Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

What is the Kingdom of God?

I must confess that for many years as I heard passages read from Scripture about the “Kingdom of God” or the “Kingdom of Heaven,” I often had a nagging feeling that there was a lot more to those passages than what there seemed to be on a surface level.

I often read passages like the one we will read tonight and scratched my head, aware that I was missing something, but not quite sure of what that was!

It wasn’t until one of my seminary professors led us through the book of Matthew that my eyes were opened to one of the biggest, most pervasive themes in all of scripture.

I would argue that this topic of the Kingdom may well be the single biggest analogy that scripture uses to describe our relationship to God, salvation, and the history and future of God’s dealings with us and his creation.

It’s huge.

It runs throughout every single book of the Bible from cover to cover.

My New Testament professor at SBTS, Dr. Jonathan Pennington, puts it this way:

Alongside Christology, another key theme in each of the Gospels is the proclamation of the kingdom of God.

Matthew is no exception and indeed, may be said to have the greatest emphasis on the theme of kingdom of any NT book.

βασιλεία occurs fifty-five times in Matthew in a wide variety of phrases, including kingdom of heaven (32x), kingdom of God (4x), and several other references such as “his” or “your” kingdom.[1]

Moreover, many scholars understand the central emphasis of the First Gospel to be found in Matthew’s unique phrase, “the gospel of the kingdom” which occurs at important structural seams (4:23; 9:35; 24:14).[2] The kingdom is what heads the preaching ministry of John the Baptist (3:2) and Jesus (4:17), and is what Jesus commissions his followers to say in turn (10:7).

Matthew’s Jesus gives an important series of teachings explicating the ways of this kingdom (esp.

chapter 13), and the disciples are taught to pray for its coming (6:10).

Of course, Matthew’s emphasis on kingdom overlaps with several other key themes he develops including Christology, OT fulfillment, and eschatology.

Indeed, Kingsbury understands the kingdom to be “the single most comprehensive concept” in Matthew, touching on “every major facet of the Gospel, whether it be theological, Christological, or ecclesiological in nature.”[3]

Heaven and Earth in the Gospel of Matthew, Pennington, Jonathan (Leiden: Brill, 2007)

[1] Cp. Mark (20x); Luke (46x); John (5x); rest of the NT combined (36x).

[2] See especially Jack Dean Kingsbury, Matthew: Structure, Christology, and Kingdom, 128-131.

Cf.

Hagner, Matthew 1-13, li ff.

[3] Kingsbury, Matthew: Structure, Christology, and Kingdom, 128.

Yet, as modern readers living in a democracy, hundreds of years and thousands of miles removed from a Kingdom, I think it’s perhaps one of the most difficult topics for us to wrap our minds around.

It’s completely foreign to us and, if we’re honest, I think most of us would also admit to thinking it a bit antiquated.

So today, I want to take a very introductory look into this topic.

There’s no way that we can even begin to exhaust the topic or cover it fully.

My hope is to simply scratch the surface enough today that it leaves you wanting to know more!

My hope is that you will begin to see this theme in scripture and that the Holy Spirit will open your eyes to one of the greatest truths in his Word.

I want you to now where I’m going with this sermon since this is such a broad topic.

So, we’re going to start with a very familiar passage that I think highlights very well the importance of this topic and then use that as a springboard to do a brief survey of Kingdom theology throughout Scripture.

My aim today is to answer a couple questions:

What is the Kingdom of God?

What are some of the practical daily life implications and applications of living with an awareness of the Kingdom?

Seeking the Kingdom first is the key to a right perspective and relationship with God.

Matthew 6 is best understood in the larger context of his book.

It’s no coincidence that Matthew begins his book with a statement that immediately gets us thinking about Kings and Kingdoms.

Throughout the book of Matthew, Jesus is referred to repeatedly by his relationship to King David.

Then, we’re explicitly told that Jesus is the long awaited King in

This passage, of course, sets up the conflict that runs throughout the rest of the book—the Kingdoms of this earth vs. the Kingdom of Heaven.

Then, in chapter 3, John the Baptist comes.

And what is his message?

Immediately, he is faced with conflict from the Pharisees and Sadducees who Matthew wants us to understand are part of the Kingdoms of Earth that are waging war against the Kingdom of Heaven.

Then Jesus is baptized and tempted in the wilderness, much as Israel and even King David were tempted in the wilderness, and then he begins his ministry.

And what is the message of his ministry?

When he teaches the crowds, what does he teach about?

