New Testament                                        

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The Bible tells us that we are masterpieces created by the hand of God.  ​

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None of us, no not one of us, is junk or damaged goods.  ​

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We are all special in the eyes of God.   ​

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He created each of us to do good works for Him. ​

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That is no small thing, precious people.  Stop and think for a minute, God the creator of the Universe; God who holds everything together, created you and created me to do good works for him.

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God doesn’t need us, but He wants to use us.  He wants to be friends with us, because He loves us.

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So what was the treasure in the wilderness?  He was John the Baptist. Were we to see him today we might call him a little weird.  As a people, because John the Baptist wouldn’t look like, act like, or talk like we did, we might label him as a loser.  But we would be wrong.

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What we learn about John the Baptist from our Scripture reference:

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• John the Baptist lived in the wilderness.
• John the Baptist preached repentance.
• John baptized people in the Jordan River.
• John wore a camel hair coat and leather belt.
• John’s diet was locusts and wild honey.

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What we learn from reference material about John the Baptist:

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• John the Baptist — the “forerunner of our Lord.”
• ​We have but fragmentary and imperfect accounts of him in the Gospels.​  He was of priestly descent.  His father, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abia, (1 Chronicles 24:10) and his mother, Elisabeth, was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5).
• The mission of John was the subject of prophecy. (Matthew 3:3; Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1)
• His birth, which took place six months before that of Jesus, was foretold by an angel.  Zacharias, deprived of the power of speech as a token of God’s truth and a reproof of his own incredulity with reference to the birth of his son, had the power of speech restored to him on the occasion of his circumcision. (Luke 1:64)
• After this no more is recorded of him for thirty years than what is mentioned in Luke 1:80. John was a Nazarite from his birth (Luke 1:15; Numbers 6:1–12).  He spent his early years in the mountainous tract of Judah lying between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. (Matthew 3:1–12)​

 

Easton’s Bible Dictionary, (Easton, M.G.: Easton’s Bible Dictionary. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1996, c1897)

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What did John say about Jesus?

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Throughout his ministry John pointed beyond himself to one “who is far greater than I am—so much greater that I am not even worthy to be his slave”. (Mark 1:7, nlt) 

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(Elwell, Walter A.; Comfort, Philip Wesley: Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (Tyndale Reference Library), S. 729)

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How did Jesus regard John the Baptist?

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• That Jesus highly regarded John the Baptist is indicated by his baptism by John.
• It is also explicitly stated on several occasions.  Jesus called him the greatest man to have ever lived. (Luke 7:28) (Of course, he was not as great as Jesus, the God-man.)
• Jesus also said that John was a burning and shining lamp (John 5:33–35) and that he practiced a baptism divinely ordained. (Luke 20:1–8)

​(Elwell, Walter A. ; Comfort, Philip Wesley: Tyndale Bible Dictionary. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (Tyndale Reference Library), S. 730)

 

Conclusion:

 

• John was one of God’s masterpieces.  Christians are a diverse people and that is God’s design.
• John let God use Him to do good works.  John’s work was to tell people to repent.
• God’s work for John was important and it was good;  for repentance is good for each of us.

Why is repentance good for us?

 

• Repentance is a privilege of enormous magnitude.
• When we repent and turn to God, he forgives.
• Each one of God’s treasures can experience the exhilaration, the freeing experience of repentance.

LIKE JOHN THE BAPTIST–​

WE ARE TREASURED BY GOD!

HE HAS GOOD  AND IMPORTANT WORK FOR US TO DO!

Mark 1:1-9