*Starting on Monday, January 2nd, I will be posting a Bible study of the
book of Acts. It will be posted in increments 5 days per week (Mon
through Fri) for 13 weeks (65 posts). I wanted to announce this early,
so that if you so desire, you can plan accordingly to read and study
along with my lessons. On the 2nd, an index post will go up (as well as
the first lesson) that will allow you to navigate more easily as the
series grows in size.*
Think about it for a minute; what are the first words of Jesus' ministry? Don't look down! Think! What are they? Many of you probably are thinking of Jesus' temptations right now. He quotes from Deuteronomy all three times that he rebukes the devil. That is not the beginning of his ministry though. Figure it out yet? It also is not his words to John the Baptist about "fulfill[ing] all righteousness" when he is baptized. Got it now? Jesus' first words of ministry are the following:
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt 4:17)
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)
It is striking to me that Jesus' first words in his mission to reconcile the lost to the Father were "repent". Repent literally means to change one's mind. Why did Jesus tell everyone to change their mind? Change their mind about what? Paul answers that in his letter to the Colossians. As he extols the majesty of Jesus Christ and his peacemaking mission by way of the cross, he follows that with this: "And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds," (Col 1:21). That is why Jesus called everyone to change their mind. They (and we!) were in open rebellion to God; alienated from Him, hostile in our thinking about Him, and sinning against Him in our every action. This is the direct result of our sin, which separates us from God with a chasm that we cannot ever hope to bridge under our own power.
The next question we must ask is: "Why?" Why did Jesus come down to earth to die for us if we were all in open rebellion against him (remember, Jesus is God) in both thought and deed? Now this you know: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). Love. Jesus came because he loves us. That in and of itself is incredibly profound. But, we should keep reading. Because if we do, a fantastic insight can be found within the passage that goes with one of the most famous verses of all time. Here is John 3:16-18:
“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."
I want you to notice that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it. That means, in general, when Jesus is going around telling people about the Kingdom of God, he is not condemning them. He is telling them that he has come to save them if they will believe in him. Now think back to his first words. He told everyone to repent. In effect, he was telling everyone that they were sinful, separated from God, and what to do about it: Repent! Change your mind before it's too late! Jesus, in telling people that they were sinners and needed to repent, was not condemning anyone. Let's look at this in a logical syllogism:
1. If Jesus did not come to condemn the world, then his words and actions did not condemn anyone.
2. Jesus did not come to condemn the world. (John 3:17)
3. Therefore, Jesus' words and actions did not condemn anyone.
Jesus told people about their sinful ways without condemning them. The insight here concerns our efforts to evangelize the lost. Many people are nervous about sharing the gospel because they are aware that they have to give the "bad news" before the "good news". People must understand that they are lost before they can understand that they need to be saved. This means telling them about their sinful ways and calling on them to repent and believe in Christ. Our culture has made it taboo to tell people that what they think is wrong and that you have the truth. This makes evangelism even more daunting because we are conditioned in many ways to think that if we tell someone they are wrong, then that is rude and intolerant. Our Lord Jesus Christ, always the counterculturalist, has another message: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." In other words, you are wrong, everything is not okay with you, you need to be saved from yourself. This is part of the message you should be delivering to people when you share the gospel. Using Christ as our example and realizing, as I argued above, that Jesus' calling everyone to repentance was not condemnation, it can be seen that our evangelizing efforts that include merely telling people they are sinners and to repent isn't condemnation either. In fact, Jesus came because he loves us. Logic again:
1. If Jesus came because he loved the world, then his words and actions were loving towards the world.
2. Jesus came because he loved the world. (John 3:16)
3. Therefore, Jesus' words and actions were loving towards the world.
And another:
1. Jesus' words and actions did not condemn anyone.
2. Jesus' words and actions were loving towards the world.
3. Therefore, Jesus' words and actions did not condemn anyone and were loving towards the world.
Society is wrong. Telling people to repent because they are sinners is both loving and not condemnatory. This should give us comfort. Even if our society cannot see the truth of Jesus' words, we can trust that God, who knows all the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, is pleased when He sees us delivering the truth to a lost world.
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