LIFE SCRIPTS

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: “I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ” And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Mark 1:1‭-‬4 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/mrk.1.1-4.NIV

John the Baptist was the one who set the stage for the emergence of Christ. In those days, righteousness was defined by strict obedience to the law. But now, here emerges a man who preaches about forgiveness of sin through repentance and baptism. Baptism by itself was an outward demonstration of the change that had taken place on the inside: a sinner immersed into the water to be cleansed ultimately emerging as righteous. This is the same way, we are immersed into the blood of the Lamb which washes away all our sins. The preaching and actions of the Baptist were announcing the arrival of a new covenant. God’s grace upon mankind manifested in the Person of Christ. In a society where people were chained to the demands of legalism, in a community where people needed to look and act the part in order to play to the religious gallery, John’s message was that of ‘COME AS YOU ARE TO RECEIVE FORGIVENESS’. Today, since Christ is in our hearts, we are forerunners of Him as we seek to introduce Him to a hurting world. In an age where hopelessness reigns, we can be agents of Christ’s grace. Like John the Baptist, we can prepare the way for Him in the hearts of people by introducing them to the gospel of repentance and forgiveness of sin.