In the Shadow of the Cross

These were Jesus' first words as He entered into His public ministry. Why would he choose “repent” as His first word? Webster's defines repent as: feeling such remorse or regret for past conduct as to change one's mind regarding it. When Jesus says to repent, there is a presupposition that there is something to turn away from, something to be regretful for. Jesus knows that for one to experience the glory of heaven that one must first remove all desire, direction and life style that is contrary to Him. Jesus' first word speaks volumes to us. He is asking us to strip away our inner feelings that we can accomplish something or live our lives without any sense of awe or reverence for God. For us to truly see the holiness of God and why we are in such need for Him, we must first see our sinful nature as so ugly and defiling, especially in the light of comparison of God's goodness and grace. We will never get a true picture of God's holiness, until we see our sin as completely awful. Between the two is an immeasurable abyss.

However, this gap can be filled, if we simply come to the cross of Jesus and repent. Jesus is ready to accept sincere and genuine repentance. He is honored and glorified when this occurs. So what are you waiting for; a catastrophe, an illness, a tragic event to shake some sense into you? Again, to repent is to change the attitude and then the action. Simply feeling the regret is not repentance. Repentance is the total change of heart and action.

The second part of this passage is “… for the kingdom of heaven is near”. Jesus is in heaven. God is in heaven. All the saints are in or will be in heaven. Jesus is inviting us to be with Him in heaven. However, the first part of the passage needs to occur first. That is repentance. So what are we to repent from? What does that mean? For the sake of size of this article, I will simplify that answer saying, one must repent from the world, the flesh and the devil. The flesh is another way of saying –‘our own sinful self'.
We are born sinful. We have a strong sinful nature. This is pointed out very well in Romans 8. We tend to gravitate toward wickedness. Our minds are set on things that are not godly, so as we grow, our sinful nature grows. As a result we get further and further away from God. What we set our minds on, will fully occupy our minds, then after a short time what we set our minds on, now controls us.
"The mind of a sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God”
( Romans 8: 6-8 NIV)
Jesus is asking us to repent, to turn away from this sinful nature and live in His Spirit. Paul said it well,
" You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ”
( Romans 8: 9 NIV)

Relativism is everywhere. It is the notion that God is not in anything. It holds to the idea that circumstances are what they are, and there is no sovereign God in our lives or in nature. It is the handiwork of our enemy, the devil. If one is in this state of mind, then Jesus' request to “repent” would apply to that person. Our adversary, the devil is hard at work trying to keep God out of everything…out of the workplace, out of the schools, out of the government, even out of the church. So we battle with the devil, the flesh and the world.

The world in my humble opinion can be boiled down to a few words, ‘what will others think of me?' A godly person is constantly thinking ‘what does God think about me?' If one is reluctant to repent, it is probably because they do not wish to relinquish any stature they have with their associates. A person in Duluth , Minnesota most likely is not concerned about what a stranger in South Africa thinks about him. But this same person certainly holds what his direct associates think of him in high regard, so much so that it can paralyze him to non-action, to non-repentance. And so on he will continue.

Our sinful nature or our flesh, the world and our enemy produce a rotten, venomous sting, a poison that can lead one to eternal separation from God. This is one place I do not want to be! But God, realizing we have no way out, and in His infinite wisdom, has given us a free gift. This is the gift of forgiveness of our sins through the death of our Lord Jesus. However, His death is meaningless to you personally unless you repent – change your mind, change your actions. I believe that a true mind change is necessary first of all. Just as Paul indicated in Romans:
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires”
( Romans 8: 5 NIV)

Repentance is a change in mind and action, followed by confession. Confession is agreeing with God. Confession is agreeing with God that our sins act as a barrier between us and God, and that we wish to have those barriers removed so that restoration can occur. Confession is needed daily. Repentance is needed whenever our full mind set is contrary to God and His Spirit. Restoration is a continual process, when we live in constant confession or in agreement with God. So when we ask ourselves, “Why do I need to repent? I'm okay”. The answer is: because we need restoration. We need God to restore us to the position in which He intended us to be from the very beginning… with Him, giving Him our worship, our praise and our obedience.

Once there, we can call God – ‘Abba Father', which is a term of endearment, very much like ‘dad' or ‘daddy'. Paul again expounds on this in Romans.
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by Him we cry “Abba Father.” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory.
( Romans 8: 13-17 NIV)

Where do co-heirs in Christ live? In heaven! What did Jesus say is near after we repent? Heaven!

So Jesus' first word was an excellent choice. It can be the beginning of the most important thing that can ever happen to us – a right relationship with our God and our Savior. So please, for your eternal sake, repent.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All Rights Reserved.

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