The King and His Kingdom

When John the Baptist started preaching, his emphasis was that God’s Messiah was soon to enter the scene. His emphasis was on the coming of a person, God’s chosen King.

“In those days John the Baptist came, preaching . . . ‘Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near.’ This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: ‘A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” Matthew 3:1-3

When Jesus began teaching, his message from God included, just as John had done, the importance of individual repentance but he added something more – the necessity of commitment to this King.

“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!’” Mark 1:14-15

The word ‘believe’ is important. Originally it meant commitment to a person who was highly esteemed and loved but by the sixteenth century had become limited to the mental acceptance of an idea. The word has changed from meaning a commitment to someone to the acceptance of something. Something of the old meaning is still seen in German where Lieb is ‘love’ and Liebling is ‘darling’. In English ‘beloved’ has a similar root to ‘believe’. The Bible does not teach that the cerebral acceptance of a doctrine will put anyone right with God. It is only given to those who have a personal commitment to God’s Son, God’s Messiah, the Lord Jesus.