God At Work: Mark 1:14-15
God works in unique ways. Sometimes, the hand of God is obvious and immediate. Other times the hand of God is slow, calculating, and much more difficult to see. Sometimes, we can recognize what God is doing as He does it. Sometimes, God’s action doesn’t make sense until after it is done and we look back on the whole course of God’s action. Sometimes, we need a great deal of patience before we can even hope to understand how God has been at work.
Mark says that the time has been fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Let’s give a little love to the language lovers out there. In the Greek, these verbs are in the perfect tense. This means the action started in the past, continued for some time, finished in the past, but the effects continue to this day. The time has been fulfilled, and it still is. The Kingdom of God has drawn near, and it still is. The fulfilling of God’s plan isn’t something that happened in the past and only those people who were alive to see it could participate. We all continue to participate in the coming of the Kingdom of God. The effects of God bringing His kingdom near can be felt to this very day.
What are the effects? Individual relationship with the creator of the universe is still being offered to anyone willing to receive it. Acts of forgiveness, grace, and mercy replace reactions of condemnation, anger, and vengeance. Love is shown, even love towards others we’ve never met! People help one another and look for ways to encourage each other instead of keeping records of wrong and looking on with envy. God has been mightily at work, work that continues to this day.
There is more to the message, though. It is true that the kingdom of God has drawn near. It is also true that the passage contains a call to action. We are called to repent and believe. God has done His part, now it is our turn to do ours. Having seen the kingdom, we need to turn aside from the ways of the world. The Greek word for repent is metanoeo, which is a verb that implies a change in direction or a change in thinking. Repentance isn’t stating I did wrong; repentance is changing so I don’t continue to do wrong. The presence of the Kingdom of God should evoke observable change within us.
God is at work. Sometimes we see it. Sometimes, we need a great deal of outside help before we can begin to fathom what He is doing. In either case, the time has been fulfilled. The kingdom of God has drawn near. What change will it evoke in you? How will you display that God works in unique ways?
