Former area Bishop of Lewes, Wallace Benn, reminds us of the delight to be found in turning back to God
When the Lord Jesus began his ministry he proclaimed: ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:15). Repentance is central to the Christian message and cannot therefore be downplayed or abandoned.
But what does it mean? It means to ‘have a serious change of mind and heart about a previous point of view or course of behaviour’1 (especially in the face of extraordinary developments). The arrival of the kingdom of God in the person of the Son of God was just such an eventuality that demanded this radical response.
But repentance from what? The Bible consistently portrays every human being as a sinner. This doesn’t sit well to modern ears, but despite the unpleasant diagnosis, it is manifestly true.
It has been wisely said, ‘that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart’! Why is there so much selfish discord in our modern sophisticated world, so much war-created suffering, and hurt and pain in so many families and relationships? The Bible’s answer is that despite being in God’s world, breathing the breath of life that He has given us, we are rebels against His rule and we attempt to become god to ourselves. This is the heart of the human problem – selfish, rebellious, self-centred pride that insists on our own way so often at the expense of others.
The good news of the gospel tells us that God cares about the human circumstance. In the person of His Son, He came to offer us forgiveness for past misdemeanours and to offer us a different way to live, based on relationship with God. He calls us to follow this new way of life. This requires us to: repent of our ways, turn to Christ for forgiveness and submit to His rule and direction for our lives.
It is something of a shock then for anyone used to classical Christian thinking that some today see a call to radical repentance as a form of ‘abuse’. ‘What right has anyone got to tell me that I am wrong if I am sincere or that my deeply-held beliefs about who I am and my rights to go my own way may need to change? The Christian answer to that is that no one has that right except God, but that God came to His world personally in His Son and has called us all to such a repentance and new life.
He has a double right to call. He calls us as our Creator and as our Saviour. If God loves us so much as to send His Son on a rescue mission, why do we resist Him so strenuously? Self-serving religion which makes us feel good about ourselves, but does not challenge us deeply to change our ways can keep us from God Himself, the one that all religion is meant to lead us to! An unwillingness to think and face challenges to our comfortable way of life, or to risk holding values and views somewhat different to the political correctnesses of our day, or the simple refusal to think seriously about life and where we are going can all hinder us.
But surely, the world says, joy comes from going our own way and doing our own thing? One of the Bible’s most beautiful psalms expresses deep repentance, written by King David after a prophet/preacher called Nathan told him the errors of his ways and called him to repentance. He repented deeply of his adultery with Bathsheba and his plotting to get rid of her husband. He realised that whoever our sin hurts, and it always hurts someone, it most hurts and offends God himself who has our best interests at heart. David’s actions that had in this instance followed his desires and pleasures, without thinking of the consequences, had left him feeling deeply guilty. Also the joy he had previously known in following God’s way had left him (v12) and he longs to return to fellowship with God which had brought such joy to his life, and he wants that back. David’s often-repeated joy in the forgiveness that God gives to those who repent and seek his mercy and grace is no cheap or easy forgiveness. It was won for us by the death of Jesus on the cross, and it calls us not just to be sorry but to repent of our sinful ways.
So, in the end, ongoing repentance before God and faith in God’s Son is the pathway to joy now in a restored relationship with God that will lead us one day to the inexpressible joys of heaven. Are your ways God’s ways? If not, repent, believe in the gospel and know something of the joys of heaven now!
