Last week we began a series of
studies in the first chapter of the Gospel of Mark, and we
noticed that this first verse emphasizes the divine origin
of salvation, the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Today we will return to this
same passage, because it teaches us not only that salvation is
of divine origin, but also that it is one, and that there has
always been, through all the centuries, only one means of
salvation. But I would like to read to you
first the first three verses of this Gospel according to Mark. The beginning of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, Here, I repeat in this passage, we see the unity
of salvation. But where is this unity seen? First of all, for the Jewish
reader of the time of Mark the Evangelist, the words, Jesus
cries, would have had a very great meaning, because he would
have encountered them several times in the Old Testament. The
word Jesus was the Greek translation of the Hebrew word, I rejoice. and Joshua in the Old Testament
meant Yahweh and salvation. Yahweh was the eternal God, the
one who is infinitely great. Thus, when the angel appeared
to Joseph, he told him that the son who was to be born of Mary
had to have the name of Jesus. This had great significance for
Joseph, and not only for Joseph, but for all of us. He had to
bear the name that meant, Yahweh is salvation, the great eternal
God is salvation. In fact, the angel even says
this to Joseph. He says, You will give him the
name of Jesus. It is he who will save his people
from his sins. By taking this name, God means
to all of us the unity of the plan of salvation through all
ages. This name, taken from the Old
Testament, took all its meaning in the person of Jesus Christ.
But the word Christ also has a meaning that indicates the
unity of the plan of salvation. because the word Christ is a
translation of Hebrew which means Messiah, far from the Eternal. We find the word for the first
time in Psalm 2, verse 2. We are read, Why do the kings
of the earth rise up, and the princes fight with them against
the Eternal and against his Messiah? But we also find it in other
passages of the New Testament. For example, in the Gospel of
Mark, in chapter 8 and verse 29, it is the confession of Peter,
where we read, And he asked them, Who are you that I am? It is the Lord Jesus who asks
this question to his disciples. And it is Peter who answers and
says to him, You are the Christ. You are the Messiah, the one
we are waiting for, who was announced by the prophets, far from God,
the sovereign Sacrificer, the King of kings. All this is understood
in the meaning of this word, Christ. It is thus that when
Mark says in this first verse of his Gospel, the Gospel of
Jesus Christ, It makes us immediately think of this plan of salvation
that God announced from the beginning and which was the same in the
Old Testament as in the New. Jesus, the Savior, Yahweh and
salvation. Christ, the Messiah, far from
God. There is only one plan of salvation,
and it is found in the person and the work of Jesus Christ.
We also see the unity of the plan of salvation in what the
evangelist Mark, immediately after telling us that he was
going to present us with this Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of
God, reminds us that this is not new. that this had been foretold
in the Old Testament, and in verses 2 and 3 he quotes a passage
taken from the prophecy of Esaias, where we read, Here I send before
you my messenger who will prepare your way. It is the voice of
the one who shouts in the desert, Prepare the way of the Lord,
flatten his paths. This passage is found in the
prophecy of Isaiah, chapters 40 and verses 3 to 5. This underlines
the fact that salvation in the Bible is one, one salvation for
all men of all times. This is underlined in the Hebrew
epistle to chapter 11. After citing a long list of those
who received salvation, the author says in verse 13, It is in faith
that they all died, without having obtained the things promised,
but they saw them and saluted from afar. What did they see
and salute from afar? But the coming of the Lord Jesus
and his death on the cross of Calvary. That is what saved them
and nothing else. What conclusion should we draw
from what we have said? that there is a plan of salvation
for all men, and that this plan of salvation is the same today
as it was at the time of Mark and at the time of the patriarchs. Salvation is by Jesus Christ. The plan of salvation was conceived
in eternity, before the foundation of the world. The Apostle Peter
tells us this in his epistle to chapter 1, and I will read
it from verse 18. You know that it is not by perishable
things, by money or gold, that you have been bought back from
the vain way of life that you had inherited from your fathers,
but by the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb, without
fault and without stain, predestined before the foundation of the
world. He was manifested at the end of times because of you. Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
predestined before the foundation of the world. And again, in the
Epistles of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 1 and verse 4, in Him,
in Christ, God has chosen us before the foundation of the
world, so that we may be holy and irreproachable before Him. God did not change His plans. He did not have a plan of salvation
for Adam, another for Moses, another for David, another for
those who lived at the time of the evangelist Mark, another
for us today. No, there is only one way of
salvation, and that is by the death of Jesus Christ. It has
always been so, and it will be so until the end of the world. For you, my friend, there is
the same path of salvation. Do not look for another. Do not think that your salvation
can be obtained by your good works or by the simple practice
of your religion, whatever it is. So come, as you are, today. Put your trust in Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to God. and ask Him, because of the death
of His Son, to forgive you your sins and to receive you as His
children. He will do it. We are always
very happy to receive letters from our listeners. If you have a problem or if you
think that we can help you, write to us and we will be very happy
to answer you. Here is the address to which
you must write. Echo de la Vérité Postal Box 505 71322 Chalon-sur-Saône
It's written C-H-A-L-O-N France I repeat this address Echo de
la Vérité Postal Box 505 71 322, Chalon-sur-Saône, France. En plein des déserts, j'ai du
chanvre aujourd'hui Jusque par-delà les mers, j'ai du chanvre aujourd'hui
Que la parole à notre peau ouvre là cette parole foreign