Everything changed when Jesus arrived. It was supposed to. History, governments, races, and religions were converging to this climax. The message changed with Jesus. A new day was dawning. John the Baptist was set apart to give fair warning to the long-awaited Messiah, who was about to burst upon the scene. John the Baptist ended an Old Testament era; he bid farewell to the shadows and pointed to the light, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Thousands were compelled into the wilderness to hear this wild man – this prophet crying with fearless authority, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.”
The New King
John’s most incredible privilege was to point the world to the New King, the world’s Savior—God’s lamb of redemption. Jesus was the new messenger that John was to present. Jesus was going to change everything. He would bring in a New Covenant – a covenant much better than the one Moses instituted, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ” (John 1:17, KJV).
Jesus is the One Isaiah saw skipping upon the mountains publishing good news and glad tidings, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!” (Isaiah 52:7).
Make no mistake, Jesus was saying things that had never been said before. Jesus was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of grace (Acts 20:24). "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached …" (Luke 16:16). Without controversy, the preaching changed with Jesus; the message changed with Jesus. Jesus brought something into the world that no other could deliver—grace and truth!
What is Our Message?
This was the message that Jesus sent his disciples into the world to preach. They were commissioned to preach the gospel, the good news, and glad tidings to all men. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Only after the prophets and John the Baptist was the Kingdom of God preached. According to Acts, they went everywhere and preached the Kingdom of God, the gospel of grace. The book of Acts affirms that Paul continued “Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ …” (Acts 28:31).
Lee Shipp is founding pastor of First New Testament Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He has ministered for more than thirty years and is also president of A Call to the Heart.