The Coming of the Kingdom

Introduction

Opening Illustration (Daniel’s Vision): In the Old Testament book of Daniel, written roughly 500 years before Christ was born, we read about a promised future Kingdom that would enter on the world’s stage. The prophet Daniel interprets a dream for Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon. And in the dream, Daniel foresaw four distinct earthly Kingdoms that would come in his future. In terms of Biblical prophecy, it is one of the more remarkable passages in Scripture. He foresaw the Babylonian empire which reigned from 605-539BC. Then he saw the rise of the Medo-Persian empire which reigned from 539-331BC. Then he saw the rise of the Greek empire which reigned from 331-146BC. Then he saw the rise of the Roman empire, whose reign began in 146BC and was the empire on the world’s stage when Christ was born. And according to Daniel, in the midst of that Roman Empire a new kind of kingdom would be established. According to Daniel it would far surpass every other Kingdom. It would become a kingdom that would fill the entire earth, and endure forever.

Daniel 2:44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever,”

Personal: I wonder what Daniel would have given to be alive in the days that we are alive. Because we, are those who are living in the fifth and final kingdom, the Kingdom of God. I sometimes wonder if we take for granted what it means to be alive in the days of the inaugurated Kingdom of God? Do we have a sense our majesty of His kingdom, and of our duties to our King?

Context: In our passage today in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus contiues to teach about the Kingdom of God, a theme that has come up consistently in Luke’s gospel. In chapter 13 Jesus compared the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed that grew to the become the tallest of all trees. In chapter 11 we learned that the miracles Christ was doing was evidence that the Kingdom of God was at hand. Today we learn more about Jesus’ vision of the Kingdom, and what we can expect as citizens living in that Kingdom. Let us turn to the text.

Luke 17:20–37 “Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” And he said to the disciples, “The days are coming when you will desire to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it. And they will say to you, ‘Look, there!’ or ‘Look, here!’ Do not go out or follow them. For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and…”

Meaning & Application

From our passage today I would like to draw out three insights on the Kingdom of God.

I. THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS INAUGURATED BY CHRIST

First, the Kingdom of God has been inaugurated. Let’s begin in those first two verses where the Pharisees ask Jesus

Luke 17:20 “…when the kingdom of God would come…”

In order for us to understand Jesus’s response to that question, we first have to understand what the Pharisees meant by that question.

Roman Occupation: For the Pharisees of Jesus’ day, they eagerly looked forward to the coming Kingdom of God. Using OT passages like we saw in Daniel, and many others, they looked forward to coming of their Messiah—Savior—who they believed would come. But their interpretation of OT passages was quite confused. They believed that when Messiah came he would deliver them, not primarily from sin, but he would deliver them primarily from Roman occupation of Israel. They were expecting a political leader who would arise, who lead a physical military to overthrow the Romans and restore Israel to the superpower it once had been under King David.

Rumors of Jesus: And so when rumors of Jesus began to circulate and when Christ began teaching about the Kingdom of God, the Pharisees questioned him. And in their question what they were asking was, “When will the uprising begin?” Jesus is well aware of their false understanding, and so he answers them by way of addressing their false presuppositions.

Luke 17:20–21 “… The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Not Coming in Ways That Can Be Observed: There are two components to Jesus’ response that are important. First Jesus says “the Kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed.” What he means by this is not that there were no signs at all that preceded the coming of Christ, for indeed there were many signs. There were signs in the stars, as a shining meteor led a group of wise men from the East to come pay homage to Jesus. Jesus performed miracles, and healed the sick and the lame. These were all signs that should have pointed everyone in proximity to the reality of the Kingdom. Rather, what he means by this is that the kinds of signs they were looking for would not be found.

They were waiting for a political ruler to confront the Romans, but Christ would be a spiritual leader who surrendered to and was crucified by the Romans.

They were waiting for a King to give great speeches to mobilize God’s people to war, but Christ was a prophet who gave great sermons and mobilized God’s people to holiness.

They were waiting for a ferocious champion to ride out on a war horse, but Christ came humbly and mounted on a donkey.

The signs they were waiting for were incorrect.

