Repent
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
"Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Both John the Baptist and Jesus said at the beginning of their ministry in various ways. (Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15)
Why so sudden and so early in the ministry? Throughout the Old Testament, God called the Israel to repent, then in New Testament, it seems like Jesus call individual repentance. That is not much different than what Ezekiel 18 is saying, "...the soul that sinneth, it shall die." (verse 4b)
Could the reason be that Biblical terms of surrender, submission, obedience, and such is much same as losing one's life in order to find it? Notice the Biblical teaching on nonresistance in Matthew 5:38-48. Isn't that same as accepting whatever comes? Then think about Jesus saying we are to be as children. (Matthew 18:3-5; Mark 10:14,15; Luke 18:16) Also notice that Jesus called his followers as sheep. (Matthew 25:31-46; John 10:1-18)
Have you ever notice the similar connotations between children and sheep? It is obvious that they both accept each other as they are! They don't judge each other by testing each other first to see if other is trustworthy. They forgave each other much more quickly and forget each other's wrongs. They even tolerate each other's selfishness, although they don't always give into each other's wishes. They always allow each other to be an individual. They don't label each other—not even think about what religion they are of.
Notice the examples in Jesus Christ. He makes Himself of no reputation. (Philippians 2:7) He turns Himself into the form of servant. (Philippians 2:7) He is humble and obedient. (Philippians 2:8) Notice that Philippians 2:1-12 shows the pattern of sowing and reaping in Jesus' case. He surrenders Himself completely unto us and reaps all of us under Him. Verse 5 calls us to have the mind of Christ.
Fitting all above into one single thought, we can say with Apostle Paul when he said about his Pharisaical upbringing in Philippians 3:4-8. Jesus emptied Himself and became like us. We should empty ourselves so we can win Christ.
Jesus calls us to consider carefully in Luke 14:25-35. Notice that he follow that parable after his teaching that we are to "hate" our family! Does that include those of us who have very good homes where we grew up? What about being Christian because our parents are Christians? What about being a member of a specific group because our parents taught us that way?
Now, don't overreact. Let your moderation be known to all man. (Philippians 4:5) Why? Because the Lord is at hand. Be honest with everyone—including yourself, see Luke 8:15 in its context. Notice Jesus said about the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Just look at Matthew 19:29,30. Then look the following chapter, Matthew 20:1-16.
Did you notice that the angels announced the birth of Jesus to common shepherds? (Luke 2:8-20) Jesus chose most of his twelve from among common fishermen of Galilee. Even one is a despised tax collector. The wise men from the East are just like all those mentioned men—none of them are Bible scholars! Is that what Jesus meant about that the last shall be first? The less pet interpretations, doctrines, and dogmas we have, the better. Children and sheep have none of these.
How would that account to the fact that the well-educated contributed much to the Bible? Moses wrote 5 first books of the Bible and some Psalms. Paul wrote 13 books out of 27 books in New Testament. Being well-educated in Mosaic law, Paul still have to empty himself. He went as far to renounce all rites that God gave to Moses and leave us much fewer rites than the Jews have to put up with. That would make it seem it is good for us to be well-educated, but we must remember that everything is subject to change.
Wouldn't that agree with the fact that God is God of living? See Matthew 22:32. Dead Sea is "dead," because the freshwater Sea of Galilee flows into the Jordan River that carries water into the Dead Sea without any outlet. Wouldn't that make sense how an unchangeable God can also be a God of change? Water is still water, whether it is moving or not; it just lose it freshness by not moving! Notice that the fundamental laws of life are same from the book of Genesis all the way to Revelation. It is just the external forms that change.
Did you know that repentance in Greek means complete change in one's mind? In other words, dare to think different! The conclusions you arrive may be same as others, but at least you are thinking for yourself. You think as an individual, not as part of a mob. Wouldn't that explain how Prince of Peace could bring a sword? (Matthew 10:32-41) That is when you can be more receptive to what God want to teach you. None of favoring certain parts of the Bible but all of it equally. John the Baptist and Jesus both are preparing their followers to be open to whatever they want to teach. Did you ever truly repent?
Christians who follow their Christian parents' footsteps will have harder time being sure if they ever truly repent. The same is true of any other religion. Those will be last and least in the kingdom of God. Why? Because they have too much "baggage" of unnecessary knowledge as that "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21), and also because, Apostle John can say, "Ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him." (1 John 2:27) Also Proverbs 12:3 said, "The root of the righteous shall not be moved." It sure seems like we need no religion! The only primary "religion" required of us is to accept and respect everything as it is, and to have a relationship with everything and everyone like you would with yourself. (Matthew 22:37-40 in view of John 1:3 and Genesis 1,2. This also supports Proverbs 12:10, Leviticus 19:14, Matthew 5:44 and other similar teachings. This way, we can react and response toward everything around us like pantheists and yet believes like monotheists, simply because we only deify the invisible cause-cause rather than the changeable, temporal, and visible things in existence!)
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