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Mark 1:4-5   And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, 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.

Mark proclaims confthe appearance of John the Baptist on the stage of human history, at a real place in real time 2,000 years ago, was to prepare the way for the Coming of the Promised Messiah, in fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaiah nearly 750 years earlier (see verses 1-3).

The essence of his message was that we are all condemned sinners in the sight of a Holy God, and therefore that the primary prerequisite for the restoration of fellowship with our Creator is confession (acknowledgement of our sin) and repentance (a conscious decision to turn away from sin).  In reality, this means we humbly submit to God’s rightful rule in out lives instead of assuming we somehow have the right to run our own lives and determine for ourselves our personal moral code – the defining for ourselves what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ – as did our first parents in the Garden of Eden!

How important and relevant this message is for our culture today – a culture that is actively doing all it can to try to prevent the teaching of the Bible from being proclaimed as the true and only moral code for all humanity.

We must not lose sight of the significance of John the Baptist being the forerunner of Jesus, the Messiah (‘Christ’) and Saviour (‘Jesus/Jeshua’ means ‘Saviour’ – Matthew 1:20-21).  Since Jesus is the only Saviour, the only hope for all of lost humanity, then the very first step towards a restored relationship with our Creator (and therefore heading for spending eternity with him in the renewed – perfect – heaven and earth) is for individuals to confess their sin and repent so that they might turn to Christ in faith and trust.

For this to happen on a wide scale in our present culture (where the whole idea of ‘repentance’ has no traction at all) would require the miracle of God’s grace in the power of the Holy Spirit – so let us pray earnestly for such a miracle to be worked among us.  “And again, Isaiah says: ‘The Root of Jesse [Jesus, the Messiah] will spring up, one who will arise to rule over the nations; in him the Gentiles will hope.  May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overfoow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:12-13).

– Bruce Christian