Receiving the Kingdom

Introduction

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Last Beach Day

Presentation Party

Next 2 Sundays

Baptism - September 21st

Missions Prayer (HSM Students)

Last week

The Way to Greatness—Humility

Service

Unity

Sacrifice

He leaves and heads to Judea (closer to Jerusalem)

He encounters pharisees who are trying to trap him

Listen to Char’s teaching on Marriage and Divorce

They want to talk about divorce, but Jesus points them to marriage

But after this encounter we have the next stories

Jesus blessing the children

The Rich Young ruler

These are two different stories

But both of them have a shared topic:

Who is the kingdom of God for?

What sort of person has a place in God’s Kingdom?

So lets get reading:

Scripture Reading

Mark 10:13-31

(SLIDES)

Outline

What it means to Receive the Kingdom

The Posture of Receiving the Kingdom

The Cost of Receiving the Kingdom

The Reward of Receiving the Kingdom

What it Means to Receive the Kingdom

We are going to jump right in!

Receiving the kingdom is a priority:

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:15 CSB

15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

We must receive the kingdom before entering it:

Mark 10:23–25 CSB

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Christianity isn’t just about entering the kingdom (going to heaven) — It’s about receiving the kingdom first

Mark 10:15 CSB

15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Do you see that?

At the front and center of this passage is what it means to ‘Receive the Kingdom’

It can be a ‘church’ expression

Something ‘Christian’ but we don’t actually know what it means or think about it

What does it mean to receive the kingdom?

Without churchy context—What does it mean to receive a kingdom?

What kind of person receives a kingdom?

I can think of two:

Royalty - Inherits a kingdom

Another king - Conquers a kingdom

Unless we receive the kingdom like a little child, we will never enter it…

Which of these two sounds like a little child?

Inheriting or Conquering

I don’t want to get too confusing…

but really at the heart of this is unless you are royalty—you won’t be able to enter the kingdom

It’s not about getting a ticket to visit the kingdom

It’s about securing a position in the royal family

As brothers and sisters of Jesus, the kingdom is something we receive

Have you ever received such a gift?

So today as we start talking about receiving the kingdom

It is so much more than just where you go when you die—securing a space in heaven

Its about walking in the truth of your identity as a child of God

It’s about receiving an identity of royalty—princes and princesses

But the first thing we see today is:

The Posture of Receiving the Kingdom

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:13–16 CSB

13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t stop them, because the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 After taking them in his arms, he laid his hands on them and blessed them.

Speaking plainly here, Jesus says:

“whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Here Jesus is setting forth the posture of how we receive the kingdom—it has to be like that of a little child

And we talked about this last week but the way they viewed children back then was different than we do today

We tend to think of children as innocent->so maybe we think this text is saying that we must be innocent to receive the kingdom

How many of you have little siblings or nieces/nephews (over a 5 year gap?)

Children are not innocent—they are crafty, mischevious, and manipulating

They may be ignorant of the way the world works, but they aren’t innocent

I think here, Jesus is lifting children as an example, not for anything they have but precisely because they have nothing

How do children receive gifts?

Excited, freely, tearing apart the wrapping paper and throwing it aside

There’s no:

How could I possibly repay you?

Oh my, I don’t deserve this!

Guilt in needing to pay them back with a better gift

Children have no obligation to pay back people for gifts

And here Jesus is illustrating a key principle of what it means to receive the kingdom

No one earns it; No one deserves it—we freely receive it like children on Christmas

Notice he doesn’t say the kingdom is also for the children (the powerless, those who can’t earn it)

But he says the kingdom is only for the those like little children...

This goes against the grain of the world we live in

We are supposed to work hard and reap the rewards of our efforts

Surely, If God had plan to personally adopt children to make them royalty, to give them his kingdom...

He would choose the best and brightest, the achievers, those that have demonstrated their greatness

But that is not the case

Jesus wants you, for who you are—not what you can do

He is not impressed with all of the things the people in this world are easily impressed by

Wealth, power, success...

And we see in the next story, that these things can actually be hinderances in receiving the kingdom

I have a question: How can you receive a gift from me if your hands are already full?

