Mark 1: 14-15 Embracing the Kingdom of God

What if you could meet Jesus for the first time and experience His ministry through fresh eyes? In today's episode, we promise you'll uncover profound insights into the life and teachings of Jesus, beginning with His humble baptism by John the Baptist. We reflect on the significance of Jesus' first words in the Book of Mark and explore the bold proclamation that follows John's imprisonment. By examining John's courageous stand against Herod, we gain a deeper appreciation for the complexity of righteous actions and the trials they often bring. 

Join us as we envision the Kingdom of God through the poetic imagery of Isaiah, contrasting it with the flawed nature of human governments. We discuss the essential call to repentance and the continuous redirections needed in our spiritual journey. Dive into practical advice on trusting God in our daily lives, turning away from material pursuits, and living out our faith authentically. This episode will inspire you to surrender your worries and ambitions to God's guidance, fostering a heartfelt commitment to making Him the center of your actions and decisions. Listen in for a transformative discussion that will bolster your faith and trust in God's plan.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:10

All right, Mark, chapter 1. We are not in any kind of rush, I'm not in any kind of rush to get through the book of Mark. We are meeting Jesus here and really, you know my encouragement, you know, just for something kind of fresh, I guess, is to experience this account of the ministry, the life of Jesus, as if you'd never met him before. So for the first time a few weeks ago we met Jesus there on the river. He's being baptized by John and we see right out of the gate that humble service. He didn't need to be baptized, he wasn't turning from any sin of his own, but yet in, just right out the gate relating to our humanity, Jesus is baptized. He is a servant and we've seen that in the book of Mark already. That a good theme verse there in chapter 10 would be that even the son of man, Jesus, says about himself, didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many. And we see that. So we met Jesus there on the river Today in verse 14, if you have his words in red, we will see his. We get his first words to us in the book of Mark. So let's consider this the first time we get to hear Jesus speak Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying here it is, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. So first words in Mark. Here Jesus has a message the time is fulfilled and we see the timing of this. This statement here Mark gives it to us in verse 14. He says it was after John was put in prison. So after Jesus was baptized, John continued to minister for a time. Jesus began to minister really in that area of Judea. But about a year goes by, a little less than a year goes by between that event and this event. Mark doesn't include any of that and he brings us right in at this point as John is put in prison and you know the story Makes sense.

Speaker 1: 2:48

John was a guy that just told it like it was right. He wasn't afraid to point at the religious leaders and call them brood of vipers. You know he had a face-off with Herod the king, a government official there in the area, Herod. And John told him straight out you're a sinner, Herod. Herod had stolen his brother Philip's wife, Herodias, right, you know, not a great thing to do, not a cool thing to do, but amongst the Herods it's not the worst thing they could have done, right, Because they were pretty sleazy. And John points at Herod and says you, you're a sinner, what you've done is wrong, you need to turn from that sin, like everybody else. And he didn't care if Herod was powerful or crazy, which he was, but John just called him on him. Well, Herod responds to keep, you know, his I don't know safe face. He throws John in prison. And you know it's kind of a weird relationship because he would bring John out every so often and just listen to him talk, All right, and I'm pretty sure John didn't have anything new to say to Herod. Every single time You're still a sinner, Herod, you're still at odds with God. If you don't turn, you're a goner. And so John was there in prison. We're told Now a few things that are interesting in this.

Speaker 1: 4:25

Probably the biggest thing is that John shows us that even when good people do good things and right things, even when someone like John does all the right things doesn't, you know, hold back from telling the truth. Life doesn't always go perfect right. Even when you do all the right things. Sometimes you suffer for those right things. Now, we know that's obvious, but we understand that that can be hard to handle. Right, John, a little later on, would send some of his disciples to Jesus and would ask him are you the coming one, or should we look for another? So just think about John's humanity in that he was as human as the rest of us. Right, John, he's straightforward, he's fiery. John, he's straightforward, he's fiery, he has faith and all these things. But here, locked in prison, he says hey, Jesus, are you going to save us or not? Should we look for someone else? That's pretty harsh, but that's real right, Because John did everything right and yet there he was suffering, and yet he probably had to remind himself of the truth. The truth that Joseph came to toward the end of his experience there, that his brothers, who threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery and all these things they had intended evil for him, but God intended good, that there, even in prison, God had a plan for John's life. So a lot of things we can learn from this point here, as John is put in prison, but Mark just puts it as a time stamp for us.

