WEEK TWO
February 14 - February 20

Theme: AVAILABILITY OF THE KINGDOM

Over and over Jesus offers gracious invitations for all to “Come” to him for healing, for forgiveness, for transformation, for the promise of eternal life. Philosopher Dallas Willard says, “Salvation is an interactive relationship with God. If you trust Jesus with all of your life, with everything, that will allow you to live in the Kingdom of God now.” Christ’s invitation is to wholeheartedly become his disciples. Jesus got into lots of trouble for bringing this message to outsiders and the marginalized, those ostracized by the religious community. He was not afraid to go where the most disturbed people hung out, but when he left their environs they were forever changed. Can we begin to glimpse just a bit of Christ’s unfathomable love for the human race, this most precious part of his creation? As Selah so beautifully sings, “Before the throne of God above, I have a great high priest whose name is Love, who ever lives and pleads for me.”

Sunday, February 14
Scripture: Mark 1:14-15, Matthew 4:23-24
Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.

TWO SIMPLE STEPS

Two simple steps: 1) Repent 2) Believe. That’s all that is required to enter the kingdom of God.

The simplicity of the gospel is reflected in the simplicity of Dan Stevers’ short film, “Son of Man,” animated in simple hues and with sharp, expressionistic lines. The film begins bleakly, with a humbled Christ carrying his cross. He is flanked by two guards as he walks away from the gates to the earthy city of man. But the video ends in heavenly triumph as Jesus, resurrected and ascended, enters another set of gates: the city of God.

From humility to exaltation; death to new life. This is the journey of Messiah Jesus, and ours in him.

As Jesus ran (or hobbled, as it were, along the Via Dolorosa) toward sin on our behalf, so must we turn away from sin and run toward Him for our salvation. This is repentance: turning away from ourselves and toward the Messiah; humbly admitting our sin problem and choosing to accept Christ as the necessary answer.

It should be so simple, right? Repent and believe. But unfortunately those are two steps many are unwilling to take.

Ever since Adam and Eve couldn’t accept God’s law as the ultimate authority (superseding their own), humans have struggled with the giving-up-of-autonomy that repentance requires. Our culture celebrates the sovereignty of self, the idea that one can be or do whatever they wish, regardless of what anyone else says. It’s an ethos encapsulated in the Frozen anthem every young girl in America knows by heart: “It’s time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through. No right, no wrong, no rules for me. I’m free!”

But that’s not true freedom. And it’s certainly not the gospel of God. For as much as we want to have complete control over our lives, following Jesus requires a surrender of will. Jesus is Lord and I am not.

This is what makes repentance so uncomfortable. It requires that we relinquish control. We must stop going our own way and turn to Jesus, our sole hope and sovereign Lord. We must put aside our own desire to be God and allow Him to reign supreme in us and for us, celebrating the authority of Christ as today’s song so beautifully does.

As John Stott writes in The Cross of Christ, “The essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for Man.”

Repentance means ceasing our attempts to play God. Believing means trusting that God’s sacrifice on the cross paid it all. We must simply repent and relinquish our autonomy, accepting that union with Christ is our only hope.

This is highly uncomfortable in our self-made, self-reliant culture, yes. But it is not complicated. There is no salvation in being “true to yourself.” There is only salvation in Jesus.

Repent and believe. Lose your life to gain it. It’s as simple as that.

PRAYER

Almighty God, our heavenly Father:
We have sinned against you,
through our own fault,
in thought, and word, and deed,
and in what we have left undone.
For the sake of your Son our Lord Jesus Christ,
forgive us all our offenses;
and grant that we may serve you
in newness of life,
to the glory of your Name.
Amen.
- Book of Common Prayer

Brett McCracken, Associate Director of Presidential Communications