The Kingdom

The Kingdom  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  38:10
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The Kingdom

Welcome to the New Year!
Teaching Forecast -
Women are continuing in Colossians
David Hungate kicking off our Foundations Series next Sunday in Learning Center with “Scripture”.
Johnny is going to be continuing in Isaiah
I’m going to be working through some preparation pieces for Matthew
Starting in February, I will be teaching a Learning Center on How to read the gospels while DZ teaches on the topic of strength through weakness.
Johnny finishes Isaiah and as we prepare for the book of Matthew, there are some things we’re going to look at to help us in our studies here.
Next few sermons our study is going to be focused on What is the Kingdom?
What is this concept in Scripture?
I apologize in advance, we will not complete this study today. In fact, there will not be a neat bow to wrap up with today with some concise takeaways. The point of this series is to introduce one of the most prominent themes in all of Scripture.
Some of you may be asking why? Well quite simply, the Kingdom is something that Matthew is greatly concerned with. So since this is a prominent aspect of the Gospel of Matthew, we need to have a basic understanding of what Matthew is talking about.
For some perspective, here is a chart of all the uses of “kingdom” in an English Bible.
If we expand to include words like dominion, rule, or reign, we see a similar graph.
I show you this simply to illustrate the prominence with which Matthew is utilizing this concept in his gospel.
So, when you hear the term Kingdom in the context of Scripture, one of several ideas probably comes to mind or perhaps some questions do?
Some equate the Kingdom with the
Eternal State
others with Heaven, or where all believers go when they die
Some see it as a spiritual thing whereby God rules over the hearts of men
Some see it as entirely physical maintaining a political and social order on earth
Some see the kingdom as this era of the church in which the church is to be the kingdom
Some would define it as the universal sovereignty of God
In reality, there are verses that are used to support all of these, which is why context is always crucial in interpretation. As our friend Jerry used to say, “Tell me what you want to believe and I will tell you who to read.”
With that being said, we need to recognize that much of Scripture deals with the question, “Who has the right to rule?”
In fact, this is a question dealt with throughout Scripture. It’s a basis of the question the serpent poses to Adam and Eve. It’s the struggle between Jacob and Esau. It’s what Joseph’s brothers rebel against. It’s the struggle of Israel in the wilderness. It’s the struggle of Israel in the time of the judges resulting in asking for a king. It’s the struggle between David and Saul. It’s the struggle between David and Absalom. It’s the struggle between Jeroboam and Rehoboam at the onset of the divided kingdom. It’s the accusations that Daniel navigates in Babylon. It’s what Herod is afraid of at the words of the wise men. It’s the struggle the Jews had with Jesus. It’s the question that Pilate asks Jesus. It’s the question posed through the tribulation and the Millennial Kingdom. Who has the right to rule?
In fact, as we strive to become more like Christ, we wrestle with this question: Who has the right to rule, ourselves or God?
I propose that’s easier to answer on paper than in action.
So as we begin our small survey of the kingdom, let’s keep this question in mind as you are going to recognize it as we walk through Scripture, especially as we begin to walk through Matthew.
Let’s Pray
Much of today may be a review for you. But I hope, at least, I ask you to think about some familiar passages in a different way. Because understanding the kingdom narrative will help us understand the Gospel of Matthew. Let’s start at the beginning and see what we can determine about the Kingdom from Scripture, specifically Genesis 1-3.
Genesis 1:1 NASB95
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
So right off the bat, creation is attributed to God. As such, there is an innate portion of authority given to a creator. Form is derived by the creator, not the created. Isaiah confirms this for us:
Isaiah 45:9 NASB95
9 “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?
Genesis 1:2 NASB95
2 The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
At a surface level the Hebrew here uses alliteration for a play on words “tohu wa bohu” - we might say something like topsy turvy in English. The words do communicate formless and void (empty or unproductive) but this phrase is also used in a way similar to chaos.
What follows beginning at Genesis 1:3 to the end of the chapter, is God’s solution to the problems posed in Gen 1:2 in formless, empty, dark, and the deep.
Without getting sidetracked into a study of the aspects of creation or the how creation came to be in this account, I’ll make a summary statement that says in seven days, God provides order, form, function, and purpose to all of His creation. Psalm 8 includes a summary of creation but does not limit it to just material creation.
Psalm 8:3–4 NASB95
3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him?
David recognizes purpose as part of God’s creation.
Let’s jump back to Genesis 1 and look at man’s involvement in what is going on.
Genesis 1:26–27 NASB95
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26–27 (NASB95)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:26–27 (NASB95)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
Genesis 1:28 NASB95
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:28 (NASB95)
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Genesis 1:29–30 NASB95
29 Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so.
So the purpose of plants/vegetation was food for Adam and Eve and all life that they had dominion over.