Speaker 1: 6:18

John was put in prison and Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. So Jesus' ministry extends in a new way. He comes to Galilee. Now, I like to picture this because Galilee, it's the Sea of Galilee, right there in Israel. It's a big body of water but we would probably call it a lake. If you were to see it you'd probably call it a lake. You can see from one side to the other, and around this lake, the Sea of Galilee, there's all these little towns, all these little communities, little fishing villages Fishing was probably the biggest thing that people did in that area All these little country towns around the Sea of Galilee. And that's where Jesus goes. I really like that.

Speaker 1: 7:11

Now, he could have gone anywhere, but Jesus just goes to these little towns and we see through the Gospels he ministers just to common people and gets into their lives and shows them what the father is like and it's beautiful there. As he comes to Galilee, he's preaching. Picture it. He's preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. That word preaching, you know, we think of preachers preach, right, but preaching just means to proclaim. So picture that. It's the hear ye, hear ye kind of ministry, Right? Jesus is preaching, proclaiming the kingdom of God, Everybody. The kingdom of God is here, the good news, the gospel, that's what that means of the kingdom of God, that's what Jesus preached. But we use terms like that and come back for a second. We use terms like that the kingdom of God a lot in Christian circles. Right, God's kingdom, the kingdom of God. But we don't always stop to think what it actually kingdom, the kingdom of God. But we don't always stop to think what it actually means. The kingdom of God.

Speaker 1: 8:22

We don't talk much about kingdoms because we don't do kingdoms anymore. You know what I mean. We don't do kings around these parks. There's a few of them left in the world, but they're usually just figureheads, right, and so we don't really do that. But automatically, when we think of kingdoms, we think of jousting, matches and knights and swords, you know, battles with archers and catapults and hold hold, you know, and all these different things you know we think of. Thank you, Reed, I love you. But you know, we think about all these things kingdoms. But the Bible talks about kingdoms all the time. The book of Daniel, over and over again, gives us maps and charts of the kingdoms of Earth and the time frame of those kinds of things and the timeframe of those kinds of things.

Speaker 1: 9:17

Colossians, chapter one, verse 13,. Says that there's the power of the kingdom of darkness. We were all under the power of the kingdom of darkness. Picture that as our allegiance, just by default, was to evil. Ephesians, chapter two, verse two, uses some kingdom terminology, right, and says that Satan is the prince of the power of the air, right. So this is where we find ourselves in the kingdom of darkness, under the prince of the power of the air. Now, I don't want to talk in dualistic kind of terms you know, of like good and evil and God and Satan. And here they are in this cosmic arm wrestling match. But that's how the Bible presents it, that we were part of this kingdom of darkness In many ways. We're our own kings, we're our own rulers in our lives, we're the ones that sit on the throne in our kingdoms, our little worlds, and that's the way God says by default. We're part of this kingdom of darkness one way or another.

Speaker 1: 10:31

Now, another way that we think about this kingdom of God is a promise that was made to David, King David, in 2 Samuel, chapter 7. God promises David David wants to build God a house. God says no, you're a man of blood, You're not going to be one to do it. Your son will do it. But, David, I'm going to build you a house, I'm going to establish your kingdom forever, David. And at this point in King David's rule we start looking for another king, God's king, who's going to have a kingdom that lasts forever.

Speaker 1: 11:20

This brings us back to the book of Daniel again, where all the kingdoms of earth are presented there as a statue. You know the story Nebuchadnezzar's vision the kingdoms of earth, one after another, they're presented, and then, at the very end of this vision and this is the best part a rock comes and hits this statue representing the kingdoms of earth, hits it on the feet this is God's kingdom and the rock grows and becomes a mountain that lasts forever and it takes over the whole world. This is God's kingdom, the kingdom of God that he promised through a savior. Now, God made all sorts of promises, and the promise was that his kingdom would come. It still gets a little lost on us, but it's a spiritual kingdom. Is where it all starts.

