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Location:
6425 Jefferson Rd. For
directions, click here.
Jerry
Varnado,
pastor December
8, 2002 Our
text for this Second Sunday in
Advent is Mark 1:1-8. Follow
along with me as I
read. It
is written in Isaiah the
prophet: And
so John came, baptizing in the
desert region and preaching a
baptism of repentance for the
forgiveness of sins. The whole
Judean countryside and all the
people of Jerusalem went out
to him. Confessing their sins,
they were baptized by him in
the Jordan River. John wore
clothing made of camel's hair,
with a leather belt around his
waist, and he ate locusts and
wild honey. And
this was his message: "After
me will come one more powerful
than I, the thongs of whose
sandals I am not worthy to
stoop down and untie. I
baptize you with water, but he
will baptize you with the Holy
Spirit." First,
Mark says that his writing is
just the "beginning of the
gospel." Mark doesn't want us to
think that what he is writing
about is the entire story of
Jesus. Mark says it is only the
beginning. You see, after Mark's
gospel concludes, this Jesus will
baptize his followers -- the
Church -- with the Holy Spirit,
and by the power of the Spirit
the church will continue the very
ministry Jesus began on
earth. The
book of Acts bears out this
understanding. It tells us how
the early church continued to say
and do the things Jesus said and
did. I believe the Church in each
generation should be writing
another chapter to the book of
Acts. I don't mean by that that
the Bible should be constantly
expanding. What should be
expanding is the Kingdom of God,
as the Church moves in the power
of the Holy Spirit to continue
what Jesus began. Mark
doesn't write it all. He says
this is the only the
beginning. Second,
Mark says he is writing about the
gospel. The Greek word literally
means "good message" or "good
news." The
gospel is not intended to be
simply good advice.
But good advice is often what the
church offers instead of good
news. We tell them what the Bible
says about how they are living
and how they ought to live: "If
you don't get your life right
with God you're going straight to
hell. Turn or burn!" Well,
that may be true, but in our day
it isn't a very effective way of
bringing people to faith in
Christ. And the reason is that
there simply isn't a high level
of God consciousness in our
society. In generations past,
there was a sense, even outside
the church, that God existed and
the Bible was His Word. Now there
is little God consciousness in
the land. Also,
1
Corinthians
2:14
makes it clear that the Bible
can't be understood and won't be
accepted -- except perhaps for
its literary appeal -- by those
without the Holy Spirit. We can't
begin to understand and practice
what the Bible teaches until
we're in at least a beginning
level of relationship with
God. Besides
that, our good advice is likely
to lost in a sea of other good
advice. Go to one of the local
bookstores and you'll find rack
after rack of books with good
advice. Turn on the TV or the
radio. More good advice. This
generation has had enough good
advice to kill a good, healthy
mule. I
don't think people are much
interested in any more advice.
But they might listen to some
good news! Someone
has said that the Bible is really
a good news/bad news/good news
story. The good news is we were
created in the image of God for
union and fellowship with God.
The bad news is that we blew it.
We sinned and lost fellowship
with God. Then
there's the new
good news: In Jesus Christ God
reconciled us back to the
original good news! In and
through Jesus Christ we can live
in fellowship and union with God
and enjoy Him forever! "Turn
or burn" may be good advice --
but, friends, this is good news!
Listen:
If you knew there was a God who
loves you and promises to give
you power to sustain your life
forever, would you want to know
that God? Most people would say,
"Sure!" Well,
the good news is that in Jesus
Christ God has demonstrated that
He loves us and that He'll give
us power to power to sustain our
lives forever. Third,
Mark says this good news is about
"Jesus Christ, the Son of God." I
think we don't give enough
attention is given to the term,
Son of God. Everyone
knows what a son is -- a male
child. But, in this context, the
gender of Jesus isn't the key
meaning. In fact, the Bible on a
number of occasions refers to
groups that include women as
"sons of God." What
is really important is what a son
represents -- or what he
represented -- in the culture
into which Jesus was born. Sons
were important because they were
bigger and physically stronger
than daughters. They didn't get
pregnant. They didn't have to
stay home to feed and care for
the children. Therefore,
sons were desired in the family
because they were more productive
laborers in the family business
-- primarily agriculture -- and
they were stronger warriors to
defend the family and its
property. But
there was something else -- at
least for the firstborn son. He
was the emissary and
representative of the Father. At
the father's death, he became the
head of the household. He
received a double portion of the
family estate because he was
responsible for taking care for
his mother and younger siblings,
at least until his brothers
reached adulthood and/or his
sisters got married. It
is in this sense that Romans 8:29
tells us that Jesus is "the
firstborn among many brothers."
He is the emissary and
representative of God.
