14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” -Mark 1:14-15
What is this Good News or Gospel (It’s the fancy name for “good news.”) that Christianity talks about? In the Christian world view, we believe that sin or disobedience to God leads not only to a breakdown of morality—like people doing “bad” things—but sin leads to the breakdown of ALL things. Yes, that means the source of our physical death is as a result of sin. The fact that there’s coronavirus in the world is as a result of living in a sinful broken world. Things in this world are NOT as it should be. There is a brokenness to our bodies. There is brokenness to our sense of self and identity. There is a brokenness to our economic system, There is brokenness in our relationship with others. Everything is broken!
The Good News is that Jesus came to earth to reverse the degradation of reality. He came not only to fix the brokenness but to restore all things as if it’s brand new. This is why when the Bible talks about heaven, it talks about us getting new bodies, or a place with no death or pain or tears. Heaven is what reality looks like when God has restored ALL things.
What does this mean for you? It means that God wants to restore you. This passage uses the word “repent” and many people interpret that word as a religious word that tells us we need to change ourselves for God. The Good News is that God realizes that we don’t even have the strength or power to change ourselves, so He gives us the power. Repentance isn’t us changing ourselves for God. It’s God changing us for us—to restore us.
If you’ve read this devo to this point, you’re already allowing God to restore you with His truth. Keep giving opportunities for God to speak truth into your life. Those seeds of truth will begin to transform you and help you to repent.
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