And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.
Mark 1:4-5 NIV
John the Baptist was the messenger God sent to proclaim His message to the people. We can see that the entirety of John’s life was to deliver this assignment unapologetically. John preached on the repentance from sin however, he was not ashamed that his message was different. God sent him and he delivered accordingly. All the people of Judea and Jerusalem went out to see him because they heard of him. But thanks be to God because the message they heard prompted them to repent. They did not hear a ‘John’ sermon neither did they hear fables. They heard God’s Message – Jesus.
The thing is, John, did not create the message. God created John and gave him the message. This means it is not our place to create the message. It is not our message; it is God’s message. It is His message that brings people to repentance. The moment we start preaching our own message, we will need to add a lot of spice to it. However, the best result it would give is either entertainment or emotionalism that will not produce any repentance.
In this age, we have a lot of messengers going about without the Message. However, Christ’s expectation is for a person to first know the Message before delivering the message. This is why it is important to know God’s Word before delivering it. God’s Word in the message John preached was to repent. Repentance is a complete change of mind that produces a change in thinking, attitude, actions and lifestyle. The message spoke about what the people needed to do and what God would give to them – forgiveness. John also emphasised the importance of an external demonstration of what had happened internally. Baptism is a complete immersion to signify death and resurrection – a death to the nature that produces sin and unrighteousness. This is what happens when the message we deliver is all about Jesus.
