KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Tuesday, November 14, 2017
Chapters: Mark 15-16
Message: What Is The Gospel?
Hello My Friend,
The Gospel; to the world, the word gospel is merely religious songs relating to God, but to the Christian, who knows Jesus Christ as their Saviour, the Gospel is much more. So, what is the Gospel? It is the perfect, sinless sacrifice that would bring permanent redemption to all who believe, it is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. I have done many messages explaining this in short, but never one in detail, so here we go, after all, this is something that Jesus has commanded all His disciples. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” – Mark 16:15-18.
“He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;” So many people misinterpret this part of the passage, stating that you must believe and be water baptized in order to be saved. Jesus is not talking about a water baptism here, rather spiritual baptism, in other words, believing in Him and being baptized with the Spirit of God. In order for us to be spiritually baptized we must believe in the Gospel as a whole. First, of all, His death. We must understand and believe that this was not some ordinary man, this is the Son of God, born of a woman who was a virgin. Jesus was not conceived like the rest of us, God, through the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary with no physical contact at all. Doing it this way meant that Jesus was not born with the sin nature the rest of us are born with and therefore, as long as He remained sinless, He would be the perfect sacrifice needed to redeem man once and for all. Every one of the Gospels gives details about His death on the cross, here is Marks.
“And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull. And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take. And it was the third hour, and they crucified him. And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.” – Mark 15:22-25,33-37.
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” When Jesus was on the cross, every sin of every person, past, present, and future was on there with Him, His body covered in the filth of sin, God turned His back because He could not bare to look at His Son, while He loved Him and did not forsake Him, He could not face Him for all the sin. Yes, Jesus could have come down from there. Yes, a thousand angels could have shown up and saved Him. Yes, God could have used another way for redemption, but this was the plan, this was one perfect sacrifice that had been told of old and was not coming to pass. Jesus died so that the blood of lambs, and goats, which never removed the sin, would never have to be used again for redemption. One sacrifice, once and for all to not only redeem man, but remove sin forever. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:” – Hebrews 9:12-13.
While Jesus dying on the cross was sufficient enough for the salvation of man, God was not done, He was going to prove that He is God by going even further after His death. The second part of the Gospel is His burial, we must believe that Jesus was buried in a tomb, and that He was there for three nights and three days.
“And now when the even was come, because it was the preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, Joseph of Arimathaea, an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God, came, and went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus. And Pilate marvelled if he were already dead: and calling unto him the centurion, he asked him whether he had been any while dead. And when he knew it of the centurion, he gave the body to Joseph. And he bought fine linen, and took him down, and wrapped him in the linen, and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock, and rolled a stone unto the door of the sepulchre.” – Mark 15:42-46.
“and laid him in a sepulchre which was hewn out of a rock,” There has always been a debate on the day that Jesus died, and it is even observed that He died on a Friday, but think about it, we all know that He arose on the first day of the week, but if He was buried for three nights and days, it would not have been a Friday because He arose on the third day, Sunday. Why is this so important? Jesus said that He would rise on the third day, we must believe that. “For he taught his disciples, and said unto them, The Son of man is delivered into the hands of men, and they shall kill him; and after that he is killed, he shall rise the third day.” – Mark 9:31.
Finally, we come to the third part of the Gospel, and that is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is not enough to believe that Jesus died and was buried, we must also believe that God brought Him back from the dead. Upon the third day of His burial, and on the first day of the week, it was discovered that Jesus was not in the tomb.
“And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.” – Mark 16:1-2,5-8.
“he is risen; he is not here:” Jesus could have just died for us and that would have been enough, but God wanted more than that, once and for all, He wanted to break the spiritual curse that the devil caused upon man when he brought sin into the world. Jesus resurrecting proves that even death can no longer separate God and man. Our redemption through Christ gives us victory over death and puts the Spirit of God back into man, which had been taken away with the curse. “But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” – I Corinthians 15:20-22.
Just because we believe in the Scriptures that does not always mean we think about them, in fact, we often forget them when we start to see the prophecies unfold. Jesus shows Himself first to Mary Magdalene, but when she told the disciples that He was alive they did not believe her. Likewise, He shows Himself to some of the disciples. Jesus shows up as they were all eating together and fusses at them for their unbelief.
“Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” – Mark 16:9-14.
“After that he appeared in another form unto two of them,” Do you ever wonder why He appeared as another person? I believe it was to see if they remembered what He had said. When we are sad or heartbroken we tend to forget the promises that Jesus makes us. That is when we can expect Him to fuss at us for our unbelief and hardness of heart. It does not matter how strong our faith, we all have times of unbelief because our hearts harden through our circumstances, but that is what grace is for, when we lose our faith, grace reminds us that not only are we saved by grace, Jesus is always with us. “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.” – Ephesians 4:4-7.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” – Mark 16:6.
Today’s Prayer: Jesus, Thank You again for the great sacrifice that You made. You did not have to die, You could have chosen any other way to redeem me, or You could have chosen not to do anything at all and leave me trying to work my way to my salvation. You endured the cross, You took my place, You took the punishment that I deserved, and You took all my sins to the cross with You. But You were not done there, although You died and that was sufficient enough, you went further after your burial, by raising from the dead, three days later so that I to not only give me victory over death, but also reconcile with God so that we are inseparable, even death cannot separate us because of Your great sacrifice. Lord, let me always live my life by Your example and never stop preaching the Gospel. I ask these things in Your name, Jesus, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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