The Kingdom of God is in the Midst of You: Then Christ says, “The Kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” That is quite intriguing language, and there is a bit of debate of what Christ means here. Some English translations like the KJV translate it as saying, “the kingdom of God is inside of you.” I don’t think that is quite right, because Jesus seems to be condemning the Pharisees, not celebrating them. I think what Jesus is doing here is he is pointing to himself. He’s staring them in their face almost with a hint of sarcasm. Almost to say, “You’re asking me when the Kingdom of God is going to begin…? I’m the King! And I’m beginning my kingdom right now. I’m among you right now. You’re so spiritually blind that you can’t see it.”

Christ Inaugurated the Kingdom: In verse 25 Christ is in the midst of talking about His return, when he comes to culminate the Kingdom he inaugurated. And he pauses and says

Luke 17:25 “But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.”

Jesus says that he must suffer many things. Christ’s death and resurrection is the inaugurating event of the Kingdom of God. That great kingdom that would in fact be the Golden Age of blessing this side of heaven, required first the death and the resurrection. Why? It is because every kingdom needs a people, who constitute the citizens of that kingdom. And God’s chosen people, his elect, had been separated from God by sin. But through the Covenant of Grace, Christ redeemed us from death and from separation and into life and into communion with God. His death was the necessary atoning sacrifice required, in order for God’s people to be set free from the dominion of sin, and to be placed into the kingdom of Christ.

Aspects of the Inaugurated Kingdom of God: So let us define this inaugurated Kingdom of God. What is it that we are participating in as citizens of this kingdom?

1 The Kingdom of God Has a King: Christ was crucified, but he raised from the dead and he ascended on high, and we are told

Revelation 19:16 “On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.”

As King of Kings Jesus has all authority on Heaven and Earth. His is the greatest kingdom the world has ever known, because he is the greatest king the world has ever had. His authority is incomparible. His sovereignty is unimagineable. His power is total. He is the King of Kings.

2 The Kingdom of God Has Laws: Second, the Kingdom of God has laws. As those living in the time of blessing, in the Kingdom, we are subjects to the King and to his law. This is why the New Testament writers so often introduced themselves as “servants of Christ” or “slaves of Christ.” As citizens, purchase by the blood of Jesus, we are not free to live as the flesh desires. We are bound by our King’s law. We are bound to uphold his law and therefore to showcase the greatness of our king.

3 The Kingdom of God Has a Driving Ethic: Third, the Kingdom of God has a driving ethic. Laws alone can easily become heartless. But the ethic of the Kingdom of God is love. Love, fueled by the King who loved his people to the point of death, even death on a cross. Citizens in the Kingdom of God are defined by their love. This is why Jesus said,

John 13:35 “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.””

4 The Kingdom of God Has a Mission: Fourth, the Kingdom of God has a mission. 1 Corinthians 15 speaks of this inaugurated kingdom.

1 Corinthians 15:25 “For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.”

Until Christ returns to consummate the Kingdom, the Kingdom of God will go forward triumphantly. We as citizens are called to be the hands and feet of Christ bringing the light of Christ, the hope of Christ, the glory of Christ, with us wherever we go. We evangelize because God is in the business of transforming lives by saving their soul and causing them to be born again to a living hope. And we are busy with all kinds of good works, loving on the poor, the needy, the vulnerable, the downcast. This is where the Church shines brightest! Why? Because it is in these spaces where we see the darkness being pushed back, and the love and light of Christ gaining ground.

Conclusion: If you have been saved by Christ, you are a citizen in the inaugurated Kingdom of God, you are living in the Age of Blessing.

II. THE TRANSITION FROM THE INAUGURATED KINGDOM TO THE CONSUMMATED KINGDOM WILL BE MARKED BY CERTAIN SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONDITIONS

Second, from this text we see that the transition from the Inaugurated Kingdom to the Consummated Kingdom (when Christ returns) will be marked by certain social and cultural conditions

Framework: This inaugurated kingdom that we live in, will one day give way to the consummated kingdom. There is coming a day when Christ will return, and with him will come the final judgment. The end of this age, and the beginning of Heaven on Earth. We will explore that theme in my third point. But here, Jesus uses three OT stories to describe the culture of society at large in the days leading up to His Return.

