliberately ignored truth: There are lots of people in our lives which we have never taken the time to get to know.
While out walking, we can stop to talk to the new neighbour who is washing his car, or we can stroll on by.
We can linger around after church and talk to people we hardly know, or the stranger who is visiting for the first time, or we can ignore them.
At the local restaurant where we sit down to lunch after church to discuss the days worship and the days Scripture and the impact of the Pastor’s Sermon,
There will be a host or a hostess – there will be a server – someone to take our order – who might just “randomly” find themselves “within easy earshot …!”
“Are you busy today?” What is the Chef’s Special for Today?”
“What do you personally recommend we try today?” “How is it with your day?”
When they casually ask, “is that all, will there be anything else for today?”
Try responding … “Yes! there is one more thing – “How is it with your Soul?”
And “SNAP!”
In that exact instant – without saying God, the Father, the Son, Holy Spirit …
God, the Father and God the Son, God the Holy Spirit “introduced themselves!
Who knows what opportunities might arise in your conversation to share your faith, or how you can help when a crisis arises and they come seeking your help.
Wherever you live, wherever I live, in one way or another we will inevitably find ourselves in a modern-day Athens – whether geographically or by the internet.
What are the myriad of idols that those around you are worshiping?
Is your spirit provoked by that?
You have an answer that satisfies human longing in a way no idol can.
You have an opportunity to bring glory to God.
With whom can you reason today?
Can I share with you of the God who brings meaning and hope to life?
Can I tell you about the answers I have found in coming to know Jesus Christ?”
Paul took this opportunity to draw people’s attention to the “unknown God” that was mentioned on an altar nearby.
Paul was “greatly distressed” at seeing so many idols in Athens, and he wanted to tell risk it all, tell everyone about the true God whom they all needed to know.
When was the last time your heart was distressed and troubled in this way?
We live in a world of idols today too.
The idols of social networks, technology, individualism, materialism, greed, money, political and military power, and so much more are all around us.
There are “tons and tons” of people, inhabiting “tons and tons more” places who are and who have “tons and more tons” of those imponderable questions which no one else can even begin to provide reasonably ponderable answers to.
There is only just one with all of the answers to every imaginable, imponderable question we may have the courage, the intentionality, be able to imagine to ask:
John 14:5-6 (Amplified)
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going; so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus said to him, “[a]I am the [only] Way [to God] and the [real] Truth and the [real] Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
We can follow Paul’s pattern of engagement, or we can scroll on through life …
Some may appear to “fall asleep” during the Pastor’s efforts at teaching them.
Others may just come across as “being polite” or “completely disinterested.”
There is always one inescapable truth which the Apostle Paul always knew …
No matter how “unknown” that “unknown god (unknowable GOD) is to the people who do not yet know Him or do not desire to ever get close enough …
God never slumber or sleeps …. Psalm 121
There is no place anyone can ever hide from God …. Psalm 139
God is ALWAYS coming to His Garden, ALWAYS looking for you and there is nothing or no one who can ever hide anything from Him … Genesis3:8-13
For theeyesoftheLord move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9a
God is going to do whatever it is God is going to do … Isaiah 55:10-13
And even if we somehow thought we were clever enough or wise enough …
There is not one thing anyone of us can do about any of what God does for us.
May God give us the courage and the wisdom through the Holy Spirit to seize the moment to speak clearly and appropriately and deliberately, intentionally, about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is life and gives life and salvation.
Let God guide us as we make better use of those small windows of opportunity.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord God my Father, Creator and Author of my life, Giver of all Wisdom, I need You. Lord, I feel held back by my timidity and fear of what others think of me. In times when I should speak up, I remain silent. And because of this, I feel like I let You down. Help me to show sure confidence in You and to be bold in saying what needs to be said. I ask I be granted the courage to not let others talk over me. Please ease my fears that others will dislike me because of my words. Give me the wisdom to speak truthfully and sensitively. You are my #1 source of boldness and strength. Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 