Luke 24:46-47

Luke 24:46-47 - He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

Prophesied in the old days and brought to life in Jesus. He fulfilled all that was said and now we reap the benefits. So when Jesus came to earth He preached repentance and forgiveness of sins. He could forgive sins because He was (and is) one with God. All authority in heaven and on earth was His. Prior to Jesus, forgiveness could not be preached.

Take John the baptist for example. He preached “Repent and be baptized, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” All the prophets leading up to Jesus would tell the people to repent and change their ways, but they could not preach forgiveness, because it had not yet come. At that time all people could do was temporarily cover their sins with the blood of animals.

Then Jesus came!! He had authority and He could forgive sins. Through Him men and women everywhere were getting a glimpse into the kingdom of heaven. Then the ultimate sacrifice. Jesus gave up His life for us to actually remove sin from our lives, instead of just covering over it. He was the permanent fix to the problem of sin. When He was resurrected He brought this message of forgiveness to us. Now all sin is forgiven and we have the responsibility to pass on this message.

Now, we do not have authority to forgive sins ourselves, but we have the authority to tell people their sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ. It’s already done, they just need to receive it!! When Jesus left the earth and returned to heaven He entrusted us with this task. As He says here in this verse it began in Jerusalem all those years ago with Him and now it has spread through the entire world. Jesus said, “repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations."

That is where we fit into God’s rescue plan. Pass on the message Jesus started and let others know what He has done for you. Repent and turn from your sin, because forgiveness has come to us all!!