Lesson 5: God’s Kingdom and the Repentant (Luke 1:57-66)

Questions of what it looks like to be “in the will” of God abound for the believer. If we have sinned in a way that has significantly altered the direction of our lives, are we forever second-class Christians? Or we may sometimes wonder whether or not we have missed out on what our lives could have been if we had only taken the route of obedience at that fork in the road a few miles back. The good news, the news that we get in looking at the text at hand, is that God uses repentant sinners to establish His kingdom. Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, provides a picture of what a humbled sinner renewed for Gods’ purposes looks like. Having faced a moment where he questioned the promise of the Lord with a disbelieving spirit, he would come to praise Him all the more following a season of discipline. In observing this period of Zechariah’s life, we learn that: 1.) Gods’ kingdom plans for us are preserved by His mercy. 2.) Our repentance is demonstrated by our actions. 3.) Our repentance results in God’s glory.

Summary by Seth Kempf, Bethany Community Church Staff