What is the gospel of the kingdom?

“Image of Christ in You” Formation Assignment

Main Point: The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that God has come to be present with His people by establishing His rule and reign over all things.

Matthew 4:17 ESV

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Discussion

What was your biggest take away from the Pre-Work this week?

Jesus begins His ministry by proclaiming the gospel, but He hasn’t died or risen yet. What is the nature of the gospel Jesus teaches?

What is Jesus preaching before His death/resurrection?

All the promises of the Old Testament.

Does the New Testament make the Old Testament unimportant or obsolete? Explain your answer.

Matthew 6:33 ESV

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Acts 1:1–3 ESV

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

What is “The Kingdom of God”?

The Kingdom of God was supposed to be earth—God dwelling with man.

Because of sin, there’s an outside force keeping us from God.

In the gospel ministry, the kingdom of God not being established as a new thing, but as it was always intended to be.

Jesus is not plan B.

We cannot understand the person and work of Christ without understanding the story of the Kingdom.

The Kingdom of God breaks into the world through Jesus.

Matthew 1:1 ESV

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

He was not only coming to fulfill the covenants that God made in the Old Testament.

He’s coming to establish all the kingdom promises that God made through David.

He’s coming to establish all the promises in Abraham and David.

Would you say the typical gospel presentation is incomplete without talking about the kingdom?

1 Corinthians 15:3–4 ESV

3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

In gospel articulation in the NT, there’s some triage.

The simple, but sound version of the gospel.

“Jesus came to save the lost.”

Short, clear, simple.

The expansive, sound version of the gospel.

As you move from milk to meat, as you move into deeper discipleship, you want to see the gospel less of a seed and more of an oak tree.

Matthew 13:31–32 ESV

31 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

When we talk about the gospel, we tend to think of it in means of which a person must be saved.

This is true, but it’s more than that.

The gospel is continual good news for someone who has already been redeemed.

The gospel continues to grow and expand in our lives.

You never graduate from the gospel.

How does Jesus’s teaching, healing, and miracle ministry (before His death and resurrection) proclaim and demonstrate the “good news”/”gospel”?

How does Jesus’s gospel of the kingdom fulfill the promises of presence, people, place, and purpose?

The gospel is the re-Edenization of the world.

We have a new Adam.

We have a new holiness/purity

The Kingdom is incomplete, but established.

Already and not yet.

Christ’s kingdom is now present, but not yet consummated.

The blessings that Jesus won for us are being distributed by Him through His spirit.

We are already chosen, redeemed, called, justified, and renewed.

We are being sanctified

We will be glorified.

The gospel is past—Accomplished in Christ

The gospel is present—Applied and lived by the Holy Spirit

The gospel is future—Jesus is coming for us.

Romans 8:29–30 ESV

29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

We are already foreknown, chosen, called, justified, and renewed.

We are being sanctified

We will be glorified.

The Kingdom will be finalized and established on earth.

Distinctions between the “Kingdom of grace” and the “Kingdom of glory”

Jesus had a state of humiliation (earthly ministry) and exaltation (resurrection/seated in glory).

The church also has a state of humiliation/exaltation that echoes Christ’s.

The Kingdom of grace is the period we’re in now—where the Lord has established His grace to the Church through the cross, but it has not yet been exalted.

The Kingdom of glory is the period we’re longing for—where Jesus returns to establish His rule/reign over the earth and the Church lives in the glory of Christ.

It’s not two churches or kingdoms.(Now/then) but two phases of Jesus’s reign.

Right now, we live in the kingdom “already”

A period of humiliation where the church looks weak to the rest of the world.

The Church expands by the Word and the Spirit, proclaiming forgiveness of sins to the ends of the earth.

Soon, we’ll be in the “not yet”

When Jesus returns, the kingdoms will be consummated and reunited/absorbed into His everlasting reign.

The Kingdom invites us into how the world is supposed to be.

How do we live as if the Kingdom is here now and living toward the kingdom to come?

What is the simplest way you’d explain the kingdom to someone?

The presence of God with the people of God in the place of God, living out the purposes of God.

Question to ask while you’re reading the Bible:

Is God presence?

Are His people living out His purposes?

Are they living in His place?

The Kingdom of God is His rule and reigned aimed at the restoration of all things.

Discussion

What is your main takeaway from this session?

Is it hard to believe Christ reigns over certain areas of life? Explain your answer.

Pre-Work 1.21.26

Turn and Tell: With whom can you share something you learned in this session? What do you plan to share with them?

Begin working on the “Story of Scripture” and “Practicing Mission” assignments

Read Philippians 2:1-11; Hebrews 8-10

Take five minutes and pray through Romans 11:33-36. Read it once out loud then use it to shape your prayer.

Next Big Idea question: “Who is Jesus?”

Story of Scripture

Formation Assignment

“He who tells the best story wins.” - Bobette Buster

The goal of this assignment is for everyone to be able to articulate the story of the Bible in 10-15 minutes, from Genesis to Revelation. This storytelling assignment will highlight the major narrational and doctrinal points that we have covered in the program. We want you to know the story, share the story, and be participants in the story.

Assignment

Each person will prepare a 10-15 minute comprehensive presentation of the story of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Throughout the presentation, you will highlight both important events from the Bible (Creation, Fall, Abrahamic Covenant, the Exodus) and important doctrines as they appear (Trinitarianism, imago Dei, total depravity, providence) through the lens of presence, people, place, and purpose.

You are free to practice telling the story in a way that best fits your current context or ministry. For example, practice telling the story as if you were speaking to an unbeliever. If you serve in children’s ministry, practice telling the story as if you were teaching one of the kids in your classroom. Practice as if you were telling the story to a neighbor or co-worker. If you are a parent, practice telling the story as if you were discipling one of your own children.

Goal

The following is a story guide to help you think through the story of Scripture as you prepare your presentation and a rubric to help you include all of the important stories, doctrines, and themes that we study in this program. Make it your own. Do not feel like you need to capture every point in the guide.

Practicing Mission

Formation Assignment

Romans 10:14–15 ESV

14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”

Sharing the gospel can be one of the most intimidating practices of the Christians life. And yet, the Lord has called us to the joy of proclaiming the gospel to people who have not yet believed upon Christ Jesus.

Assignment

During the second half of this program, we ask every participant to explicitly share the gospel with a non-Christian in their life. This could be a friend, co-worker, family member, neighbor, or someone you providentially encounter going about your days.

“Explicitly sharing the gospel” means explaining to them the good news of Christ Jesus and making an appeal to them to repent and place their faith in Him.

To help you track and stay accountable in this process, you will record one prayer and one purposeful interaction with this person each week. Use the Evangelism Journal Form in the Resource section to take notes before and after each interaction. We strongly encourage you to practice presenting the gospel with someone in your group before presenting it to the non-Christian person you hope will come to faith in Jesus. Your regular prayer and preparation with make a difference!