How Is God Growing His Family?

https://vimeo.com/470402425

How Is God Growing His Family?

Series: Why Did God Create Us?

What Does The Bible Say?

Genesis 11 - God disinherits the nations of the world

Genesis 12 - God starts His own nation - Israel.

Psalm 82 - God is angry with the sons of God that presided over the other nations.

Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied about a new covenant and a new heart that will come to Israel.

Why did Jesus keep talking about the coming Kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God/Heaven

Mark 1:15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”

Luke 10:11 ‘We wipe even the dust of your town from our feet to show that we have abandoned you to your fate. And know this—the Kingdom of God is near!’

Matt 1:17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

Luke 21:31 In the same way, when you see all these things taking place, you can know that the Kingdom of God is near.

Matt 10:7 Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

Luke 9:62 But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.”

Luke 17:21 You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

Mark 4:26 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground.

So let’s see the world as God sees it.

30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 The time for judging this world has come, when Satan, the ruler of this world, will be cast out. (John 12:30–31 NLT)

8 Next the devil took him to the peak of a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 “I will give it all to you,” he said, “if you will kneel down and worship me.” 10 “Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say,‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.’” 11 Then the devil went away, and angels came and took care of Jesus. (Matthew 4:8–11 NLT)

God is now ready, through the cross, to take back these other kingdoms of this world.

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.” (Luke 24:49 NLT)

18 Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20 NLT)

Jesus is now taking back control of this world.

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place. 2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability. (Acts 2:1–4 NLT)

Why did the believers, filled with the Holy Spirit speak different languages?

They were speaking the languages of the Jews who had been scattered all over the world in exile back in Old Testament times.

41 Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all. (Acts 2:41 NLT)

These new believers eventually went home.

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12 NLT)

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. (Colossians 2:13–15 NLT)

At the cross, God took away Satan and the other sons of God’s authority that ruled the nations.

As people get saved, God’s Kingdom grows and the other kingdoms get smaller.

How Can You Obey?

Help expand the Kingdom of God.

Additional Notes:

If you would like to use your home to disciple others, check out our training at www.crosswaveschurch.com/host. Cross Waves has produce short videos to train you how to use your home to reach others for Christ. So please check it out.

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This series comes from the book, What Does God Want? Michael S. Heiser and Blind Spot Press, 2018.

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Todays tough questions segment comes from the book: McLaughlin, R. (2019). Confronting christianity: 12 hard questions for the world’s largest religion. Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

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31 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord.

33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Je 31:31–34). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

22 “Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign Lord: I am bringing you back, but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, on which you brought shame while you were scattered among the nations. 23 I will show how holy my great name is—the name on which you brought shame among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign Lord, then the nations will know that I am the Lord. 24 For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.

25 “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

28 “And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God

Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (Eze 36:22–28). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Explore:

If you keep reading the book of Acts it doesn’t take long to figure out what Jesus was forecasting. Once he leaves (Acts 1:9–11) the Spirit arrives in (literally) a blaze of glory in the next chapter.

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1–4)

The rest of the account tells us that the Holy Spirit enabled the followers of Jesus to speak in all sorts of languages. They were telling the story of Jesus—his death and resurrection—to Jews from all over the world. “Jews” was the name given to the Israelites in foreign lands, who had been scattered all over the world in exile back in Old Testament times. The Jews who heard the followers of Jesus preaching to them in their own language were descendants of Old Testament Israelites. They had come to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the holy feasts on the old Israelite religious calendar.

The people in Jerusalem who knew who the followers of Jesus were thought the whole public display was drunken madness. It just wasn’t possible that all of a sudden these men could speak in other languages. But then the apostle Peter laid it all out for them. Honestly, did more than that—he let them have it:

“Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below.… And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.… Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.’ ” (Acts 2:14–19, 21–24, 33)

Heiser, M. S. (2018). What Does God Want? (pp. 38–39). Blind Spot Press.

Question 1 of 5

Why are relationships so important in a Christian’s life?

Question 2 of 5

Why is it more blessed to give than to receive?

Question 3 of 5

When did the Kingdom of God start? When will it completely take over?

Question 4 of 5

How does God’s Kingdom grow?

Question 5 of 5

What are some activities that you can do to be an active part of helping God’s Kingdom grow?