First Sunday in Lent

Mark 1:9-15    The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus

            At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. As Jesus was coming up out of the water, He saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven:

            “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

            At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert, and He was in the desert forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with the wild animals, and angels attended Him.

            After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. “The time has come,” He said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Repent and believe the GOOD NEWS!

This is the good news:

John 3:16

            For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

                        That whosoever believes in Him may have eternal life.

John 10:7-10

            Therefore Jesus said again,

            “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep.

                        All who ever came before me were thieves and robbers,

                                    but the sheep did not listen to them.

            I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.

                        He will come in and go out, and find pasture.

                                    The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;

            I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

John 14:6

            Jesus answered,

                        I am the way and the truth and the life.

                        No one comes to the Father except through me.

This is the good news.

Our relationship with God our Creator was broken by sin.

Jesus Christ is the bridge by which we can have that relationship restored.

What does this mean to you?

Oswald Chambers writes in My Utmost For His Highest:

Sin is a thing I am born with and I cannot touch it; God touches sin in Redemption.

In the Cross of Jesus Christ God redeemed the whole human race

from the possibility of damnation through the heredity of sin.

God nowhere holds a man responsible for having the heredity of sin.

The condemnation is not that I am born with a heredity of sin,

but if when I realize Jesus Christ came to deliver me from it,

 I refuse to let Him do so, from that moment I begin to get the seal of damnation.

“And this is the judgment.” (the critical moment),

     “that the light is come into the world,

and men loved the darkness rather than the light.”

What does this mean to you?

During this Lenten season ponder this question –

            Am I serving God or am I serving the world?