Submitting to God's Will

Today we are discussing the second message from a series of messages out of the book of Mark.

Each of the gospels represents Jesus from a slightly different perspective.  In the book of Mark Jesus is presented as a Servant.  Today's passage shows how Jesus was submissive to God's will, what that means for us, and what will come of submission.

Mark 1:9-13

This passage describes Jesus' baptism, followed by him being led by the spirit into the wilderness.

Jesus' baptism itself illustrates the first point:

 - Submission to the will of God includes submission to Bible ordinances.

Obviously, baptism is one of these ordinances.  When we are saved or lead someone to the Lord, baptism is the first step of obedience.  Salvation does not depend on it, but baptism is not optional; it is required for obedience.

Jesus was firm in his example of baptism.  When John tried to say no (Matt 3:13), Jesus knew it was something that must be done and insisted.  (Matt 3:14).

It is also interesting to note that John was the only one with the authority to baptize at that point; there was no church yet.

Moving on to Mark 1:10 we read the familiar story of the spirit descending like a dove.  The dove is often used as a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  The passage here says "like" a dove.  This means it could have literally had the form of a dove, or could have simply reminded John (who was the witness that gave the account) of a dove.

The important thing is, Jesus' obedience brought results:

 - Submission to God's will will bring definite results.

Today these results will not be visible signs like doves, but there are still there.  One of the results of salvation include the sealing and indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The question has often been presented, "Can God used unsaved people or those out of his will to accomplish his purposes?"  
Yes, God can use anyone he wants to, but how much more he can use someone submissive to him!

We limit God when we don't submit.

We see in verse 11 that God showed his relationship and pleasure with Jesus when he spoke to him following his baptism.  This tells us:

We open ourselves to blessings when we submit.

However....

Submission to the will of God will include testing.

This is seen in verse 12-13.  Immediately following Jesus' baptism and God's demonstration of pleasure with him, Jesus was led into the desert and tested.  With every sort of test that can be thrown at man.

Being submissive to God does not guarantee an easy life.  Part of the explanation for this is seen above in part 2: God can accomplish big things with someone submissive to his will.  One thing we have to remember is that compared to doing God's will and serving him, the trials of this life will seem so trivial in eternity.

We see in verse 13 that the entire 40 days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan, "the angels ministered unto him."

This is our reassurance that even when we are tempted and faced with trials of all kinds, God never leaves us.

Bro Bobby Peek 4/12/09