Speaker 1: 12:21

Let's turn to Luke, chapter 17,. Get those fingers moving. Luke, chapter 17, and somehow I flipped right to it. So this is, it's the Lord. Luke, chapter 17, verse 20. Luke, chapter 17, verse 20.

Speaker 1: 12:48

Now, when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees Now the Pharisees you know they're the religious leaders they had some good intentions but definitely corrupted right. Usually they're trying to trap Jesus. So if the Pharisees are asking Jesus a question, just realize it's probably a trap. But we see here now, when Jesus was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered and said the kingdom of God does not come with Now, check this out. The kingdom of God is within you. Now it's a little mysterious here what Jesus says. But as the Pharisees ask him a question, they're probably asking one to trap him, but two. Hey, when is God's literal kingdom coming on earth? When is God going to give us the power that we deserve? And Jesus here points out a very important part about God's kingdom the kingdom of God is within you.

Speaker 1: 14:05

The kingdom of God probably a better way to say starts in our hearts. That's where God becomes king first and foremost is not really in the world, although he will, but it's in our hearts. We're born again, in our hearts. The kingdom of darkness we ought to be aware of that, Going through the book of Romans. You see that we're sinners, we serve sin, we serve our own flesh. That's every single one of us. We're part of the kingdom of darkness, we're children of wrath, we're citizens of this place and and that Sounds pretty heavy and dark, and it is right, because I don't look at it I'm a citizen of darkness, this world of darkness. But if we're not part of God's kingdom, well, we most definitely are. We probably look at it a little more like we're citizens of our own kingdom. This is my kingdom, the kingdom of Jason, ruled by myself, and I do what I want and I make my own rules. But either way, we're citizens of darkness. And yet God invites us in to his kingdom, the kingdom of God in our hearts. Now we'll see how we get there, for sure, but we don't start off there. We're citizens of darkness. God wants us to be citizens of his kingdom. It starts in our heart, and that's good news.

Speaker 1: 15:44

Let's go back to Mark, chapter 1. Notice Jesus in verse 14 is preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. That word gospel again means good news. So think about this. God gives us some wonderful news you don't have to be a citizen of the kingdom of darkness. You don't have to be a child of wrath, you don't have to be at war with me. You can be at peace with me. You can be part of my kingdom. That's amazing news for us, Absolutely great news. The kingdom of God part of it.

Speaker 1: 16:29

Now look at verse 15. Jesus says the time is fulfilled. Now, that goes by pretty quick as we read it. The time is fulfilled Now. That goes by pretty quick as we read it. The time is fulfilled, but Jesus has taken everything that's come before. You could rewind all of the Bible, history and all the promises that God made through the prophets and back through Moses, the promises to Abraham, and you come back to the promise that he made to Adam and Eve there in the garden. I'm not going to leave you this way. I'm gonna send a savior and and the time is at hand Jesus is saying it's all coming down right here and right now.

Speaker 1: 17:13

This is the time and this is the place where the kingdom of God it's right now, right here and right now, God's kingdom begins in our hearts, and it begins right now. It's an amazing thing when we hear that truth. God says to us you're at war with me. In your sin, You're under wrath and judgment because of your sin. But what Jesus did? The good news is he forgives us and he makes terms of peace because of what he's done and all at once we go from being at war with God to being part of his kingdom under new rule, with new benefits. Right, I mean, there's amazing benefits at being part of God's kingdom the peace that we can have even when life is falling apart. You know the joy that we can have that God is still good and he's still with us, no matter what, All these different things. The benefits of being part of this kingdom it's here and now. Come back and realize here and now God starts his kingdom in our hearts. But it will also be a physical kingdom, the spiritual, here and now, but there will be a then and there. Right, I believe the Bible has a lot to say about a literal kingdom of God that's going to happen. I mean, that's kind of the hope that we have that this world is not going to stay the way it is.

