The Kingdom Part II
Notes
Transcript
The Kingdom Part II
The Kingdom Part II
Community Group Signups
If you’re curious about what is going on here, go look at our calendar online.
Speaking of our website, I wonder how many of you know what our Mission Statement is here at Christ Fellowship?
What are we trying to accomplish? What is the goal or what is the purpose of Christ Fellowship?
Make and Equip Disciples
Now I’ll ask an easier question, what Scriptures does this come from?
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ;
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.
I’ve got a ways to go!
19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
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
Who has the right to rule?
We saw this through Genesis 1-3.
Where we left in Genesis 3 Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit, they had upset God’s order by not recognizing God’s right to rule, God’s authority. Because God is perfect, this sin required that Adam and Eve be removed from the garden, from the presence of the Lord. They upset the balance on two levels, the spiritual and the physical.
With that summary on our minds, lets pray and move forward to this weeks texts.
PRAY
I’m going to tell you ahead of time where we are going to land today as a lot of times with topical studies, that is helpful.
Kingdom begins by Abiding
You have been delegated authority
Today we’re going to be contrasting two unlikely parallels, Cain and Solomon. They are not the same by any means, but we’re going to look at parts of their stories and see what the overlap tells us about the kingdom. But lets begin exactly where we left off last week.
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.
What do you think Adam and Eve desired at this point?
Weeding as a kid - working in the yard on Saturdays
Let’s continue into Genesis 4 with our survey.
1 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the Lord.” 2 Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
Note that the first thing Scripture records Adam and Eve doing after leaving the garden is fulfilling the commandment that God had given them: “Be fruitful and multiply.” Cain and Abel were born.
In Genesis 4:3-4 Cain and Abel bring offerings to the Lord
3 So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground. 4 Abel, on his part also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering;
This shows the Cain and Abel recognize that spiritual separation that now exists in the kingdom resulting from Adam and Eve’s sin, the reordering of the authority structure that God had put in place. We’re not told where this understanding came from, but Cain and Abel are making an offering to the Lord.
5 but for Cain and for his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
What does this tell us? It tells us that the reception of the offering was valuable to Cain.
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? 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.”
Clearly we see continued rebellion in Cain’s murder of Abel in Gen 4:8
8 Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
and then Cain is confronted by God in Genesis 4:9-11
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground.
11 “Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 “When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.”
So we see Cain’s punishment here in being a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.
In fear, Cain pleads with the Lord for safety in verses 13-14
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14 “Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
Then the Lord provides Cain safety in verse 15 with a mark so that no man will kill him.
15 So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord appointed a sign for Cain, so that no one finding him would slay him.
In verse 16, Cain goes to setup his own safety by establishing a city.
16 Then Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17 Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and he built a city, and called the name of the city Enoch, after the name of his son.
This is a demonstration of rebellion against the Lord and His authority yet again. We touched on this briefly in Habakkuk 2:12-14. So we see Cain establish a physical kingdom as an act of rebellion against the Lord. He tries to exercise his own authority for his protection rather than God’s authority.
Not only that, but Cain’s punishment is to be a vagrant and a wanderer, instead he founds a city. The two do not fit. He is trying to defy what God has said. It is rebellion against the authority of God.
Who has the right to rule?
In the words of Frank Sinatra, “I did it my way”
25 Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.” 26 To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then men began to call upon the name of the Lord.
“to him also” is a contrast to Cain
So here we see through Seth, there is a branch of people who are still looking towards God as the king of the kingdom, as the authority. They are looking to God’s kingdom, both spiritually and physically. These are “sons of the kingdom.”
Now before we jump to Solomon, we have to look at the Davidic Covenant. After all, if you were going to point to a representation of the kingdom in Scripture, it would most likely be the kingdom of Israel under the rule of David. This is found in 2 Samuel 7 in the words of Nathan the prophet to David.
12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
- David will have a descendent who will be king
- This descendent will build the temple
- The throne of his kingdom will be established forever
- The throne will not be taken away from him (Solomon)
- David’s house, kingdom, and throne shall endure forever
16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
2 Samuel 7:16 (NASB95)
16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
What do these terms mean?
House - David’s Line
Throne - Authority
Kingdom -
LC 2 Weeks ago we discussed the requirements for a kingdom
Authority (King)
Realm/Location/Place/Dominion to rule (Not Always Physical)
Someone/Something to rule over
Exercise of Authority
So Kingdom, though it could simply be the place where authority is exercised, I think at a minimum includes the dominion over the subjects that are to be ruled by the line of David and perhaps that is the main intent of this phrase.
2 Samuel 7:16
House - David’s Line
Throne - Authority
Kingdom - Dominion/People
16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ”
So in order to recognize why all of this matters, we need to do some correlation. What I mean is we need to put some of the pieces we have studied on this kingdom theme together to aide in our understanding. So let’s backtrack for a minute.
