The Messenger, Message and Motive
“Behold I send My messenger; John came baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.”(Mark 1:1-6)
Before an important people take the stage, someone introduces him. Before Jesus steps onto the stage of human history, someone comes on to introduce Him. That someone is John the Baptist.
1. God has messengers to announce the good news of God. Messengers are God’s method of communicating with people. “Faith comes by hearing…” (Rm.10:13), hearing the messenger of God. Jesus was the Word; John was the voice. The whole Bible was communicated to us by messengers like Moses, David, Isaiah, Mark, Paul, etc. Then God calls other messengers to preach that written word, to move the logos and scripture to the rhema. God does everything through speaking, and since Genesis chapter one He uses other people to speak to us. They were called prophets or preachers. These are the most important people on earth, those who speak the word of God. John was the premiere prophet, sent to introduce Christ, the Savior. To reject God’s messengers is to reject God. Jesus said, “He who hears you, hears Me; he who rejects you rejects Me.” (Lk.10:16). Spiritually speaking, the one God has called to speak to you (Eph.4:11-16) is the most important person in your life. When that person gives you the word of God he is God’s messenger. These messengers are important because of who sent them and the message they bring. How many times do we read, “Thus says the Lord…”
2. God has a message to speak to you and it is unexpectantly good news. As sinful as man was you’d think it would be news about judgment. The gospel begins with the message of repentance, which is not normally thought of as good news, but it is the best news from God. We are all sinners, but you can be forgiven if you repent. The message is “repentance for the remission (removal) of sins.” (v.4) Repentance is proclaimed!
Baptism in water is the picture of the proclamation: the old life is dead (through the death of Christ), buried (with Him), and raised (with Him). This is pictured powerfully and graphically for us in the waters of baptism. The way we “prepare the way of the Lord” for Him to come into our lives is to repent of our sins, and confess them by our words and our baptism. To repent is to change and everything John preached pictured change: make His paths straight, etc. (Lk.3:4-6). Basically, change your mind about God. He comes to forgive our sins. Not to condemn us for our sins or judge us, but to forgive and save us!
3. The Motivation for Repentance is the good news of God. In the Old Testament it was the fear of punishment. “Turn or burn,” was the message and the motivation. In the New Testament the message is, “Turn and live.” The motivation for us to repent is the good news. Consider how good God is. The Prodigal Son remembered how good his father was that even the servants in his house had “enough (to eat) and more.” Romans 2:4 says it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. Christians may need to repent
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