The Kingdom of God

This morning we are starting our new series, / / The Kingdom is… and we’re going to be looking at what Jesus had to say about what we call the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven.

When something has the name like Kingdom of Heaven, it’s kind of natural to think that this is a kingdom we won’t experience until we are in heaven, and for most people the concept of heaven is that we get there when we die. So, is the Kingdom of Heaven something to even really talk about too much? Is this something that matters now? Or is it just something to look forward to?

Let me ask you a question this morning.

Of all the things Jesus taught about, / / what do you think he taught about most?

Some would say / / money, and for good reason. Did you know that of the parables that Jesus told, stories that he used to explain the things of God, almost 30% of them were about money! 30%!!!

And of those parables 1 in every 7 verses actually mention money.

And so some people make a pretty convincing argument that, well, it seems that Jesus focused a lot about money. But here’s the thing about statistics… they don’t always tell the whole story. See, Jesus DID talk a lot about money, the stats are true, BUT, most of the time he was using the object of money as an illustration that people would understand to prove a different point. He wasn’t necessarily talking about money itself, or how to use it, or giving, or some other financial wisdom. But the TOPIC of his message was something else while using money as the illustration.

Take for instance a very popular, very strong parable Jesus teaches. He tells a story of a king who needs to settle debts that a bunch of people have with him. The whole story is about that. BUT, the PURPOSE of the story and the TOPIC, what Jesus was teaching was entirely about forgiveness. So, yes, he used money as the topic, because people usually understand money, or at least it relates to them. And you could gain some definite financial wisdom from the story, about not borrowing, about making sure you pay your debts, about being financially wise. And we all relate. Someone at some time has owed you money. OK, let’s talk about the heart issues here, not about whether money was involved or not, but money can invoke such strong emotions, let’s talk about it.

Of course, Jesus did actually talk about money, and does care very much how we use it, and he does talk about giving, and the purpose of money, but it wasn’t his most talked about topic.

So, what did Jesus talk about most?

OK, like I said, statistics can be a funny thing, although they say one thing, like we see with the topic of money, they can sort of be used to say whatever narrative you want, which is why it’s important to have discernment. Remember that little gift of the Spirit we talked about? Ya, I still think it’s one of the most important, and one we should be praying for and asking for often. Between discernment and wisdom, it’s a tossup between which I think I personally need the most!

But, when you look at how often a particular topic is mentioned in Jesus’ teaching, and I mean topic, not just a mention of something used to explain the actual topic, there is a strong argument to be made for the / / Kingdom of God, or as it is also often translated, the Kingdom of Heaven being Jesus’ primary message that everything else was centered around.

Should that surprise us?

We believe Jesus came from Heaven, IS THE God who created both heaven & earth, and returned to Heaven when he was raised from the dead. So what do people do when they come and visit? They tell you about where they’re from. And if that person’s dad is super important, what do they tell you about? Ya, how important their dad is. And what if they have a friend that’s visiting after them, but doesn’t just want to visit, but wants to stay with you, of course, they’re going to talk about them, who they are, where they come from and their purpose.

So, to talk about the Kingdom of GOD, or Heaven, where he came from, who He is, who the other trinitarian members are, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, makes a whole lot of sense.

Also, Jesus’ primary purpose in coming to earth was to reconcile humanity back to God. God created Adam & Eve in perfect unity with him in the garden. They messed it up. The law of the old testament shows us how messed up we become without God. And Jesus came to set us right, to fulfill that law, to redeem mankind and that perfect unity that we can have with Him.

So, over the next few weeks we’re going to look at what the Kingdom of God is, what Jesus had to say about it, what it means for us and how we enter it, engage with it, and all kinds of good stuff.

I mentioned parables, Jesus actually tells more than 15 of them revolving around the Kingdom of God. To put that into context we only have recorded in the scriptures about 35-40 parables, so 15 is a good number of them. And a lot of them start with, / / The Kingdom of Heaven is like…

That’s why we’re calling this series, the Kingdom is… Because Jesus talked a lot about what the Kingdom actually is, and he often used stories to explain it. So we’re going to pull apart these stories. Like one of them in Luke 13:18, Jesus says, / / What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed....

hmm… ok, what’s he mean by that? Well, you’ll have to come back next week to find out!

This week we’re going to look at so, / / introduction to and some basic foundational truths about the Kingdom of God.

/ / 1. The Kingdom of God was FORETOLD

Although this was the message Jesus brought, God had already spoken beforehand through many people and many prophets that this was not just the main message of Jesus, but the main thing.

In Luke 1 when the angel Gabriel appears to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and he tells her that she’s going to give birth to baby Jesus, in explaining who this little baby will be, he says in vs 31-33, / / You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end.