Noah: The first story he uses is of Noah. If we recall the story of Noah, God looked down on Earth and saw that level of depravity that had consumed the world. We are told in Genesis 6 that,

Genesis 6:5 “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

We cannot begin to imagine the depravity and the horror of the sin in the world in the days preceding Noah’s Ark. But God instructed Noah to build an ark, a ship that would protect him and his family from the coming judgment of God. And Noah, being a righteous man, obeyed God. Despite his neighbors mocking him, and despite that all he had to go on was the Word of God, he built an ark. Then one day, while all of Noah’s neighbors were living their lives, eating, drinking, and marrying, it began to rain, and the fountains of the deep began to burst open. God’s judgment was poured out on that generation in full. As every wicked deed was held in the justice of God.

Lesson 1: Sudden & Violent: What do we learn from Christ’s use of this story. First, we learn that when Christ returns it will happen suddenly and violently. In the days of Noah, once it started to rain, there was no second chances. Nobody else made it on the ark once the door was closed.

Lesson 2: Feeling Foolish: Second, the Noah story is very relatable. We imagine Noah constructing the ark, warning of the judgment to come, and many just mocking him, saying he was a fool. Likewise, we are taught in 2 Peter chapter 3, that we will experience something similar increeasingly in the last days

2 Peter 3:3–4 “knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.””

Christian, do not let the mundane reality of everyday life, rob you of an imminent hope of Christ’s return. Like Noah, believe God’s Word. Every day fix your eyes on that hope, like a small child waiting every day for his dad to come home from war.

Lot: The second story Jesus uses is that of Lot, Abraham’s nephew. This is commonly referred to as the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you remember the story, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, were much like the population of Noah’s day. They had fallen into incredible depravity. Sexual sin ran rampant through the culture, so much so that when two men visited Lot the men of the town gathered at Lot’s door asking to communally rape the visitors. But God brought judgment on those two towns. A series of meteors fell from the sky and demolished the towns (a fact of history by the way that has been recently been proven by archaeology). The only one who was spared was Lot and his family, because they trusted the Word of God and escaped to the hill country as they were warned to do so.

Lesson 1: Sudden & Violent: Again, what do we take away from this story. On the one hand its very much like Noah’s story. It communicates that when Christ returns he will do so suddenly, when everyday life is being lived.

Lesson 2: Culture of Sin & Vice: Second, in the days leading up to the return of Christ, we can expect that though the Church will have grown and had a very salty impact on the world, bringing life, and love, and schools, and orphanages, and hospitals, and the truth of God, we will also see increased depravity alongside all of that virtue. I think we ought to expect to see not only tremendous sexual perversion, as in the days of Lot, but tremendous cultural sin all around. I think this maybe is what Christ means in his very last words when he says

Luke 17:37 “And they said to him, “Where, Lord?” He said to them, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.””

I believe that is an old euphemism, a common saying of the day. We might say it like this, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” It simply means, when you see this kind of thing happening in the culture around you, make sure your affairs are in order.

Lot’s Wife: The third story Christ uses is Lot’s wife. In verse 32 of our passage today we read,

Luke 17:32 “Remember Lot’s wife.”

What is her story? In the narrative of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot’s wife originally determined to follower her husband and escape the coming judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah. She fled the town with her husband. But as she fled, something was revealed in her. Her heart still longed for her world in Sodom. On the outside she was following Lot, but on the inside, her heart was attached to those towns destined for destruction. She made the escape only half way before she turned back. She, like the others in Sodom and Gomorrah, was destroyed in that towns judgment.

Lesson 3: Half Heartedness in the Church: What do we learn from Lot’s wife. She is a symbol for us of luke-warm faith. She is a symbol for us of a faith that does not save, because it never actually trusted in the Word of God. Her faith was outward. Though outwardly she was running with Lot, inwardly her heart was in Sodom. Jesus says

Luke 17:33 “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

To lose one’s life is surrender it fully to Christ. This passage, from verses 30-34 seem to indicate that immediately preceding the return of Christ there will be a season of sifting on this Earth. Just as a colander sifts through the grains and separates one kind from another. So will there be a season of sifting on this Earth, where the legitimacy of our faith will be revealed. There will be those, like Lot's wife, who played the part but never surrendered their life to Christ, never gave him full ownership of their life, never had a relationship with God. And the evidence will be clear as day, when the season of sifting arrives, their first look will be to the security of their possessions and not to the security of Christ their King.

