Luke 3:1-6

Luke 3:1-6 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar — when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene — during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert. He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord; make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God’s salvation.’”

John's cry of repentance shook Israel to its foundation, for even religious leaders went out to hear him preach. John preached that the Jews were in need of repentance because their hearts were not right with God. One can surmise after 400 years of suppression by the Gentiles that probably too much of the Gentile world had crept into the Jewish society and its religion. The Jewish religious leaders were corrupt: very pretentious, but not ethical or pure in their motives. Consequently, the Jewish people lacked a spiritual mooring. John's preaching initiated a spiritual revival, a new sensitivity to the ways of God, to the necessity of having a pure heart. Many found his message compelling and repented of their sins. By ministering repentance, a turning back to God, he prepared the way for Jesus, the true Messiah. He fulfilled the prophecy from Isaiah 40:3: A voice of one calling: “In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Jesus' ministry and even the calling of his disciples to follow him were actuated by John's preparatory ministry.

These scriptures reveal repentance is part of the salvation experience. Many people try to take Jesus on as a part of their lives. In fact, I believe a flirtation with Christ is in vogue in modern Christianity. We accept Jesus Christ as our personal savior, yet go on living life much as we did before we accepted Jesus into our lives. However, as the Bible indicates, salvation requires a dying first, an expression of repentance. Christ is not an add-on to our lives; He is our life. He is not a short term substitute for the problems in our lives, when we desire him to intervene; He is our very existences. If we don't repent of our old self, our old nature, we will experience a difficult time accepting Christ's nature of a servant. Our old nature wants to rule, to control, to dictate; but Christ says that we must have a new nature, a born-again spirit; a new man/woman must inhabit our shells. How can this possibly happen if we don't ask God to forgive us of our old, destructive, sinful self-life?

I think far too many Christians have accepted Christ for temporal reasons: a better life, a smoother life, even a happier life. Well, better, smoother, and happier often comes with a new life, but that isn't the reason we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We accept him to die to ourselves and to experience eternal life, real life, God's life. We become new creatures IN CHRIST, not for a better life here, but that we might finally be reconciled with God and have the wonderful, glorious privilege of communing with him, now and for eternity. A good, smooth, happy life here is no substitute for life in and with God. If all we want is to escape from the trials and difficulties of life, we will never know God's true purpose for our lives. John said, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, so you can enter into that kingdom, so you can have an intimate relationship with God. Repent and you will know the JOY OF THE LORD, for He alone brings real joy. Christ's joy is found in the Father, and that is where our joy is also, and that is where a repentant, redeemed person abides. Abide in him today. Amen!