God wants to work in a new way in all of our lives but first we must be prepared for what’s coming. Before the glory of the Lord is revealed, there must be a time of preparation. As Isaiah 40:4-5 tells us, valleys, representing whatever has brought you low, have to be raised up. Mountains and hills of pride need to be brought low. Rough places and rough edges in our lives need to be made smooth.
The role of John the Baptist was very simple: to prepare a generation and the world, to make way for the glory of God to be revealed in Jesus (John 1:6-8). The four gospels show us John the Baptist was a man who wasn’t concerned about what other people thought about him. He was purpose driven, bold and courageous. He wasn’t concerned with trying to ingratiate himself to the Pharisees, the ruling religious leaders of the day, and had a successful ministry and a large following. He thought of himself as lower than a slave, not worthy to untie Jesus’ sandals, and wasn't concerned about profiting in any way from the message he was declaring about Jesus being Christ, the Messiah. John saw himself as a prophet pointing people to Jesus, telling them that the only way they would be saved is if they got right with God, recognised who He was, and repented of their sins.
There is much to learn from the example of John the Baptist about how we can prepare the way for God to come into our lives, our families, churches and communities.
1. Prepare our hearts (John 1:33; John 1:29; Jeremiah 29:11)
2. Prepare by changing how we live (Luke 3:8-14)
3. Prepare to receive the Holy Spirit (John 1:32; Matthew 3:16-17; Matthew 28:19-20)
Apply
Have you realised who Jesus is and how much you need Him to change your heart? Before John the Baptist could minister to others, he first had to have a revelation in his own heart and mind about Jesus. It’s interesting that John said he didn’t know Jesus although He was his cousin (John 1:33). It wasn’t until the dove came down on Jesus that His divine nature was revealed to John. He then realised Jesus was more than just a family member, an amazing teacher and prophet: he understood Jesus was the Messiah. Many people have a stumbling block getting beyond knowing Jesus as just the ‘great teacher’ or great historical leader. They struggle to see Him as the Son of God, the Messiah, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). Once we, like John, recognise who Jesus is, we then must recognise our need for Jesus. John said, “I’m just a voice, calling out in the wilderness”. When we live without God, we are in a spiritual wilderness. We wander with no direction, no purpose and we often don’t realise our poor spiritual condition. God invites us to know Him. He tells us to come to Him because “He has great plans for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11). He wants us to be all that we can be by living a fulfilling life in His purposes. But to prepare the way of the Lord we must first realise who Jesus is and how much we need to come to Him in humility asking for a changed heart.
Do you need a change of lifestyle so that the Lord can come in power and glory in your life? Every crooked part of our lives has to be straightened out. John was a no-nonsense preacher who called sin 'sin'. He was not afraid to say that whoever you were, you needed to repent and start living God’s way. The Pharisees questioned why John was baptising people as they believed there was no need for a Jewish baptism because they were already clean due to their religious cleansing ceremonies. However, John taught that everyone needed to be baptised, Jew or gentile, to be cleansed of their sins. John was saying we are not made pure by our bloodline, but through our repentance. Repentance is recognising our sin and turning from it to receive God’s grace to us. It’s not about feeling condemned or accused, but rather having conviction of the things that are preventing us from drawing near to God. John was not interested in superficial change but real, radical change that removes evil and dark roots from our lives (Luke 3:8-14). This kind of real and specific repentance prepares the way for the Lord to come in power and glory in our lives.
Have you received both baptism in water and the baptism of the Holy Spirit? John baptised with water but Jesus would baptise people with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32). John’s baptism wasn’t a baptism of salvation, but rather preparation. He was the forerunner to Jesus who baptises with the Holy Spirit, which is to receive salvation identifying the person with the spirit of God. Scholars estimate John the Baptist baptised over 1 million people. The word ‘baptism’ originates from the Greek, baptizma, which means ‘to dip, plunge or immerse’ (e.g. when a garment is dyed, immersing it so it is thoroughly covered and comes out a new colour looking completely different, like a new garment). So when we are fully immersed in a baptism, we come up out of the water different - the Holy Spirit is then covering us. Jesus’ ministry started after He was baptised by John the Baptist (Matthew 3:16-17). Baptism in water and in the Holy Spirit opens heaven to us. When we receive the Holy Spirit by being baptised in the Holy Spirit, we become a new creation, and we also begin to recognise we have a responsibility to be a mouthpiece for Jesus and to tell others about him. If we consider the Greek translation of ‘baptise’ as ‘immerse’, it puts a slightly different slant on Matthew 28:19-20 to what we are used to. It’s not possible to half-heartedly immerse something. It’s either fully in or not. We have to be fully immersed, fully submitted to Jesus to be used by the Holy Spirit. So make a decision to prepare the way of the Lord by softening your heart, straightening up your life and receiving the Holy Spirit.