The entire Old Testament is the story of God’s Kingdom. And I don’t mean Israel, but from day 1 of creation, God was speaking to mankind about more than just living in this earth. And scripture is always pointing to this greatness that God intended. And the Old Testament points to Jesus. This is the purpose of the Law & Prophets - The Law shows us that we couldn’t do it on our own, we had to have a God save us, and Jesus Christ IS that God who has come to save us and bring us into HIS Kingdom.

Then right before Jesus begins his ministry on earth, John the Baptist, who the bible says came to prepare the way for Jesus, it says in Matthew 3:1, / / In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (11) I baptize with water those who repent of their sins and turn to God. But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am - so much greater I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

He’s pointing out, “Look, Someone is coming, and that someone is coming to bring the Kingdom of God!”

And he confirms who that is in John 1:29-30, / / ...John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! He is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘A man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’

The Old Testament, the angel who told Mary she would have a son, John the Baptist, all pointed toward Jesus who would bring the revelation of the Kingdom of God.

/ / 2. The Kingdom of God is the PURPOSE

Just as we read in Matthew 3 that John had been preaching, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of God is near… Matthew 4 some time has passed from then and it says that Jesus hears that John had been arrested and in vs 17 it says, / / From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Mark 1:15, which is a parallel verse to this one actually says, / / “The time promised by God has come at last!” Jesus announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News.”

When I say Parallel Verse, I’m talking about 2 or sometimes up to 4 points in the Gospels that talk about the same moment. As you read through Matthew, Mark, Luke & John there are events that each author wrote about, and some that are unique to particular books. So sometimes we see a story written once, or twice, or three times or even four times, from the different perspectives of the various writers.

So, Jesus came, as I said, primarily and most importantly to save humanity. He became the sacrifice we were never able to give, He is the payment for our sin we were never able to make, He is the gift of grace we could never deserve.

Jesus explains to a man named Nicodemus in John 3 that the purpose of which he came is the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus is a teacher, a religious leader and a Pharisee. Pharisees were a group of Jewish people who were defined by their strict observance of both the traditional and written law, but they also kind of held that over people as a sort of superior self-righteousness. They had developed a system of 613 laws, rules that they said people had to follow.

So, Nicodemus comes to Jesus in the night time, when no one else is around, because he doesn’t really want other Pharisees to know he’s talking to Jesus. And says to Jesus in John 3:2, / / “Rabbi, we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus asks a very reasonable question in response, / / “What do you mean? How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the spirit. Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life. So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

Now, each of the verses we’re looking at today are a sermon or an entire book within themselves. But we’re simply laying the groundwork here.

So, Jesus is saying that the Kingdom of God is the end result of our salvation. He came to save us, and that saving us is for the purpose of seeing and entering the Kingdom. But that can only happen by a birthing in us BY the Holy Spirit. And we’ve read in the last couple series, we receive the Holy Spirit WHEN we believe.

And Jesus says two things here / / You MUST be born again BY the power of the Holy Spirit to both SEE & ENTER the Kingdom of Heaven...

He is saying this is nothing we can do in our own power. Humanity can not birth spiritual eternity, only the Spirit can give eternal life. And of course, this exchange with Nicodemus is what leads to John 3:16, where Jesus says, / / For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

So, the Kingdom of God is the PURPOSE.

/ / 3. The Kingdom of God is SERIOUS

Let’s jump over to Matthew chapter 5 for this one. Jesus is teaching about the law. Remember the 613 of those bad boys… Even if it was just the 10 commandments, we wouldn’t be able to live our lives fully following those 10, let alone 613.

So, Jesus teaching about the law says, / / I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

But I warn you - unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Wow, that is pretty serious. If your righteousness, which means living right before God, isn’t better than the people who live their entire lives to keep every single part of the law, then you can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

But this is actually one of my favorite verses, because it points directly to the grace of God, the free gift that Jesus was sent to us as. Paul writes in Romans 3:20-22, / / …no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands...

WAIT, didn’t we just read Jesus demanding we get it right or we can’t enter the Kingdom of Heaven?

The law simply shows us how sinful we are. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

See, the righteousness that Jesus is talking about here, that needs to be better than that of the pharisees, is not at all the righteousness of the pharisees, because they were trying to be righteous by doing the right things. But Jesus whole point was you are meant to be MADE righteous, which then enables you to BE righteous. It is in the receiving of God’s gift of righteousness through the sacrifice, the blood of Jesus Christ. Ephesians (2:8) says, / / For BY grace (free gift) you have been saved THROUGH faith (believing). And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God...

The NLT says, / / God saved you BY HIS GRACE when you BELIEVED!

So, the warning Jesus gives here, what makes the Kingdom of God so serious, is that the pharisees, who were supposed to be the teachers of God’s promise, have been putting 613 rules and regulations on the people, a burden no one can bare or live up to.