In
Romans 8:16-17, Paul says that
those who have the Holy Spirit
are "children of God" and
"co-heirs with Jesus Christ" to
the Kingdom of God. Now, that's
good news! The
fourth thing I want to focus on
in our text from Mark has to do
with three specific words he
uses. We need to understand the
relationship among
them. John
the Baptist preached "a baptism
of repentance for the forgiveness
of sins" (verse 4).
Unfortunately, the wording here
has led many people to think that
we are baptized and repent
in order to gain
forgiveness. But
baptism and repentance are not
things we do to earn forgiveness.
Such an idea isn't consistent
with what the Bible teaches
elsewhere. I'm
a staunch Wesleyan in my
theology, but I want to quote
here from John Calvin, who was
exactly right on this point. He
said: "Repentance is not placed
first, as some ignorantly
suppose, as if it were the ground
of the forgiveness of sins, or as
it induced God to begin to be
gracious to us; but men are
commanded to repent, that they
may receive the reconciliation
which is offered
them." What
he's saying is that our
forgiveness is rooted in God's
forgiving nature, not our
response to God. The foundation
of forgiveness is the shed blood
of Jesus Christ and nothing else.
Jesus died for us while we were
still sinners. 1
John 2:2 puts it this
way: Salvation
is a gift of God's grace, totally
and completely wrought by God's
initiative, labor, and sacrifice.
We are saved by grace and not by
any works that we might do. It is
a gift offered by God. Think
for a moment about a gift you
received sometime -- maybe for
Christmas or a birthday. That
gift, no matter how wonderful it
was, was really of no value to
you until you received it, opened
it and put it to whatever use it
was intended. The
same is true for what God offers
to us. Baptism and repentance are
not the ground of our
forgiveness, they are the means
by which we receive God's gift of
grace. They are way by which we
open God's gift of salvation and
begin to put it to use in our
lives. Baptism
is an act of public confession of
our sin and our need for God. It
is a witness to the world that we
have received God's forgiveness
and joined ourselves to His
Church. And
let's be clear about what
repentance is. It literally means
to "to change one's mind" or "to
agree with God" about our sin and
our need for
forgiveness. It
also means to turn around -- to
change direction. This
underscores the practical
behavioral element of
forgiveness. Look
with me at Luke 3. Here, John the
Baptist is calling people to
repentance, and some in the crowd
begin to ask him about the
practical implications of
repentance. Starting at verse
10: John
answered, "The man with two
tunics should share with him
who has none, and the one who
has food should do the same."
Tax
collectors also came to be
baptized. "Teacher," they
asked, "what should we do?"
"Don't
collect any more than you are
required to," he told
them. Then
some soldiers asked him, "And
what should we do?" He
replied, "Don't extort money
and don't accuse people
falsely -- be content with
your pay." It
is quite clear from this passage
that John the Baptist believed
that a changed heart leads to a
changed life. Repentance not only
involves confession of sin, but
also turning away from sin and
doing what is right. Some
of you might say, "Preacher, I've
repented, been baptized. What
does all this have to do with
me?" Well,
my friend, the call to repentance
isn't just for unbelievers and
lukewarm Christians. It's for all
of us. Right faith accompanied by
good works that flow from a
changed life is what prepares a
way for God to come to us --
individually and
corporately. We
Christians still have sin in our
lives. We haven't done all the
things Jesus said to do, nor have
we quit doing all the things He
said we shouldn't do. Will
we agree with God about our sin?
Will we turn around, repent, and
commit ourselves to radical
obedience to Jesus Christ? Will
we receive the greater baptism of
the Spirit, and thus prepare a
way for God to come to us in a
powerful, personal and corporate
advent that will equip and
empower us to do the things that
Jesus did? It's
the only way the church will be
renewed and the culture
transformed. We
have some good news to share with
the world: the good news about
Jesus Christ the Son of
God.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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A
GATEWAY SERMON
The
good news
Gateway
Church,
Athens GA
(Second Sunday in Advent)
The
beginning of the gospel about
Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
"I
will send my messenger
ahead of you,
who will prepare your way"
--
"a voice of one calling in
the desert,
'Prepare the way for the
Lord,
make straight paths for
him.'"
Journalists,
writers and literary critics are
quick to emphasize the importance
of the opening line. It should be
short, to the point and capture
the interest and curiosity of the
reader. Surely they would rank
Mark at the top.
The simple sentence of verse 1 is
packed with profound and awesome
truth.
The beginning
The gospel
The Son of God
The foundation of
forgiveness"[Jesus
Christ] is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and
not only for ours but also for
the sins of the whole
world."
"What
should we do then?" the crowd
asked.
Equipped and empowered
An
audio tape of this sermon is
available
free of charge (U.S. requests
only).
Request
a tape by calling
or writing the Gateway Church
office.
Please specify tape number
021208a: The Good News.
©
2002 Gerald R.
Varnado