Speaker 1: 18:57

Isaiah gives us a little peek into that In the book of Isaiah. Let me just read this in chapter 11, verse 6. You'll recognize some of these terms here of what the world will be like the wolf also will dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones shall lie down together and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. I hate this part. Verse eight the nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole why, I don't care. And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den Don't do it. And they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. For all the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Speaker 1: 19:52

So check it out, Just a little bit of a taste. The world is going to be a different place. The animals will get along, Snakes and vipers kids will play with. I still don't know why, but it'll be a different world, right? And the book of Revelation even ends with this, I think literal thousand years. Now. You can disagree about that, and that's okay. We can disagree about those kinds of things, but I think the Bible presents very clearly that one day, literally God is going to be king. The world will be different. All the world will seek him, and we look forward to that. That there's a hope, there's a real hope in the kingdom of God that will actually literally, I think come this year.

Speaker 1: 21:02

Of course it's politics, it's a politics year, but you know whatever, Vote your conscience. Use some Bible reason for why you vote like you vote. That's great, but you know what I'm learning more and more in my own life? I've been disappointed many times over the last few decades. I've had some times where, you know, come November there, and the elections go by and I'm like, better than I thought it would go, you know, yay, yay us, you know. But then I've had so many other times where I go, what, what in the world? Why would they vote for that guy? You know, and you know. One thing I found, though, is something I guess I should have known a long time ago. It won't solve the world's problems. It won't solve all the world's problems. Now, again, we pray for God's mercy and his grace on us, even this year. You know, God knows and God, have grace and mercy on us. We need it, we definitely do, but it's not going to solve all the world's problems In the end, something that the Bible teaches over and over again is that any human government is going to be flawed Right, Even David.

Speaker 1: 22:18

A man after God's own heart yeah, Don't put him too high on the pedestal Right A man after God's own heart. He failed left and right. He had people killed right. And we look and we go, oh no, how could it be David? He failed us? Of course he did.

Speaker 1: 22:37

The kingdom man is never going to present things the way they ought to be. We're never going to do it perfectly. So don't hang your hope on that right. Pray, pray like crazy. But don't hang your hope on it that the world is all of a sudden going to be just a better place because the right guy is there. You know it's not. Not until God is in command, not until Jesus is ruling and reign. That's really what the Bible teaches us, and we know that one day his kingdom will be a literal thing. It starts in our hearts. One day it'll be the way the world is and that will be wonderful. But Jesus gives some very solid of course he's Jesus Some solid guidance here on how to be a part of that kingdom. Look at verse 15. This is huge. The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. Repent and believe in the gospel. Repent and believe. So the first word here is repent, and it means to turn.

Speaker 1: 23:57

I could tell you that I did a lot of repenting last Friday. Some of you got excited what, what is it? Last Friday I was sent on some errands. That's the story of my life. A lot of times is run errands for people. I do a lot of that and you know I I went to get the mail there and blossom, and then I I know you're excited about this and I went over, you know to to to Maine to eat lunch with my son, and then, and then I went to Home Depot and I forgot, you know, I got some prescriptions at Walgreens, so I turned around and I went back to Walgreens and then, well, oh, shoot, the bank. I was supposed to go to the bank, Back to Collegiate, you know, and I went back and forth across town. You know, it was one of those things you're like if I could have frequent flyer miles for this, that would be great, but I was back and forth and every time I'd go forward I'd turn around and go the opposite way.

Speaker 1: 24:51

It felt like, you know, and that's the idea of repent, to turn and go the opposite direction. You're going one direction to turn around and go the opposite. Not a hard term there, and so here's the opposite. Not a hard term there, and so here's the deal. We are living for the kingdom of darkness before we come to God and sadly, so many times we are still living for darkness even after we come to God. So many times we get drawn away by it and our own kingdom and all these things, part of being human. But the word has always been repent. Check it out.

