“Victory Over Sin”
Mark 1:14-15
In the previous message we spoke of Jesus having victory over Satan or victory over temptation as he was all along in the wilderness immediately after being baptized by John. He was all alone and He was without food for forty days being tempted by Satan. Mark wants his readers to understand that Jesus could overcome these temptations that happened in the worst kind of environment in order to prove that Jesus was the Messiah sent from God. We must remember that Mark’s primary audience was the Romans who knew nothing about where Jesus came from, where He was born, or the promises that were made in the OT about His coming.
As we look at the verses that go along with this message we will see that Jesus will have victory over sin by the simplicity of the subject that He will deliver in His message. “14 ¶ Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”
First we see as we compare the other Gospels with this section is that Mark leaves out the ministry that Jesus had in Judea and Jerusalem. He leaves out about how Jesus cleansed the temple and the other things Jesus did there and moves right to His ministry in Galilee. If you read the forth chapter of John that speaks of Jesus talking to the woman at the well you will find that Jesus was heading to Galilee when He stopped to talk to her. We also see that the ministry of Jesus and John the Baptist was at that time overlapping and then when John is put into prison by Herod Jesus move His ministry to Galilee.
Mark says at the end of verse fourteen that Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of God. Now before we look at the rest of that sentence that goes into verse fifteen we want to look at “The Gospel of God.” Is that different than the Gospel of Jesus Christ? Now it is the same message, but Mark is saying the gospel of God here because it was something that God has ordained the gospel. We see that Jesus was preaching about this gospel of God. Jesus was a preacher and someone said that God only had One Son and He was a preacher, we see that here. The message was a simple message, as it was the good news of the Gospel. Let us look at the simple message of the gospel that is stated by the Apostle Paul: “1 ¶ Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1Cor. 15:1-4). This is the simple message of the Gospel and this was what Jesus would preach, probably not in the exact way that we read in this Corinthian passage for He had not died yet, but His message would be very simple telling others what God would do for them and how He would do it for them.
Now let us talk a bit about the “Kingdom of God” and what that means. Jesus is preaching that the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, and that is the truth. What does He mean by saying that the time is fulfilled? Let’s look at Galatians 4:1-5 “1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.” This is the time that God had ordained for all of this to happen and that is exactly how it happened.
As far as understanding the kingdom of God we will look at a simple way to understand it. There are three phases to the kingdom of God and the first phase is what we are in at this time which started when Jesus came to earth to purchase those whom the Father called before the foundation of the earth, and it is a “spiritual” kingdom and could also be described as an invisible kingdom. I suppose that we could also call it the Church age.
Next we will look at the next phase and that will be the reign of Jesus Christ on planet earth which we commonly call the Millennial Kingdom and it is described in Revelations 20 as far as how long it will last. However we must remember that God had promised a kingdom for the nation of Israel and the prophecies for that are scattered throughout the OT, and when Jesus came the first time He was asked after His resurrection from the dead if He was going to begin this kingdom, but told His disciples that the time for that was up to the Father. Rev. 20: 1 ¶ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4 Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.”
Now the last phase of the kingdom of God will last forever and that will be when time, and the earth, and all of the universe is destroyed by God and then there will be a new heaven and a new earth and all true believers will live with the Lord forever and Jesus will reign over the kingdom of God forever. “1 ¶ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, 4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away." 5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." And He *said, "Write, for these words are faithful and true." 6 Then He said to me, "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. 7 "He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. 8 "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’” (Rev 21:1-8)
I want to close this section with the words of Peter in his last letter that he wrote right before he was to be killed for the cause of Christ, and in this letter he writes about the earth and the universe being destroyed: “9 ¶ The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
12/29/2011 1:52:33 PM
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