by jordanabina February 3, 2020, 7:21 pm inLIFE, WORDS

“The beginning of the Gospel” Talk from Mark 1

1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
³the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”
Mark 1 (ESV)

The beginning of the gospel. This is it! This is what they had been waiting for!

After being booted from the garden, they were promised rescue.
After learning to follow God in obscurity.
After years of slavery and wandering.
After years and years of prophetic voices crying out that the messiah will come.

The beginning of the gospel!

“This wonderful beginning of the wonderful new, was the beginning of the end of the wonderful old.”
– J.C. Gray

The gospel means good news.

But can we tale that further?

Let’s not make this good news fit the definition of our normal everyday good news.
This isn’t: good news I got a raise.
This isn’t: good news we’re having pizza tonight.
This isn’t a mortal type of good news.

This is a supernatural type of Good News.

This is the good news that addresses what we can’t address.

Our sins.
Our hopes and fears.
Our questions.
Our destiny.
Our eternity.
Our deepest wants.
Our purpose.

That’s the good news the Bible talks about.

This is the beginning of the gospel of….Who? Jesus Christ…the Son of God. One day when we meet Him face to face we will still only be at the beginning of the gospel, it will have no end.

Has the gospel had a beginning in you?

The gospel news isn’t as simple as me telling it to you, it’s much larger. It’s Jesus, the son of God, through His word and by His Spirit sharing with you through time and eternity the good news of the work He’s done to redeem you.

²As it is written in Isaiah the prophet,
“Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
    who will prepare your way,
³the voice of one crying in the wilderness:
    ‘Prepare the way of the Lord,
    make his paths straight,’”
Mark 1

Listen to this OT prophecies about the coming of the one who will make a way for the Lord.

¹ “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.
Malachi 3:1

Who is this messenger? John the Baptist.
What should he be doing? Preparing the way.
What? Why? Why would Jesus need someone to prepare the way?

This shouldn’t be so crazy to think about. We experience this today in some ways but in ancient culture it was very normal.

A king would never just come, He would send a messenger first. This messenger would prepare the way for the king. This would include repairing the roads and readying the people.

³A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Isaiah 40:3

⁴John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. ⁵And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins. ⁶Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey. ⁷And he preached, saying, “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. ⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:4-8

John was calling people to repentance and baptizing them for their sins. John is preparing the way for Christ. We often think that the greatest gift Jesus brings is the forgiveness of sins but I think the Bible says something else.

The Son of God didn’t just come to forgive our sins, but He came to give us His Spirit.

Our sin was blocking His presence, but the work of the cross makes a way for His Spirit to dwell in you. And that is when your life will begin to change, we must not expect our lives to change without the Spirit of God. And we must not expect the Spirit of God without the repentance of sins.

That’s why repentance is so important. That’s why you see people get baptized. It’s an outward expression of the cleansing work of God, and it comes straight from the Word of God.

⁸I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”
Mark 1:8

The prophets pointed to John the Baptist.
John the Baptist pointed to Jesus.
Jesus points to His Spirit.
And through the work of Jesus, the Spirit points to the King returning…through us.

“The beginning of the Gospel” Talk from Mark 1

Even now, we are meant to prepare the way for the coming of the King.

Think about it, our friends and family will not be ready when the King comes back if the messengers don’t begin to prepare the way.

In our homes. In our schools.

Lord, give us a spirit of invitation..

Invite people into conversation at work. Invite people to dinner. Share with them the gospel, ask them.

Are you a messenger of the King?

Is the Spirit of God actively working in your life?

Has the gospel had a beginning in you?

Who do I believe Jesus to be?

The answer to that question changes everything about our lives. Everything. Mark wants us to see and know that Jesus is the Son of God. Do we?

⁹In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. ¹⁰And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. ¹¹And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”
Mark 1:9-11

Jesus wants to be known, and in that He wants you to understand that you ARE fully known. As we read this wonderful gospel written by John Mark, ask yourself again…

Who do I believe Jesus to be?

The book of Mark, although written with the Jewish community in mind, was also written to the Roman reader. For the Roman, Kings were brutal, domineering, and used their authority to do horrible things. Mark doesn’t include one sermon in this book. It’s all the action of Jesus, it’s about what a true King does.

Miracle after miracle, compassion after compassion, Jesus shows the Romans a king worth worshipping.

³⁹And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”
Mark 15:39

There at the foot of the cross, the gospel finds a beginning in a Roman centurion.