Speaker 1: 25:34

The prophets. They told the people repent, Turn from your idolatry and turn back to God. The judges, over and over again in the book of Judges turn away from the way you're going towards evil and turn back to God. And over and over again, the book of Judges Turn away from the way you're going towards evil and turn back to God. And over and over again. That's the big thing that God says to do Turn away from your own way, Turn away from sin. Now we can all say we've done that, but there is a literal way that we have to walk away and it really starts in our heart, doesn't it? It starts in our heart by saying God, I want to be king. I'm acting like king in my own life, but I want you to be the king of my life. And then in a practical way we turn. But it starts in our heart. Repentance is necessary to be part of the kingdom of God.

Speaker 1: 26:31

Did some family history I enjoy that. It's a two in the morning kind of my great-grandfather. I found his. I guess they were like citizenship papers. I found the actual. We have them here. Actually I found them and you know it's funny. I don't know if they still do this or what, but when my great grandfather came to the United States, there was a line on that paper that says I disavow any allegiance to. And then there's a space and in his case he said any allegiance to, you know, Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany. I, I disavow my allegiance to him. I want to be a citizen of the United States of America. I don't know if they still do that or not, but I think it's important as we look at the kingdom of God.

Speaker 1: 27:36

If we're going to be part of God's kingdom, we have to disavow allegiance to all other kings ourselves, darkness, they're all kind of the same really. Anything that's not God is all kind of the same, really. Anything that's not god is all part of the same entity, you know, and we in our hearts have to say god, I don't want to serve myself anymore, I don't want to live for myself anymore, I want to live for you and notice what he says. We'll finish up here. Notice what he says, repent, so turn and believe.

Speaker 1: 28:10

Believe is one of those things we can also so easily say. There's so many people, most people in the world, say I believe in God. I mean, it feels that way, right, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I believe in God, Right. But to believe it's an active thing. It's kind of like the opposite of serving self or serving Satan. It's serving God, it's trusting God, Trusting God with your whole life. That's like the essence of belief. Trusting God. Check it out for your own happiness.

Speaker 1: 28:49

We insist that sin is going to make us happy, that selfishness is going to make us happy. We insist that you know money and power is going to satisfy us and we live our lives that way. But to believe is to say God, I need help here. But, God, I'm going to trust you to satisfy me and I'm going to trust you to satisfy me and I'm going to trust you to take care of me. God, I am actually going to trust you. And then to let your life really show it, and that's where it kind of comes down. Is that your life then actively trusts God? Is that your life then actively trusts God?

Speaker 1: 29:40

And so Jesus says, to be part of the kingdom of God, you've got to turn from your own dark kingdom. We all have that place right where we have to come, where we say, God, I'm not going to look for it there anymore, I'm not going to live for myself anymore. God, I don't call the shots. And we have to turn from that. We have to believe, to fully, just rest all of our life and our heart, our treasure and everything on God. That's that's where it's at To be an actual citizen of God's kingdom, to look forward and be able to say with all of our heart God, your kingdom come and your will be done on earth and in my life as it is in heaven. God, I absolutely want you to be king of my life. Now check it out. To be king of my life Now check it out.

Speaker 1: 30:38

It really comes down to this. This week, though, We'll have practical ways that we have opportunity To trust God with everything. You know right out the door Issues in our life when we just want to put our hands on it and say I'm going to figure it out. You know To just say, God, your kingdom come, your will be done. You know those things that we just want so badly. We know it hurts so badly to just say, God, you're good, your kingdom come, your will be done. In my heart even now, in my heart, even now.

Speaker 1: 31:21

So, God, I feel like I just put impossible things in front of all of us because I know my heart and I know the things I struggle with, the things I have trouble trusting you on. And God, all of us are human and all of us struggle. God, I pray that you would give us the grace this week to turn from just darkness. We don't even like to admit that our ways are darkness, but if we're not going towards you, it's darkness that we're living for. God, help us, Give us the grace to turn from our own kingdom of darkness and to really turn to you. God, I pray for those things that we just have such a hard time trusting you on. We all have them. We pray that this week, practically and in reality, God, we would believe you and trust you with all of our life, with all of our weight. So, God, help us not just to hear some nice things, but, God, to live in light of these truths this week. God, we give you all these things in our hearts. In Jesus' name, we pray, Amen.