Genesis 1:31 NASB95
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Genesis 1:31 (NASB95)
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
All that He had made includes the order that God had established.
Colossians 1:16 NASB95
16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
What an interesting list of the created things
Psalm 8:5–6 NASB95
5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet,
David once again, recognizes this created order, this stewardship of man.
Genesis 1:31 (NASB95)
31 God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
What are some things we’ve seen so far:
God has authority as Creator
God has exercised His authority
God delegated authority
God set boundaries of authority
If we go to Genesis 2, we see more of this in action.
Genesis 2:15 NASB95
15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it and keep it.
Adam exercises authority in cultivating the garden
Genesis 2:16–17 NASB95
16 The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; 17 but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.”
God provides boundaries of the authority given to Adam
Genesis 2:20 NASB95
20 The man gave names to all the cattle, and to the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field, but for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for him.
Adam exercises authority by naming the animals and then again after the creation of Eve:
Genesis 2:23–24 NASB95
23 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” 24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
Then in Genesis 3:1, authority is challenged.
Genesis 3:1 NASB95
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Indeed, has God said, ‘You shall not eat from any tree of the garden’?”
The authority of God is questioned. And the seed is planted, does God have the right to rule?
Genesis 3:2–3 NASB95
2 The woman said to the serpent, “From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; 3 but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.’ ”
Eve knew God’s commands
Genesis 3:4–5 NASB95
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Pay attention to the serpent here:
Genesis 3:4–5 (NASB95)
4 The serpent said to the woman, “You surely will not die! 5 “For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Now you may remember Gen 1.26-27, where Adam and Eve were already created in God’s likeness. So the specifier here is extremely important.
Genesis 1:26–27 (NASB95)
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
You know the story from here, Adam and Eve eat the fruit and then consequences ensue.
Genesis 3:14–15 NASB95
14 The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, Cursed are you more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you will go, And dust you will eat All the days of your life; 15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.”
Genesis 3:14-15 gives us the curse of the serpent to be on its belly and eat dust, and then the protoevangelium, the first gospel.
Genesis 3:16 NASB95
16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain in childbirth, In pain you will bring forth children; Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”
Gen 3.16 gives Eve increased pain in childbirth. Note, when Eve seeks to fulfill God’s command, be fruitful and multiply, it will be more difficult now.
Yet your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.
As I’m certain many of you know, there is a lot of disagreement on the meaning of this verse. I’ll offer you my perspective today. Adam had already exercised authority over Eve by naming her “woman”. So Adam’s role as leader and husband is not what changed here.
Genesis 2:24 NASB95
24 For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
The word for wife here is the same name that Adam gives to Eve in our translation rendered woman.
Genesis 3:16 LSB
16 To the woman He said, “I will greatly multiply Your pain and conception, In pain you will bear children; Your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you.”
What has changed here is Eve’s desire. Genesis 4:7 sheds some light on this.
Genesis 4:7 NASB95
7 “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
We probably carry some baggage with the rendering master here, but I would guess that no body here would say they are the master of sin. This mastery of sin, isn’t control over it, but responsibility for it.
Gen 1:16-18 shows us this same idea.
Genesis 1:16–18 NASB95
16 God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.
This responsibility is articulated in Adam in Genesis 3:17 -
Genesis 3:17 NASB95
17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.
Note what God says Adam has done here. You have placed the voice of your wife over mine.
Who has the right to rule?
Genesis 3:18–19 NASB95
18 “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; 19 By the sweat of your face You will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.”
Note, that similar to Eve, when Adam tries to fulfill God’s directive to subdue and rule over the earth, it will now be more difficult. It’s as if the ground now rebels against the authority given to man.
Genesis 3:20 NASB95
20 Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living.
You may recognize the Greek version of this name, Zoe
Once again, Adam exercises his authority and names the woman Eve
Genesis 3:22 NASB95
22 Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”—
Genesis 3:23–24 NASB95
23 therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken. 24 So He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim and the flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of life.
So because of sin, Adam and Eve are driven out of the garden, out of the presence of God.
You see in choosing to listen to the serpent, Adam and Eve chose to say that the right to rule was not God’s. Instead, they obeyed the serpent. Thus we see there is the kingdom established by God, and a kingdom of rebellion against it, one that denies that God has the right to rule. As we continue to walk this out, I hope you begin to notice this theme in your personal Bible study and as we are teaching here on Sunday mornings. And though today doesn’t have a neat application as to how you can directly change your life, its purpose is to help you better understand Scripture, and that will change your life.
God has authority as Creator
God has exercised His authority
God delegated authority
God set boundaries of authority
The kingdom exists physically
The kingdom exists spiritually
There is rebellion to the kingdom
The kingdom is purposeful
It sets out to answer the question
Who has the right to rule?
Genesis 1:28 NASB95
28 God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
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