There must be an end before a new beginning.

My mood is somber, yet deep down there is also a sense of lightness, of expectation. In two days we will be celebrating the key moment in history when everything changed.

”It is good to slow down and consider from time to time – events of such importance – so that they remain fresh to us and we do not get so used to them that they no longer move us – that they start seeming mundane. That is in your human nature – to forget – not the actual event but the deeper meaning it had for you when you first discovered it. So, as you approach this weekend slow down and ponder, consider again the full meaning of events which have been documented as absolutely true. And as you experience that full meaning, I will lift you up into My very presence to worship and enjoy our relationship!”

As I was reading through the gospel account of Jesus’ death on the cross in Mark: 15:33-39, something struck me which I have not perceived before:

Perhaps the key moment of the whole description of Jesus’ crucifixion is the actual moment of His death. which is signified by His cry of dereliction in vs 34. Mark describes two events that happened at that moment. “Darkness came over the whole land” vs 33 and vs 37, “The curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom“.

As I pondered this I could almost see in my mind’s eye, God taking the Old Covenant document written on the “page” of the curtain in the temple, that object which had always signified the separation of sinful man from a Holy God and tearing it up. Notice the writer makes a point in the fact that the curtain was torn from top to bottom, signifying that it was an act of God Himself.

Then He says, “I am out of here!”, removing His light which signifies His presence in the world and He withdraws Himself from the whole scene, where He has been working for centuries with a people whom He had called and chosen, in a specific way. One of the main features of that relationship which He had been ordering was a series of covenants which described How He desired this relationship to be conducted. So, this event was like a giant full stop to the whole of the Old Covenant that God had been making.

So why are you making such a fuss you ask me? Well, you see God had been promising a “New covenant” for several centuries to the people, in the light of their disobedience and inability to keep their part in the Old Covenant. cf several passages in Isaiah esp 62 : 11; Jeremiah 31:31; Ezek 37:22 ff and several other passages. What I have been describing in Mark is a clear sign that the New Covenant was a completely new covenant, not a slightly altered Old Covenant. The people who first set up the bible understood this, hence the fact that our bible consists of two distinct parts. The word” Testament” is parallel to the word “Covenant”. It was a completely new start.

So, what is my point? When Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah in Mark 8:29, Jesus immediately revealed that the fulfilment of His Messiaship was that He was going to die. Mark 8:31 ff. Then He says this to the disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must take up his cross and follow me” vs 34

What does “taking up your cross mean? It means to die to your old self and all its desires and plans and start in a fresh direction. It is called “repentance” and according to Acts 2:38 it is a necessary step for anyone who would become a Christian. Baptism is an outward expression of what has happened in your heart. The old is washed away and the new is established. Paul puts it like this in 2 Cor 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” and in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me”.

So? Just as Christ’s death signified the death of the old and opened the path for the new, it is necessary for anyone who would be a true follower of Christ to die to their old self and be reborn as a son or daughter of the Living God. Becoming a Christian is not just reforming your ways, turning over a new leaf, following the 10 commandments, living according to the Sermon on the mount, becoming a church member or any other way which may lead a person to imagine that they are a Christian. There is only one way. A complete transformation, a complete repentance and taking up a new course for your life, nothing less than a total rebirth, where you are born again of the Spirit who will then indwell you into eternity. You cannot do it for yourself, God must do it for you, but He will never force Himself on you.

Dear reader, if this news has sort of shocked you, good! This weekend is a great time to go to Christ and humbly seek the new birth from Him. If you are not sure where you stand, ask Him anyway, He has promised that “if you seek Him He will be found of you” Matthew 7:7, 8 and if you ask Him for this how much more will He give you the Holy Spirit” Matthew 7:9-11.

Friends this is a reminder of the heart of our wonderful gospel, may you experience it first hand this weekend.