Plea: Oh Church, I present to you this day Christ, a Christ that is able to “ravish any soul that will but consider him.” Oh that you would see him now, in all of his power and beauty and majesty and wonder, you would go home today sick with love, with a beating heart, alive to things of God. What fools they are that when Christ appears, their first thought is to their possessions! Their hearts have been ravished by that which perishes! And they indeed will perish along with their possessions. But may it not be so for any here today. Look upon Christ today and live!

III. THE INAUGURATED KINGDOM WILL BE GLORIOUSLY CONSUMMATED WHEN CHRIST RETURNS

Third and finally, Christ’s Kingdom will be gloriously consummated when Christ himself returns in the flesh. In verse 24 of our passage today we read the following.

Luke 17:24 “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.”

Here, Jesus is describing a globally recognized event. He’s looking to his future, and to our future, and he is saying that a day is coming unlike any other day. A moment is coming unlike any other moment. It is the moment of Christ’s return to usher in the end of the age. That moment will be globally recognized. Nobody will be confused as to whether or not Christ has returned. From one end of the world to the other, every human being alive will stand in awe at the moment the King of Kings returns.

Other Places in Scripture: Many other places in Scripture teach us about this event that is yet to occur. Let me give you two.

1 Thessalonians: The Apostle writes that,

1 Thessalonians 4:16–17 “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”

Hebrews: Likewise the book of Hebrews says

Hebrews 9:28 “so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

When Christ returns it will be the end of the Inaugurated Kingdom, and the beginning of the Consummated Kingdom.

Fulfilling Inaugurated Kingdom: What is Christ coming to do upon his return. He is fulfilling and finalizing all that has been begun in the Inaugurated Kingdom. What we experience in part now, we will experience in full then.

Spiritual->Physical: We have been changed spiritually now in this inaugurated kingdom. We have been born again and our hearts now beat for the things of God. But in that consummated kingdom, in the resurrection, our bodies will experience a new birth.

1 Corinthians 15:52–53 “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality.”

Faith->Sight: In the inaugurated kingdom we walk with Christ by faith. But in the consummated kingdom, we will walk with Christ by sight, for Christ himself will physically be at the center of the Kingdom.

1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”

Oh how beautiful Christ will be. When we see his face, and understand his glory, even Heaven will seem like shadows gray compared to his excellency.

Flesh->No Flesh: In the inaugurated we walk with God, and yet we continue to wrestle with the flesh and with ungodly desires that well up inside of us. But in the consummated kingdom, any remaining flesh will be left behind. In our new glorified bodies, we will only desire God and His blessing all the time.

Warning->Judgment: In the inaugurated kingdom evil continues to exist and the Church warns about the coming judgment. But in the consummated Kingdom, Christ will execute full justice for every transgression of his law. For Revelation 20:14 tells us that at Christ’s return,

Revelation 20:14 “Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.”

Christ here in this passage, speaks of that which our hearts most beat for, the final and fully realized Kingdom of God. Right now, we taste of it deeply. We experience Christ in ways that are beyond our expression. But there is coming a day, when Christ returns, and we see him face to face, when the shadows of this world pave way to the substance of the next, that we were made for.

Tasted->Saturated: In the inaugurated kingdom we taste of the blessedness of godliness and Christ’s love. But in the consummated kingdom, we will be saturated in nothing less than perpetual blessing.

1 Corinthians 2:9 “But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—”

Before all time, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit dwelt in perfect harmony, a relationship of pure love. No sin, no aching of the soul, pure divine love. The great wonder of the gospel is God desires to share that pure love with sinners like us. The means of that transaction was accomplished on the cross. But when Christ returns, we will not only taste of that love, we will be saturated in it.

Illustration: Reep: One of my very favorite scenes from CS Lewis’ Narnia series is in the fifth book, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. As their boat travels closer and closer towards the edge of the world, and towards heaven, there comes a moment after many weeks when Reepicheep falls off the boat and into the water. The crewmen hear the sound of splashing and race to the edge, and all they can hear is Reepicheep screaming, “Sweet! Sweet! The water is sweet!” The water they had been traveling in, as they got closer to heaven had changed, and it was sweet. It gave them life. They all drank deeply, and they were changed. So it will be in the consummated kingdom. We will be immersed in an ocean of sweetness. There will be no lack, no inch of decay, no ounce of worry. But like old Reepicheep, we will immerse ourselves in the sweet waters of the consummated kingdom, and we will never look back.

Conclusion

Church, Christ is coming very soon. Fix your eyes on him now, while there is still time.