Repent and Believe

Can you imagine what it would be like to receive news that you had a life-threatening disease?  Maybe you, a close family member, or a friend has been in an accident or has gotten news that they had a terminal illness.  Hearing that bad news would make our hearts sink with hopelessness.  What if at some point after this news you got news that there was treatment or there was the possibility of a cure?  Hearing that good news would make our hearts leap with joy!  What if you or someone you loved were in an accident or had a life-threatening disease and there was treatment or a cure, but no one told you about it?  That would be unimaginably cruel.  If someone had treatment or a cure in a life-threatening situation, they would do anything to make sure the one who needed it heard the news.  And that is exactly why Jesus came . . .

READ:  Luke 4:42-44

Jesus came to preach the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom!  The reason Jesus Christ was sent to the earth was to proclaim the “good news of the Kingdom of God”.  Good news about Himself, good news about who He was, and good news about what He came to do!  Good news for anyone and everyone who would respond to His message.  How are we to respond to the good news of the Kingdom?

The Kingdom is good news we respond to with REPENTANCE (Mk. 1:15; Mt. 4:17) – Have you ever changed your mind about something?  Changing our mind is hard.  Changing our mind requires admitting that we were wrong.  REPENTANCE is a complete change of MIND or ATTITUDE about something.  I thought A before, but now I think B.  What I think and feel now is different from what I thought and felt before.  In Luke 5:32 Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” In order to be a part of the Kingdom we must make a radical change of mind about our sin.  We must agree that sin is a spiritually life-threatening disease (Rom. 6:23).  We must agree with the God’s standard of what is sin.  We must agree to turn away from sin in the future (Rom. 6:11).  Repentance is more than feeling sorry, it is a decision to turn from our sinful rebellion and turn toward God’s complete rule and reign in our lives.  When we do Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

The Kingdom is good news we respond to with BELIEF (Mk. 1:15) – There are a lot of truths that I am 100% convinced of.  I believe that the sky is blue.  I believe that the sun is hot.  I believe that gravity keeps me from floating off into space.  BELIEF is CONFIDENT TRUST (being convinced) that something is TRUE.  In order to be a part of the Kingdom we must confidently trust in who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.  One of the oldest statements of Christian belief is the “Old Roman Creed”, in use in the 2nd century, which says, “I believe in Christ Jesus (God’s) only Son, our Lord, who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.”  Jesus said in John 3:36 that, “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”  It’s that simple, we must be genuinely convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and that His death on the cross was payment for our sins.  We will never experience the Kingdom unless we are confident that this is true.

CONCLUSION
If you had a life-threatening disease and someone shared the cure with you, would you reject it?  I don’t think so.  In order to become a member of the Kingdom of God we must respond by receiving it with REPENTANCE and BELIEF!  We need to change our minds about our sin and confidently trust that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.  This message is the good news!  This message is the purpose for which Jesus came.  Our response to this message results in forgiveness and salvation.  Repentance and belief are not one time decisions, but attitudes and beliefs people of the Kingdom are to live by each and every day.  Have you repented of your sin and are you completely trusting in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for you?