Jesus makes many more mentions of the Kingdom that we don’t have time to discuss, but it’s worth noting how he teaches his disciples to pray:

Matthew 6 is not about worrying or money.

So if Matthew’s primary theme is the Gospel of the Kingdom, has he just completely switched topics in chapter 6? Nope!

While Matthew 6 certainly does address the topics of money and worry, it does so in the context of the Kingdom of God.

After a lengthy discourse on why we shouldn’t worry about money, clothes, and anything else, Jesus concludes with a surprising remedy for worry:

This is huge!

Jesus says that the antidote for worry is a focus on the Kingdom of God!

This also explains verses 22-23, which puzzled me for years.

When Jesus says “eye” and “lamp” he’s talking metaphorically about our perspective.

When we have a Kingdom-centered perspective, our lives will be full of light.

But when our perspective is set on earthly things our lives will be full of darkness.

You can’t serve the Kingdom of God and the Kingdoms of earth at the same time!

The Kingdom of God is a theme that runs throughout Scripture (not just Matthew’s Gospel).

In Genesis

You might be surprised to find that the earliest implication of the Kingdom of God actually occurs back in the Creation narrative in Genesis 1.

The first mention of this Kingdom motif occurs in v. 26, where God makes mankind “in his image.”

Entire books have been written on what the “image of God” is, but I’m just going to tell you what I think is going on here.

The word here that is translated “image” is frequently used throughout scripture, often to refer to idols or “graven images.”

These idols were hand-crafted by artisans, of course, but they were believed to be indwelled by the gods they represented.

They were a representation of the real thing.

This was also common practice amongst ancient kings and rulers—to erect images of themselves throughout their kingdom as a means of establishing and solidifying their rule and kingdom.

That makes a lot of sense in the context of Genesis 1:26 because in the very next breath God says,

“...let them have dominion over the fish of the sea...”

When God creates mankind, he’s establishing his Kingdom here on earth by sending out little representatives of himself.

We were created, therefore, to “image” or represent God and spread his dominion over all the earth.

Of course, it didn’t take long for rebellion to arise in God’s Kingdom.

The very first couple listens to the lies of the enemy—who had apparently already rebelled against God, at least in his heart—and they commit the first sin.

On the surface, it looks innocent enough—eating a piece of fruit.

But, couched in the context of their created purpose as God’s image bearers and Kingdom representatives, it’s treason.

God’s created people have essentially thumbed their noses at God, rejected his rightful rule, and attempted to usurp the authority that belongs only to him.

And that is the essence of sin—it is a rejection of God’s rightful rule and an attempt to establish ourselves as Kings over our own lives.

That’s why sin carries the death penalty—because it’s high treason against our Creator and King.

This rebellion continues throughout the book of Genesis as people congregate together in Babel, attempting to reach heaven in their own efforts instead of spreading God’s rightful dominion throughout the earth as they were commanded.

In the Old Testament

Much more could be said in Genesis, but we simply don’t have time for an in-depth look at every occurence of the theme of God’s Kingdom throughout all of scripture.

Jumping forward to the Exodus, we see the Kingdoms of the earth—in this case Egypt—attempting to stand against God’s Kingdom yet again.

It’s long been noted by Bible scholars that some of the plagues that God brings against Egypt seem to be direct judgements on Egypt’s gods.

Ra, the Egyptian sun god, is proven powerless against Yahweh when the sun is darkened for three days in the ninth plague and Pharoah himself, believed to be a god by his people, is powerless to stop the death of his own firstborn.

God leads his people as a victorious King into freedom in the Exodus.

But it isn’t long until the rebellion stirs again.

If we fast-forward a bit to Samuel, we see this rebellion continue in the hearts of God’s people.

Of course, their first king, Saul, did exactly as God said he would.

But, while the Israelites had rejected God as their King and set up a terrible substitute, God redeemed the situation by setting up David as Saul’s successor.

David is a man after God’s own heart and executes justice and rules well.

So it’s a bit ironic, then, that out of Israel’s rebellion comes one of the best examples we have in scripture of what the Kingdom of God is like through the reign of King David.

So what is the Kingdom of God?

Defining abstract concepts like “Kingdom” is always challenging, so it helps to use analogies.

The Kingdom of God by analogy to an earthly Kingdom

How would you explain to a child what a “business” is?

Is it a storefront?

Is it a bank account, a profit-loss statement?

Is it a group of people who work together?

Is it the exchange of goods and/or services for money?

Of course, the answer is that it’s a combination of all the above!