Being “effective reporters” of the Good News about Jesus Christ should be our aim throughout our time on earth. The essential elements of this “ground-breaking news” already investigated are: 1. Introducing Jesus; 2. His Crucifixion; 3. His Resurrection; and 4. Grace versus Good Works.
 
If we were to conduct a public survey today asking people to respond to the question “What is a Christian?” we could expect a wide variety of answers. Most, if not all, would be wrong.
 
A simple, biblical definition of this question is “someone who belongs to God.” A person belongs to God when they surrender their lives to Jesus, inviting Him to be the King and Master of their lives, the Resident President… the unrivalled Lord.
 
How does this happen? Mark gives us the answer—He recorded Jesus as saying, “The time promised by God has come at last!”  “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (1:15.) Jesus made it quite clear that repent and believe is what a person must do to “belong” to God.
 
Under investigation today is the meaning of “repent.” “Believe” is the final element of the Good News of Jesus. This will be the subject of next week’s investigation.
 
So, what does REPENT mean? To repent means to turn-away from living a life that pleases yourself (and the world) to turn-to living a life that pleases God. This is a one-time decision with ongoing implications. 
 
Every person has a free will to invite the Spirit of Jesus to “save” them and to “transform” them into the likeness of Jesus (Rom. 8:29). However, for this to happen we must put Jesus first. A “repenting” life says, I put Jesus first…
 
1.  Before my WILL: Mark reported, “Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, Jesus said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it” (8:34,35).
 
To better understand the concept of putting Jesus first before your will, please imagine your life as house with various rooms. When someone buys a house, there are two separate experiences concerning that house: the moving-in experience that happens once only, then the renovation phase that is ongoing throughout your time in that house.

The same is true of the Christian life. There are two experiences: Firstly, we invite the Spirit of Jesus to move-in. This is a one-time experience. The Spirit moving into our lives gives us a new life. And secondly, after the Holy Spirit has moved-in, we must invite Him to renovate our lives. This phase is ongoing, life-long. It is important to note that although the Spirit of Jesus has been invited to reside in our lives, the renovation of the various areas of our lives (money, leisure, sexuality, marriage, family, ambition, job, etc.) does not happen automatically. We must “invite/permit” the Holy spirit to do this work of renovating/changing us, from the inside out. The Holy Spirit will not violate our freedom to say “yes” or “no”.  We can put a stop to His transforming work at any time with just one wrong thought, a resistant heart, or an attitude that is self-centred.

2. Before my AMBITION: God is an ambitious God, and He wants us to be ambitious like Him. We are free to pursue any respectable career, but we must be careful not to compromise the security of our souls. Our careers are temporal while our souls are eternal. In the Matthew 6:33 passage Jesus says that when we put Him first, He promises to provide all our needs. This means that whatever career path we choose, Jesus must be positioned central in that career. Putting Jesus first in your ambition guarantees your satisfaction, success, and fulfilment (cf. Mk. 8:36-37). God didn’t mind Solomon being ambitious and successful! 

3. Before my POPULARITY: Popularity is a natural human desire. Desiring to be popular with the world is one thing, but to be popular with God is another. Putting Jesus first with your life at times will make you unpopular with the world. Remember what Jesus says, “If a person is ashamed of Me and My message in these adulterous and sinful days, I will be ashamed of that person when I return …” (Mk. 8:38). We cannot be popular with the world and with God! Pride is what disqualified Satan from his relationship with God!  

4. Before my PRIDE: To put Jesus first we must deny ourselves. To deny ourselves is to humble ourselves before God. Pride is the opposite of humility. Pride stands in the way of God in our lives. In the Mark 9:43-48 passage, Jesus helps us to see that we must sever ties with anything and anyone that jeopardises our relationship with Him. Pride is usually the arch enemy of putting Jesus first in our lives. Pride wants you to be first before God and everyone else. 

Friends, putting Jesus first before your will, ambition, popularity, pride, and anyone/anything else is what true repentance is about. Read Mark 10:29-31 if you feel that repenting is not worth doing. Those who repent are life’s winners!     
 
(Next week’s investigation is “The Good News: Believe.”

Bill