Reflection from my reading in Mark 1:1-22 in the One Year Bible New Testament.

Jesus Son of God

The Gospel of Mark is the most fast paced of the gospels. Mark makes it clear what his book is about from the first verse.

“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Mark 1:1

Mark made it clear that Jesus was the Son of God. I want to focus today on the content of Jesus message. Jesus told many parables and gave many speeches, but what was the core of this message? Here it is in a nutshell.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15

The Time is Fulfilled

Jesus is basically saying, “I’m here! The Messiah you have been waiting for is here. No more wondering! It’s me! Over here!”

The Kingdom of God is At Hand

Jesus is telling them that he is brining the kingdom to earth. Jesus often spoke of the kingdom of God and illustrated it in many different ways.

The best explanation I’ve heard of what the kingdom of God is “The kingdom of God is wherever Jesus is king.”

Jesus is the king and he came to earth. He brought his presence and usher in a new era of relating to God.

Repent

Repent is one of the most powerful words in the Bible. The greek word “metanoeo” means to “change ones mind or purpose”. Jesus asks us to repent of our flawed ways of thinking and living, and adopt his purposes.

Jesus asks us to change our mind about our sin and choose to follow him. For true saving faith to have it’s effect repentance must always be coupled with the next part of this “double command.” First we must repent then…

Believe in the Gospel

To believe the gospel literally means  to believe the “good news”.  Intellectual belief that Jesus was God and died for us is not enough.

True Biblical believe entails believing enough to trust Jesus with your life. It means to give your life to following him the best you know how.

Now at this time the term “gospel” was not clearly defined as it is today for us. In fact, the term gospel is still a term we use for the overall story of Jesus, that’s why we call the four written accounts for Jesus life gospels.

Basically to believe the good news is the believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah.

The gospel in a nutshell is those of us who repent of our sin and believe in Christ will receive eternal life and entrance into heaven.

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