“The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” – Mark 1:1

One of the unique blessings of preaching through a New Testament gospel is having an excuse to read JC Ryle’s Expository Thoughts. The great Anglican bishop writes with an experiential warmth few can match in our day. Consider the following comments on Mark 1:1:

Let us observe, in these verses, what a full declaration we have of the dignity of our Lord Jesus Christ’s person. The very first sentence speaks of Him as “the Son of God.”

These words, “the Son of God,” conveyed far more to Jewish minds than they do to ours. They were nothing less than an assertion of our Lord’s divinity. They were a declaration that Jesus was Himself very God, and “equal with God.” (John 5:18.)

There is a beautiful fitness in placing this truth in the very beginning of a Gospel. The divinity of Christ is the citadel and keep of Christianity. Here lies the infinite value of the atoning sacrifice He made upon the cross. Here lies the peculiar merit of His atoning death for sinners. That death was not the death of a mere man, like ourselves, but of one who is “over all, God blessed forever.” (Rom. 9:5.) We need not wonder that the sufferings of one person were a sufficient propitiation for the sin of a world, when we remember that He who suffered was the “Son of God.”

Let believers cling to this doctrine with jealous watchfulness. With it, they stand upon a rock. Without it, they have nothing solid beneath their feet. Our hearts are weak. Our sins are many. We need a Redeemer who is able to save to the uttermost, and deliver from the wrath to come. We have such a Redeemer in Jesus Christ. He is “the mighty God.” (Isaiah 9:6.)

This is Christ-centered preaching.