Now after John was arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee, |
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Jesus makes four
startling statements in this opening sentence of his
ministry:
These four statements summarize the whole hope-filled package of the Gospel we are called to share with our family, friends, neighbors, community, and world as disciples of Jesus Christ. THE TIME IS FULFILLED ... All of Creation, every animal and plant, every molecule of air and water, every speck of dust in the universe awaited the day when God would take decisive action to set Creation right after we human beings corrupted and polluted it with our sin. Our ignorance of Creation's outcry for redemption only exposes the depths of our fallenness. We would have taken little notice of the humble, middle-aged carpenter from Nazareth who boldly declared, "The time is fulfilled;" that God has chosen this time and this place to send his only Son who by his own death and resurrection would unleash God's full transforming grace upon humanity and Creation. THE KINGDOM OF GOD HAS COME NEAR ... In Jesus, incarnate in his very flesh, the totality of God's grace and hope, the goal toward which God's transforming power would lead all of redeemed Creation, the very kingdom of God is present. In Jesus, and in Jesus alone, we see, hear, feel, walk with God who is with us and with us to save! When Jesus takes hold of our lives, he not only saves our souls but transforms our lives so that we become a reflection of his presence in us, and our behavior reflects his kingdom's lifestyle. REPENT ... We don't have a free will; we have an independent will. Ever since Adam and Eve's fall from grace, our will has been enslaved to our own sinful and selfish desires and has operated independently of God's will for our lives. Before we can be transformed by Christ we first have to repent, to turn around from walking away from God, following our own way, to turn toward God, choosing to follow Christ's way for us. We repent of our independent will enslaved by sin and trade it in for a life of trust and dependence upon God's loving grace. BELIEVE IN THE GOOD NEWS ... Salvation can't be that easy, can it? All we have to do is believe that Jesus has accomplished everything necessary for our salvation by taking our judgment, washing us free from all our sins with his own blood, raising us from death to eternal life with his resurrection, and clothing us in his own perfect righteousness. But believing means more than accepting the facts of our faith. Believing means living in the freedom, love, grace, and joy of God's kingdom while yet in our everyday world enslaved by sin, suspicion, fear, and brokenness. Believing means making a deliberate choice to follow Jesus, to be the light of the world, to witness by our actions and words that "the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near;" to declare the hope Christ's redeeming and transforming power to those whose lives are still trapped in the darkness. For if Jesus can save us, he can indeed save anyone! |
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Reprinted from the March 2009 Newsletter |
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