Adam and Eve sinned (Gen 3:6)
They were separated from God (Gen 3:14-21)
They were driven out of the garden/kingdom (Gen 3:22-24)
Cain and Abel make offerings (Gen 4:3-4) - So if spiritual separation leads to physical removal, what is the way back in?
What this shows is that entrance/possession/participation in the physical kingdom is directly tied to spiritual condition. Participation in the kingdom is a statement of abiding, constant communion with the Lord.
If we look at our passage in 2 Samuel, what do we see?
12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.
14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you.
The Kingdom is not going to be removed from Solomon. 1 Kings give us the history of what happens:
6 Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as David his father had done.
11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this, and you have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you, and will give it to your servant. 12 “Nevertheless I will not do it in your days for the sake of your father David, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 “However, I will not tear away all the kingdom, but I will give one tribe to your son for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”
971 BC - Solomon is King
931 BC - Kingdom is Divided - 1 & 2 Kings Study
722 BC - Northern Kingdom goes into Assyrian Exile
605 BC - Southern Kingdom (Judah) goes into Babylonian Exile - Hab Study
536 BC - Israel Released to rebuild - Cyrus the Great in our Isa Study
So similar to the garden, the spiritual condition of the nation of Israel is corollary to their possession/participation in the kingdom! More specifically, we see that the spiritual condition of the King is directly corollary to the nation’s possession/participation in the kingdom!
We don’t just see this with Solomon. Regarding the Babylonian Exile it is written:
3 Surely at the command of the Lord it came upon Judah, to remove them from His sight because of the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he had done,
You see the delegation of God’s authority is not a small matter. It holds great significance and great responsibility within the kingdom. I want to ask you,
Has God delegated authority to you?
So let’s review what we’ve looked at today:
The kingdom exists physically (garden and then under Saul/David/Solomon)
The kingdom exists spiritually (constant communion with God)
There is rebellion to the kingdom (sin)
The kingdom is purposeful
The house, throne, and kingdom of David are everlasting
Not that these are new things being created, but that God has solidified David in His things!
Kingdom = Abide
Possession is tied to Spiritual Condition
Entrance into the physical kingdom is tied to ones spiritual condition
QUALIFIER: Not being in the physical kingdom is not indicative of one’s spiritual condition. This is not a means of judging if someone is a believer or not.
4 By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.
Being in/out of the kingdom ≠ Justification
To Enter, one must be Justified by Faith
Not Entering does not mean not Justified by Faith
This is crucial in our understanding of Matthew. The phrase “enter the kingdom” does not unequivocally mean “be justified for salvation”
Next Time - Jews did not see themselves as possessing the kingdom in Matthew. They saw themselves still living in exile.
So when we see someone who is not in the kingdom, we need to pause and ask what does that mean? I propose to you that it is not a statement of one’s eternal destiny, one’s justification by faith alone before God. More on that to come.
Spiritual Condition of the King is significant
We see this twofold, God’s covenant with David provided provision for Solomon. Solomon’s sin provided difficulty for the kings that follow.
The King holds responsibility for the nation because the king has been delegated responsibility for it
Just as we saw with Adam and Eve, the one who has been delegated authority holds responsibility for it!
Application:
Has God delegated authority to you?
How did God delegate authority in the garden?
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.”
Look at the imperatives here:
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.”
He gave commands
So we see the one who has authority delegates by giving commands
This is why Paul credentials his authority in his letters. He is giving commands and he wants people to recognize the authority behind them. Only then are they responsible for it.
Make and Equip Disciples
One of my hopes for our body is that we never think of the Great Commission apart from the Great Comment.
18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
19 “Go therefore and !!make!! disciples of all the nations
Authority has been given to you! Responsibility has been given to you! It is just a glimpse of what is to come!
Authority has been given to you because the one who holds all authority has given us a command, just like He did in the garden. And just like the garden, in the kingdom, we are responsible for that command.
This series isn’t going to go all the way through the kingdom theme, next time we’re going to stop at the beginning of Matthew right after the intertestamental period. But I want to preview something that Jesus is doing in Matthew.
As we’ve looked at before, Matthew uses kingdom language a lot.
You see Matthew is recording how Jesus called people back to the perspective of the kingdom that Scripture has told us. This perspective that we’ve been looking at. That the kingdom is obtained through fellowship with God. It is an invitation to abide with Him now. That one’s spiritual condition, not legalism or adherence to moral absolutes is what the law is for.
Next time, when we continue our study we’re going to look at how this perspective from Scripture gets distorted, specifically through the intertestamental period. I believe this is what has led to so much confusion about the meaning of the kingdom today. But I want to leave you with a verse of hope, because after all, that is the heart of the kingdom theme, the promise of restoration into the kingdom of God through the Spiritual Kingdom by restoration of relationship first, and then through participation in the physical kingdom.
You may remember me saying earlier that the spiritual condition of the king is important.
In the angel’s message to Mary:
31 “And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32 “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33 and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end.”
Make no mistake, the King has come and the King is coming again, and He has invited us to abide with Him today.
The question is, will you recognize the authority He has delegated to you?
Let’s Pray
