John the Baptist paved the way for Jesus by proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Matthew 3:2).
Jesus Christ Himself preached:
“The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).
Simon Peter concluded the first gospel sermon with the command, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you…” (Acts 2:38).
The final book of the Bible opens with, “If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place” (Revelation 2:5).
I’m convinced the first message that our spiritually rebellious culture needs to hear today is not, “God loves you.” While that is certainly true, it can leave the impression that our sin is trivial and that God loves and accepts us with no strings attached. For instance, when confronted with his wicked ways, Heinrich Heine, the 19th-century German poet, flippantly responded, “God will forgive me. That’s his job!”
A mother who sees her toddler wandering onto a busy street doesn’t call out, “Mommy loves you!” She screams, “Stop! Turn around! Get back here!” The primary need of our lost world is to be convicted of sin and understand the dire consequences of their rebellion against God. Jesus warned, “…unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:3).
Once convicted of sin, hopefully, in a spirit of contrition, lost souls will be ready to hear the good news that God loves them despite their sin and that He sent Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for sin. But the Lord requires they reverse the way they think, feel, and behave and take up their cross daily and follow Jesus.
The Greek word for repentance is (μετάνοια) “Metanoia” – from the root words “meta,” which means change, and “nous,” which refers to the mind. Once we change our mind, we are in a position to receive God’s forgiveness and for the Holy Spirit to help us change our behavior. But repentance begins with changing our worldview, reversing the way we think about our existence.
The Amplified Bible paraphrases Matthew 3:2 as, “Repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins, live your life in a way that proves repentance; seek God’s purpose for your life], for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
This past week, I stumbled across an interesting video that uses a poem to express the dramatic transformation that takes place in the hearts of those who accept Christ. You may have seen it previously, but I think it is a good example of the necessary antithesis to the secular worldview. The lyrics to the first part of the poem read:
The author goes on to clarify,
“And that’s how I felt before Christ opened my eyes, changed my heart, and reversed my thinking.”
He then goes on to read the entire poem IN REVERSE!
Watch the “Reverse Thinking” video from Deo Volente Media below:
