About the kingdom of God
Matthew 20:20-28 – 20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor.
21 “What is your request?” he asked. She replied, “In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor next to you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to drink?” “Oh yes,” they replied, “we are able!” 23 Jesus told them, “You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared those places for the ones he has chosen.” 24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (New Living Translation)
What Does the ‘Kingdom of God’ Mean in the Bible?
▸ It means God is the ________________ ___________ of all that is
Revelation 19:6 – Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters, and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying, Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty reigns! (Christian Standard Bible)
▸ It is used to describe the ____________ and ________________ Jesus has in the hearts and lives of believers
▸ It is both a present ______________ and a future ______________
Romans 8:20-23 – 20 For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope 21 that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22 For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. 23 But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God’s gifts also groan within ourselves, as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free. (Good News Translation)
What Is the Present Application of the Kingdom of God?
• It is about __________________ God, not advancing our own ambitions
Matthew 20:22 – But Jesus answered by saying to them, “You don’t know what you are asking! . . .” (New Living Translation)
• It is a life lived under God’s _____________________
John 6:38 – [Jesus said,] “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.” (New King James Version)
• It is _______________ - ___________ from life in the empires we create
Matthew 20:25-28 – 25 But Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (New Living Translation)