Sermon Tone Analysis

A Quick Review

Part 1: A Created Kingdom

Texts: Genesis 1-2, Psalm 8, Hebrews 1-2

Why Study the Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God was the focal point of Jesus’ teaching (all 4 Gospels)

The Kingdom of God was central to the early apostolic preaching (Acts)

The Kingdom of God is one of the great themes of Scripture - from Genesis 1 through Revelation 22

The Kingdom of God is the subject of much confusion & difference of opinion, among Christians as well as cults/nonorthodox movements

The Kingdom of God has profound implications for Christians, as we are exhorted to walk “worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom” (1 Thessalonians 2:12)

What is a Kingdom (Biblically)?

Ruler - an individual or individuals that are sovereign over the kingdom’s affairs

Right - (to rule); an authority possessed by, or that validates, the ruler (king)

Realm - a domain that belongs to the kingdom

Reality - the actual reigning activity of the rightful king over the realm

The Mediatorial Kingdom of God in Genesis

Ruler: Mankind (male & female) made in the Image of God

Right: “Let them have dominion… rule… subdue…"

Realm: The works of God’s hands (Psalm 8:6)

Reality: Mankind’s superiority over the animals(Genesis 2:20); creativity (Genesis 2:19); productivity (Genesis 2:15); perception of God through creation (Romans 1:20); faithful obedience required for ongoing blessing/habitation (Gen 2:16-17)

Summary of the Kingdom as seen in Genesis

All of creation is ultimately subject to the Creator God

God’s created order is binding upon his creatures (e.g, gender, marriage)

God created mankind (male & female) as his chosen Rulers and bearers of his image, giving them dominion over the Created Kingdom

Creation had both physical and spiritual aspects, working in perfect harmony - “very good”

Creation was a place where God & man were to enjoy fellowship as mankind ruled & subdued it according to God’s design and under his rule

The Fall of Creation’s First King

Genesis 3:1-5: The Temptation of the Serpent

Purpose of the Tree of Knowledge of Good & Evil was to test man’s recognition of, and subjection to, the universal rule of God

Faith (shown by obedience) is a condition of participation in God’s Kingdom

The Serpent’s Lie in 2 Parts:

Negative: “You surely will not die.”

Positive: “You will be like God.”

Satan appealed to Eve’s self-interest to subvert God’s authority

Genesis 3:6-8: The King and Queen Rebel

By taking of the forbidden fruit, Adam & Eve usurped God’s authority

As rightful rulers in God’s created kingdom, they had incredible ability, opportunity, and freedom to rule and enjoy everything God had given them - by disobeying, they abused that privilege

Adam & Eve’s failure to abide by God’s command introduced, for the first time, sin and rebellion into creation - corrupting what God had called “very good”

Realizing their own nakedness and shame, they clothed and hid themselves

“Cursed is the ground”

Genesis 3:14-19: The Curse

Adam is held primarily responsible, as the federal “head” in his marriage and as representative of mankind (1 Cor 15:22, 1 Ti 2:14; etc)

Nonetheless, Eve receives her own part in the Curse, demonstrating her agency & responsibility for her actions

For its part in seducing God’s vice-regents into Satan’s anti-kingdom program, the serpent is humiliated and Satan’s defeat is foretold

Judgement is immediate - yet Adam & Eve’s inevitable, physical death is graciously deferred (and their continued existence, and that of creation, is confirmed)

Adam & Eve were shown that their sin had resulted in consequences that affected not only themselves, but their offspring and creation itself

The Curse to the Serpent

Cursed “more than” all other animals

Sentenced to crawl in the dust of the ground

Condemned to conflict with - and ultimate destruction by - the “seed” of the woman

The Curse to the Woman

Pain in childbirth will increase

Fulfillment of the Dominion Mandate (“be fruitful & multiply”) will continue, but with difficulty

Conflict within marriage foretold (as mankind had resisted God’s rule, so will the wife be tempted to resent and resist her husband’s headship)*

The Curse to the Man

The ground is cursed “because of you”

Creation will now resist Adam’s rule, as he resisted God’s (“thorns and thistles it will grow”)

Creation will be less good and less productive, but Adam’s dominion over it will continue (“by the sweat of your brow”)

Adam (and mankind) will suffer under the inexorable effects of decay, which will ultimately lead to death (“to dust you shall return”)

All that is in the world

1 John 2:15-17: The Counterfeit Kingdom Program

Satan’s temptation of Eve followed the pattern of 1 John 2:16:

Lust of the flesh (“good for food”)

Lust of the eyes (“pleasant to the sight”)

Pride of life (“desirable to make one wise”)

Satan cannot create - he can only corrupt what God has created

He does this by undermining and usurping God’s rightful authority as sovereign creator King (Isaiah 14:14; 2 Thessalonians 2:4)

1 John 2:15-17: The Counterfeit Kingdom Program (Cont.)

The Greek word translated “world”: kosmos (Strongs # G2889)

Literal meaning is “order” (specific meaning must be determined by context)

In the context of 1 John 2, kosmos refers not to humans or planet Earth, but to Satan’s antichrist “order” that promises the benefits of God’s Created Kingdom without submission to God’s authority

Genesis 3 shows us the beginning of the “world” (or world system), which will parallel and oppose God’s Kingdom program until the end of this age

This Counterfeit Kingdom will culminate in the reign of Antichrist (Revelation 17)

Creation was subjected to futility

Romans 8:18-25: The whole creation groans

Paul explains that all of creation is enslaved to “corruption”, and “eagerly waits” the revealing of God’s glorified children

Creation has been “subjected to futility” - ie, unable to fulfill the purpose for which it was created

Creation’s hope for restoration is tied together with the redemption of mankind

This frustration and anxious longing (compared with birth pangs!) is the status quo for all of God’s creatures (including the redeemed - ie, Christians) in a fallen kingdom - “eagerly awaiting… the redemption of our body.”

The Fallen Kingdom

Ruler: Mankind - now with the knowledge of good and evil

Right: The Dominion Mandate (Ps 8:6), but curtailed (“to dust you shall return”)

Realm: Creation, but with resistance (“thorns and thistles it shall grow for you”)

Reality: God’s created kingdom continues (Gen 3:23), but the introduction of sin, and the consequential death & disorder brought by sin (Romans 5:12), has placed the kingdom in a state of “futility” (Romans 8:20)

The Seed of the Woman

Genesis 3:15: The Protoevangelium (“first good news”)

In his judgment proclamation to the serpent, God declares that Satan’s efforts to disrupt the Kingdom program be opposed - and ultimately thwarted - by the woman’s seed

This is the first hint in Scripture of the coming Messiah - a human (born of a woman - Galatians 4:4) - as well the concept of virgin conception

God states that the serpent (Satan) will be fatally wounded by the woman’s seed, though not without inflicting great damage himself

To Adam & Eve, this promise of a coming “bruiser” of the serpent, would have been a glimmer of “good news” in the midst of crushing regret and sorrow

“He shall bruise [your] head”

Romans 16:20

“You shall bruise [his] heel”

Genesis 3:20

“Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.”

“Eve”: חַוָּה Chavvah (Strong # H2332); “life”

Adam’s naming of his wife as the mother of “all living” demonstrates his faith that God’s promised seed would indeed come; a life-giver who would one day deliver creation from corruption & death

The Promised Seed

Ruler: A man - the seed of the woman

Right: The Dominion Mandate (Psalm 8, Hebrews 2)

Realm: Creation