If we are going to receive the kingdom we have to let go of stuff, stuff that we might find important and invaluable

There is a:

The Cost of Receiving the Kingdom

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:17–22 CSB

17 As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked him. “No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: Do not murder; do not commit adultery; do not steal; do not bear false witness; do not defraud; honor your father and mother.” 20 He said to him, “Teacher, I have kept all these from my youth.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus loved him and said to him, “You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 22 But he was dismayed by this demand, and he went away grieving, because he had many possessions.

Now Mark puts these two stories, of the children and this man, side-by-side to contrast what it takes to enter the kingdom...

On one hand we have children -> powerless, vulnerable, not much to offer others

And here we have a man that most people would envy -> powerful, morally-outstanding, rich

So lets look at Jesus’s encounter with this man

He is genuine in his questioning of Jesus

This man is a good man—he didn’t earn his money or power in shady ways through lies, he hasn’t committed adultery, etc.

Notice though… what commandments does Jesus leave out?

You shall have no other gods before Me.

You shall not make idols.

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.

This is a man with an idolatry problem and Jesus exposes it through his invitation to this man

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:17–22 CSB

“You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But this man left Jesus grieving… because he had many possessions

He couldn’t accept the gift of Jesus because his hands were already full

The story of this man is a serious warning to all of us

We live in a world where this sort of man is who we want to be—who we build our lives to become like

Rich with many possessions

Morally-outstanding (outwardly) - no murder, no lying, no cheating, honors his parents

This man is the embodiment of the ‘American dream’

But at the end of the day… his god is is money, his wealth

He is not able to give it up to follow Jesus

The dream and idolatry of wealth has choked out his life

And he is unable to give it up

There is a cost to receive the kingdom

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:23–25 CSB

23 Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples were astonished at his words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

This is one of the paradoxes of Christianity:

The gift of salvation—The gift of the kingdom is completely and utterly free—but it will cost us everything

What I mean by this:

Again imagine if you had your hands full of a bunch of junk, and I wanted to give you a great gift in a big box

You have to let go of the junk before you can receive the gift

The gift is free!

You’re not paying me with the junk—it’s not an exchange

But it going to cost you parting with it, if you want to receive something better

Ex. Flying home in College

That’s why Jesus says: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

We envy rich people—they have nice homes, they drive nice cars, they can have whatever they want

We often desire that power, that wealth

But Jesus says… it is harder for these people to enter the kingdom

Because they have too much stuff—they aren’t willing to let go of the temporary for the eternal

Again going back to what Jesus said earlier:

Mark 10:15 CSB

15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

The benefit that these children have over this rich man is that the children have nothing

There’s no obstacle in their way—they have open hearts and open hands

But the last thing I want to talk about is:

The Reward of Receiving the Kingdom

(SLIDES)

Mark 10:28–31 CSB

28 Peter began to tell him, “Look, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 “Truly I tell you,” Jesus said, “there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, 30 who will not receive a hundred times more, now at this time—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions—and eternal life in the age to come. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

So Peter sees all of this go down and he makes a straightforward comment: What about us?

And in short, Jesus says—you will have your reward—a hundred times more

I see your sacrifice, and it will be rewarded

Anything you give up in this life—it won’t be forgotten by God

I think this is a key aspect of Christianity that we tend to overlook—we have a reward for us

Somehow we think that following Jesus is just about sacrifice and denying ourselves

But we forget why we are doing it—there is a reward for us

And some people are uncomfortable talking about rewards in heaven

But God made us to be motivated by reward—our brain functions (Risk/Reward-Dopamine)

But Jesus is saying don’t be motivated by rewards that will only make this life easier—but be motivated by rewards that actually matter in eternity

Know that God will take care of you—in this life an in the life to come

Conclusion

So as we wrap up...

Are we willing to accept the wonderful gift of God’s kingdom with open hands?

Are we willing to drop the junk in our lives to receive it?

The gospel is not just a ticket to heaven when we die

We receive the kingdom

Because of the cross—we are brought into the family of God

We are royalty—ruling and reigning with Jesus

(SLIDES)

Romans 8:16–17 CSB

16 The Spirit himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God’s children, 17 and if children, also heirs—heirs of God and coheirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

Reflection Question

(SLIDES)

What thing(s) are you holding on to that you need to let go to make room for Jesus?