Dirty Diapers

A Series on Spiritual Turning Points
Moments in Time: Epochal
(Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Mark 1:1-15 

[God is always at work in our life – drawing us to him, helping us to become the person he created us to be and leading us to opportunities to serve him. In this series we will look at spiritual turning points in the lives of real people and the moments in time that it happened. Applying this to our own life, sometimes this happens suddenly, sometimes gradually, but always with purpose.]

 

Children… change… your… life! That’s a fact. When you start a family, nothing is the same. Your life is not your own. You’re rudely awakened at all hours of the night. You clean, or change, poopy diapers at the most inconvenient times.

 

As a new dad, I remember coming home from work one day really needing to use the only bathroom that we had in our house. But when I ran upstairs and lifted the toilet lid, to my dismay, there was a dirty diaper in it. So first, I had to clean the diaper which meant picking it up out of the “water”.

 

Having a baby is epochal. It’s the beginning of a new era of life. The Gospel of Mark is also epochal. The first verse of the first chapter makes a bold proclamation!

 

¹ The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.       NIV

 

Jesus was, and is, the King of Kings. His kingdom is not a physical one, but one of the Spirit. It can’t be seen. And John the Baptist, as prophesied in Isaiah and quoted by Mark in his Gospel, announced that the king would soon be arriving to claim his kingdom. 

 

^2b “Look, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
    and he will prepare your way.
³ He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
    Clear the road for him!’”           NLT

 

In order to “prepare the way for the Lord”, John called people to repent of their sins and be baptized. In fact, Jesus himself was baptized by John. And when he did, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus and a voice came from heaven saying, “You are my Son, whom I love.” This wasn’t just a baptism. It was the anointing of the king.

 

Following this, the Spirit sent Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan for forty days. Jesus was being prepared to begin his kingdom under the crucible of severe temptation. And when he returned, he began by making a profound statement – a declaration really – worthy of a king.

 

¹⁵ “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”     NIV

 

Jesus’ declaration that “the kingdom of God has come”, was an epochal shift. From that time forward, redemption changed from the daily animal sacrifices of the Law of Moses to the human sacrifice of the Son of God – once and for all.

 

The Lord’s prayer that we still pray 2000 years after Jesus walked this earth, recognizes and embraces his kingdom.

 

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 

 

That kingdom is ours to continue. Let us do so purposefully as we pray his prayer and do his will to share the good news.

 

Copyright 2026 Joseph B Williams

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