13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. 14 He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb. 16 Many of the sons of Israel he will turn back to the Lord their God. 17 And he will go on before the Lord in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” Luke 1:13-17

The words of Gabriel to Zachariah echo the Word of the Lord recorded by Malachi the prophet: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse” (Mal. 4:5-6).

And, as we prepare for the second advent of the LORD, our Lord Jesus Christ, we continue in the ministry of John the Baptist by calling sinners to repentance and pointing them to Christ Jesus and His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world.

As God’s Word teaches us, we are to preach that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, [and] that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:3-4). We are to preach “in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins … to all nations” (Luke 24:47). We are to point people to Jesus and proclaim the truth that Jesus is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), that He is our “advocate before the Father … the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1,2).

While many think lightly of Christ’s return and the final judgment and see no need for repentance, it is indeed a serious matter. If the LORD judges us according to His law, as we read in Psalm 130:3, who can stand? The answer, of course, is none of us, for we have all sinned and come short of what God, in His law, demands (cf. Rom. 3:19-20,23).

Malachi wrote concerning the coming of Christ in Malachi 3:1-2: “‘Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,’ says the LORD of Hosts. ‘But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap.’”

In Malachi 4:1,5-6, we read: “‘For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,’ says the LORD of Hosts. ‘Not a root or branch will be left to them. … Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.’”

It is for this very reason that John the Baptist came: to call upon sinners to repent and look to Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, for pardon and forgiveness (cf. Luke 3:2ff.; Ps. 130:4ff.). And the Church, through its ministers, still preaches the same message today (cf. Luke 24:46-47; John 20:20-23; Acts 3:19ff.).

Both John and the Church seek “to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Through the preaching of God’s Word, the fathers and their children are united again in the true fear of the LORD. Those who were disobedient to the true faith are awakened to their sinfulness by God’s Spirit and turned to the wisdom of the righteous — to the wisdom of those who acknowledge and repent of their sinful ways and look in faith to the LORD God for mercy and forgiveness for the sake of the promised Messiah and His redeeming work (cf. 1 John 1:5 — 2:2; Psalm 32; Psalm 130).

The only way for you and me — for anyone — to be ready for the Lord’s return and to escape the curse and condemnation of God’s holy law is to repent and trust in the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus for the sins of the world (cf. Rom. 3:21-26; Gal. 3:10,13; Acts. 3:17ff.; 4:12).

O LORD God, we have sinned and come short of the righteousness your law demands. We are guilty and justly stand condemned. Have mercy on us and forgive us for all our sins for the sake of the holy life and innocent sufferings and death of Christ Jesus, Your Son, and our crucified and risen Savior, that we might be found in Him, just and holy and acceptable in Your sight on that day when Christ returns to judge the living and the dead. Amen.

[Scripture quoted from the Majority Standard Bible]