Today’s reading: Matthew Chapter 4:12-17 ESV

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Matthew 4:17

This is the gospel in a nutshell. It is the same message John the Baptist was preaching in Matthew 3:2. John the Baptist was proclaiming that the Messiah is coming. Now Jesus, the Messiah has come, preaching the same message. Why do you think so?

I am sure you will agree with me that we live in a broken world where we can see immorality, divorce, abortion, envy, lust, pride, hatred. We can still see some good things in this world but God designed it to be a perfect world wherein we love each other and we love God most of all. 

So what has brought us to this brokenness? It is sin! The bible tells us that people did not choose to obey God and sinned. 

That’s why Jesus’ first word here is:

Repent!

Why? For these reasons:

Reason #1

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:23 ESV

We are all sinners, and we have to humble ourselves and realize we are all sinful by nature. Have you ever lied? Hated someone? Cheated? Been proud? Or envious?

Some people try to get out of this brokenness by being good, by being religious, by making money or pursuing a career. Some may try to drown it out by drinking alcohol or by using drugs. But none of these could get us out of brokenness because it does not get rid of our sins!

REASON #2

For the wages of sin is death…

Romans 6:23a ESV

The penalty for sin is death – spiritual death!

But the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23b ESV 

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8 ESV

But because God loves us so much, He made a way to save us from this death penalty. He sent His Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin by dying on the cross for our sins. Salvation is a gift!

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 ESV

Reason #3

For the kingdom of God is at hand…

Jesus spoke with authority and ordered people to turn from their sins for God’s rule was about to begin. This is the core of His teachings. From here on, He will be talking about the kingdom of God. There is so much to learn about the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus, but for one thing, it will include faithful followers of Christ whose lives were changed because of the power of the Holy Spirit.

Are you a faithful follower of Christ?

Have you repented of your sin?  And turned away from it?

Have you accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior? And have you been reading and obeying all His teachings?

Did you know that you cannot save yourself by your own efforts?

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

If your answer is “no” to these questions, the Bible is clear:

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;
for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.

Romans 10:9-10

If it is your heart’s desire to follow Jesus, pray this prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer, find a bible believing church and start reading the book of John in the Bible. For those who answered “yes” to the questions, you are called children of God. If your hearts so desire, share this and let’s be partners in sharing the gospel to others.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.

John 1:12 ESV

Lifting up to God’s throne of grace for the salvation of all families and members that all will spend eternity together. In Jesus name.