Mark 1:14-15 DAY 19                                                                                                                       by Sarah Solie

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Have you ever stopped and thought about what the phrase “the kingdom of God is at hand” means? To be honest, I haven’t until now. But I invite you to pause here for a second and contemplate those words… It wasn’t until Jesus came that the Kingdom of God was open to anybody- Prior to Jesus’ death and resurrection, in order to be part of the Kingdom, you had to follow strict rules that God had given to His chosen people to set them apart from the rest. But once Jesus came, the Kingdom of God was available (“at hand”) for anyone who chose to believe in the Gospel and repent of their sins! What good news is that?! We no longer have to sacrifice lambs to take the blame for our sins, because Jesus was the ultimate Lamb, and he took the sins of everyone everywhere, at any point in time! And all we have to do to receive His grace is to repent and believe, because the kingdom of God is still at hand today!