There is Still Time
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand…Matthew 4:17
With these words Jesus began His mission. They were the same words John the Baptist preached, Matthew 3:1. Jesus did not come to destroy the Roman Empire, the current human kingdom. Instead, He came to establish God’s Kingdom, the kingdom of heaven.
Jesus did not come to kill, but to give life; eternal life. He came to crush death, not empires. This was God’s promise. To the serpent God said, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed. He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel. This is the irony of the gospel. To bring life Jesus had to die.
Death had come to mankind by sin. Life will come by sinlessness. Life came to us by the righteous life of Jesus the God-man. Though He was crucified by men, He died for our sins. He was killed because of our sins for He was the Lamb of God. Jesus was the perfect Lamb who by His perfection was the sacrifice without blemish for the sins of all mankind.
Of this act Paul writes, Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Phil. 2: 5-11
It is by our confession of this truth that we enter the kingdom of God, Romans 10:9: that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. What Adam and Eve began; Jesus reversed. But there is more, Jesus promised to come back and get us so we can be where He is. Repent while there is still time, the message still remains, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!
