Devotion for January 2, 2015: In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” - Matthew 3:1-2 Very often it seems that as churches we are oversensitive to outsiders’ impressions of us. We worry that we will be seen as the ‘weird’ church, or the ‘strict’ church, or, heaven forbid, the ‘church that actually believes the Bible.’ And so we will often times put our ‘best foot forward’ and show the community how nice and how friendly we are… but that did not seem to be John the Baptist’s approach. We remember John the Baptist as the one who was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. John was sent to break up the stony hearts of the people in order to prepare them for Christ. He took people to task for their sins. He called the Pharisees and their followers a ‘brood of vipers.’ And in our text today his message was very simple, “Repent!” Repent! Turn around! Go back! Stop going in that direction! Which ever you like you can use for the definition of ‘Repent.’ In fact, the best picture that I was taught of the word ‘repent’ is to turn away from and walk away. That is what John is coming to the people of Judea to preach… that is the message that John took to the masses, and we see that God blessed John and the people. Yet, in many churches today “Repent” is not the message that is being proclaimed. In fact, often times, people are not even referred to as ‘sinners’ because that might damage their psyche. We don’t allow people to hear about hell because we don’t want to scare them. Telling other people that they are sinners from birth, and yes, even as children they are sinners, well that is frowned upon and really taboo. And so we, as Christians and churches, shy away from preaching the law to people. Instead of taking direct law to our hearers, many pastors will preach in generalities or about ‘those out there’ and never bring the law to their own hearers’ hearts. Instead of telling my friends and relatives that they have sinned and broken God’s commands, we look the other way as our children miss church and live together with their boyfriend/girlfriend. Instead of using the law as the very hammer of God which will break a sinners heart into pieces, we use the law as a sort of poker, to maybe slightly remind the person that God at one time spoke against what they are doing… but I can’t remember specifics or where it is in the Bible. And so we downplay the wrong, we excuse the sin, and those who are committing them continue in them. That is not what John the Baptist did. Nor is it what Jesus did. When Jesus came into this world He preached a message very similar to John’s, “Repent! For the kingdom of God is at hand!” Jesus came to bring the law to sinners (consider the woman at the well in John 4). And once the law had been brought upon the sinner, and once that person saw their sins… then was preached the Gospel. Once the law had done its job, now it was time for the person to hear the Gospel message. Once their heart was sufficiently crushed, then the message of Christ crucified was brought to them. Once they realized their sin, then the message of the “Lamb of God” who would bear all of our sins was brought forth. Once they knew they were condemned, then the salvation and redemption of Christ was brought to them in all of its glory and splendor. And now through faith, God allows us to believe that Gospel message. Through faith we know that Jesus came to live the perfect life for us. Through faith we know that Jesus came to die the innocent death for us. Through faith we know that Jesus came to rise from the dead for all of our sins. Yes, through faith we know all of this is true and through faith we know that we now have heaven when this life is over, because of our Savior Jesus Christ. And this was the true message that John and all pastors are to bring: Repent, sinner! For the kingdom of God is at hand… but behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, including yours. Prayer: Lord, thank You for taking away all of my sins through the life, death, and resurrection of my Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Soli Deo Gloria!
Posted on: Sat, 03 Jan 2015 00:54:53 +0000
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