The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 2 - John the Baptist and Jesus begin their work - Part 2
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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.
Easy English Bible homepage | Matthew (commentary) | Mark (commentary) | Luke (commentary) | John (commentary)
John’s message was very important. He said that there would be
a new *kingdom. It would be the *kingdom of God. This *kingdom would have many
good things. The *prophets wrote about this. There would be joy, peace and
security.
It seems that John expected Jesus to set up a political
*kingdom. The *disciples thought this too, even after Jesus came back to them.
Jesus became alive again after his death. Then the *disciples asked Jesus when
he would set up the *kingdom (Acts 1:6).
For the present time, the *kingdom is a *spiritual *kingdom.
Neither John nor the *disciples understood that. It is the time when Christians
*preach the good news about Jesus. They teach the good news all round the world.
In the future, Jesus will come back to the world again. The full *kingdom will
come only then.
John was not the *Messiah himself. He told this clearly to the
crowds. He was merely the person who came first. He came with the message about
the *Messiah.
The *kingdom of God means this: God rules in our hearts and in
our lives. So, we love him. And we obey him. Jesus said, ‘The kingdom of God
is inside you’ (Luke 17:21). People are wicked. So all other *kingdoms
had failed, because they could not teach people to love God.
But, in the *kingdom of God, God would ‘write his laws inside
us’. He promised this by his Spirit (Jeremiah 31:34). Before we can live in
this *kingdom, we must *repent. This was John’s message. We have done wrong
things. We must be sorry for these things. We must invite God into our lives. We
must live like God wants us to. But nothing can happen unless we *repent. This
comes first.
We must *repent. This message is all through the Bible. It is
there many times:
·
Jesus himself spoke this message, when he began his special work
for God. That happened soon after John appeared publicly (Matthew 4:17).
·
It was an important part of the message of Peter. Peter spoke on
the day of *Pentecost (Acts 2). Later, Peter spoke about the message to a great
crowd in the *Temple. He said that they should repent (Acts 3:19).
·
It was an important part of Paul’s message. He travelled to many
countries. Paul spoke about Jesus. He said that people must repent (Acts 26:20).
‘Repent and believe’. This was the message.
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2002-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)