The Gospel: From the Beginning

Mark 1:1 & Luke 1:1-4

"The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God!" (NASB)

Beginnings.

The thought of beginning anything new carries with it multiple emotions. Hope, Anticipation, Nervousness, and Apprehension.

It is the hope that our lives can be better. It is the anticipation of getting to know ourselves and the One who created us. It is the nervousness of being real and honest with ourselves and God. It is the apprehension that we cannot come face to face with Jesus and remain the same.

It also brings multiple questions.
What did Jesus actually say and do? How does that apply to my life?
How will my life change if I am actually conformed to His image?
How can I know for certain everything about Jesus that I have been taught?
What will happen if I truly know this man called Jesus?

To really get to know someone you have to spend time with them. Lots of time. For many of us our time with Jesus is limited to a few minutes a day, and a few hours on Sunday and Wednesday. So starting today, we begin a journey. A journey filled with emotions, to answer the questions that we seek. A journey to investigate the gospels and forever be changed by a relationship with Jesus.

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." (NIV)

Much like Luke, we are going to investigate and study from the beginning all the accounts of Jesus. We are going to take a harmony of the gospels and view Jesus' life. Many of us have scrapbooks of different periods of our lives. They don't tell every detail, they highlight the key points. The gospels do much the same. They provide us the key points of His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection. And at the end, we will know the certainty of things we have been taught.

A few years ago, my mother put together a scrapbook that contained many of my ancestors and then it proceeded to highlight my life from birth until my mid-twenties. It is an extremely valuable book to me. At the end of the scrapbook, she wrote: "This is where you came from, only you can determine where you are going!"

And so each of us is at a crossroads. We can look back and see where we came from and what brought us here to this moment. We can continue on the path that we have been on that keeps Jesus at a comfortable distance, OR we can change paths. The new path is narrow, uphill, and rocky. It bends in the distance to a place we can't see. But we know where it ends. It ends at a bloody cross, an empty tomb, and a seat at the right hand of the Father.

And it leads to another beginning! You, as a memeber of the Body and Bride of Christ.