What if Mark’s Gospel had been written as a series of blog posts? Here’s what he might have to say about Jesus based on Mark chapter one verse one.
The Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. – Mark 1:1
Everyone needs to know Jesus.
Why? Here are 3 reasons that come to mind:
1. Jesus is King
The word “gospel” means “good news”.
But not everyday good news. Like, “Gospel! My indigestion seems to be clearing up!”
More like, “Gospel! A king has been born.” Or, “Have you heard the gospel? Our king conquered the enemy army!”
Gospel is a term of ultimate good news. The best news. And it’s a term that indicates the Sovereign has ascended to his throne or has been victorious in battle.
That’s exactly the reason why you need to know Jesus: He is the King and he is a good king.
In fact, Jesus is your King.
Whether or not you serve him or respect him or love him, he is your King. You can follow him or rebel against him but He is the King of all kings. You can trust your King to lead you into an abundant, victorious, eternal life.
2. Jesus is Christ
Contrary to popular belief, Jesus H. Christ is not Jesus’ name.
Jesus’ name means salvation. Christ is a title that means Anointed One. And I think Homer J. Simpson popularized the middle initial. (Homer is not an inspired Biblical author.)
The role of the Christ was to deliver the people from oppression and injustice. He was a promised leader that had been expected for centuries.
When Jesus arrived, the people expected him to overthrow the political rulers and establish a thriving economy. Much like when we hope a new president or a new congress will improve our own economy.
Jesus had a much higher purpose. Jesus’ name means salvation and his role as the Christ was to deliver his people from sin and death.
Sounds like a better promise than “a chicken in every pot”.
But why do we need to be saved? Because our disobedience – called sin – separates us from our Creator. Sadly, if we have no relationship with our Maker then we stumble blindly through this life and will be punished for eternity in the next.
We must be punished because we have sinned against an infinite and righteous God. When a finite being (a human) commits a crime against other finite beings, there is a limited punishment. But when a finite being commits a crime against an infinite being (God) the punishment is infinite.
The worst part is that a finite human cannot make amends for his or her crimes against an infinite God. There’s no way to make bail.
That’s why Jesus came. He is the Deliverer. He came to save us from sin and the death penalty.
How did he do that? By dying in our place. He paid the price for our freedom and his death cleared us of all charges!
So, Jesus is the King who leads us to eternal life and he is the Christ who saves us from eternal death.
But there is one more reason you need to know Jesus:
3. Jesus is God
Jesus is the Son of God.
This means that God himself was born as a human, lived as a human, and then offered his life to pay the penalty for the sins of humans. The infinite God paid the price that finite humans could never pay.
Hard to believe that God himself would go to so much trouble for humans. Are we worth that kind of effort?
God created us, loves us, became one of us, and then died to save us. This proves that God is a good God.
Our God is so good that He gave us commands or rules so that humans might flourish.
For example, imagine if we could erase from human history all of the violations of the first command: “Do not have other gods besides Me.”
Think of all the wars throughout history and today that have been fought because “my god is better than your god”. In fact, ALL wars would cease because every war that is fought is fought in the name of some god. The god of power and the god of wealth are equally to blame for the conflicts around the world as the various gods of man made religions.
Obedience to God’s first law would erase:
kidnappings in Nigeria
the use of chemical weapons in Syria
rebel fighting in Iraq
armed conflict in Ukraine
civil war in Sudan
guerrilla warfare in Colombia
human rights abuses in Uzbekistan
ethnic tensions in Kyrgyzstan
divisions, factionalism, and corruption in Afghanistan
radical jihad in Pakistan
That sounds like a good idea to listen to our Maker. He has some good ideas.
God is a good God who is worthy of our love and respect. If you know Jesus then you know God!
He loves you. He wants to lead you. He knows what is best for you.
These are just a few reasons you need to know Jesus.
But that’s just the beginning…
The Beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. – Mark 1:1
Note: This blog post is not inerrant, infallible, or inspired.
