Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee,
proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
For whatever reason God has in mind, it is really standing out how quickly Mark is leading us through the details of Jesus’ ministry. I love when this happens. The simple reading of Scripture every day makes things so real in one’s mind that patterns stand out like props on God’s stage. And the props are in perfectly composed scenes that drive our attention to the central figure of God’s redemptive work, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Yesterday, I
completed my 102-day journey through a book of false teachings about God’s
word.[1]
God has used this contrast to increase my own sense of urgency that “the gospel
of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” is “the gospel of God” and must be proclaimed
throughout the world so all have the opportunity to repent and believe in Jesus
Christ.
It is noteworthy
that John the Baptist was in prison at the time Jesus began his ministry. That
sets the stage for us to see that there is a cost and a reward to repenting and
trusting in Jesus. The cost is that the world will hate us; the reward is that “he
who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest
myself to him” (John 14:21).
In a sense, we are
always choosing between immediate gratification in sin with eternal loss in the
judgment, or delayed gratification in waiting for Jesus’ return with eternal
life when he comes. Yes, we who have received Christ have eternal life from the
moment of our conversion, but it is while we live in the foreign land of this
world longing for our Forever Home.
I have seen both
the evils of church folk who are nothing like what a disciple of Jesus Christ
looks like, and the evils of the world that is intent on continuing Satan’s
work of destroying human beings so they never know the joy of being restored to
the image and likeness of God’s Son. Both have made me want to know Jesus Christ
for real so I can be with him one day forever.
Jesus himself showed
this contrast between his friends and his enemies when he said,
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God” (John 3:16-18).
He then concluded,
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36).
If anyone needs
help turning to Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, please ask someone who
has already done this in genuine repentance and faith, or send me a note and I
would be happy to tell you more about the one and only Savior of the world!
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)
[1]
About 5 ½ months ago I was
asked to read the book, “A More Christlike Word”, by Brad Jersak to understand
where someone was coming from in their beliefs. The title appalled me that
someone could make such an arrogant claim until I discovered he had THREE books
in a trilogy dissing God’s word, God, and even the Way of Christ. After my 100+
posts rebutting his claims, it has stood out all the more how glorious “the
gospel of God” is. It also makes sense why Satan is working so hard to “steal,
kill, and destroy” people’s faith in this gospel.
No comments:
Post a Comment