Jesus addresses this very directly in Matthew 23. He says, (2) / / “The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden… (13) What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you shut the door of the Kingdom of Heaven in people’s faces. You won’t go in yourselves, and you don’t let others enter either.

See, as long as we’re focused on our natural ability to keep God’s law, we’ll miss it. And if we are telling other people that’s how it works, we’re missing even more.

But here’s the thing. Jesus is also saying salvation by grace through faith does not negate the teaching of the law or the morality and instruction of God. We read in Matthew 5, / / ...anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Teaches AND obeys! The gift of grace and salvation removes from us the need to meet a requirement ourselves, but it also empowers us and gives us purpose to follow what God says. / / Love encourages obedience, it’s not a freedom to do what we want and be loved anyway, but rather encourages following the right way!

/ / 4. The Kingdom was Jesus’ MAIN MESSAGE

As I mentioned, this was most probably the main message that Jesus brought as he ministered on the earth.

We read in Matthew 4 where Jesus picks up the same message that John had been preaching, and this is still sort of the beginning of Jesus’ Ministry, he’s come back from the wilderness, he’s filled with the Spirit of God, he’s picked up where John left off, and is starting to do miracles among the people.

and in Matthew 4:23 it says, / / Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.

There’s a parallel verse in Luke that actually goes a bit further in the story. Luke 4:42-44, / / Early the next morning Jesus went out to an isolated place. The crowds searched everywhere for him, and when they finally found him, they begged him not to leave them. But he replied, “I must preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God in other towns, too, because that is why I was sent.”

Who sent Jesus? This is a major statement…and one that repeats all through Jesus Ministry, he often refers to the “one who sent him.” 1 John 4:9 says, / / This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus, and the reason Jesus was sent, from his own mouth, was to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

Matthew 9:35 also says, Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom.

/ / 5. The Kingdom is Eternal

The Kingdom of God has always been and will always be. There is no beginning and no end to the rule and reign of God. He lives outside of time and space, or, you can think of it as, God created time and space for you and I. God does not need time or space, but in creating human life he created a world that would exist within time and space. And even more than that, he subjected himself to that time and space by become a human of his own creation in the life of Jesus Christ.

Imagine that. You are God. no beginning, no end. It’s not like God exists outside of time and space, because time and space don’t exist until God decides to create them. it’s not like there was nothing before creation, it’s more like, all there was was God. It’s not like God existed in this never-ending expanse of nothing, but rather, there was a never-ending expanse of God. He is Everything…And / / out of God’s everything, he created something....humanity.

God has always been supreme. And when the ruler of all who is supreme, who is all, everything, the alpha and omega, decides to create something, he is of course the supreme ruler of that created thing. For humanity to look up to God and say, “Thanks for the life, I’ve got it from here...” just does not make sense. And there is just too much beauty, intricacy, complexity and wonder in this creation for me to believe anything but that it was created by an infinitely power, intelligent and loving God. And / / for us to live our lives believing we can manage without God, is the biggest deception there could possibly be.

Do you understand that without God there is NOTHING… yet God in His EVERYTHING, created you?....and it was for the purpose of Him loving You. Not because he needed something to love him in return, but simply that he of himself had so much to give that he created something to give it to. And this is your highest purpose and your highest calling, to be loved by God!

And so the Kingdom of God has always been, it currently is, and it is yet to come.

It is also the place of our eternal destination. When Jesus was crucified, he was hung between two criminals. And in Luke 23:39-43 it says, / / One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself - and us, too, while you’re at it!”

But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Here we are, at the end of the life of Jesus, and it kind of looks like all is lost. The Disciples are distraught, they kind of assume that maybe it wasn’t meant to be. In fact, in Luke 24, Jesus has been raised from the dead, but has not revealed himself to all of the disciples yet, and he’s walking on the road with two men who had followed him in his life. They don’t recognize him. Luke 24:19-21 says, / / He [Jesus] was a prophet who did powerful miracles, and he was a mighty teacher in the eyes of God and all the people. But our leading priests and other religious leaders handed him over to be condemned to death, and they crucified him. We had hoped he was the Messiah who had come to rescue Israel...

They even go on to tell him that some of the women of their group had gone to the tomb, seen an angel that had told them Jesus was raised back to life, and the body wasn’t there…yet they still said, “We had HOPED he was the Messiah…” Doesn’t sound like much hope. We HAD…not we DO, but we HAD...

See, the people who believed in Jesus while he was alive, were hoping that he would be the current king, and free them from Roman oppression. At the time, there is no nation of Israel and they are thinking the Messiah would be there to restore the nation, on this earth. The week before he is crucified, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem and in Luke 19 it says that all the people gathered around and shouted, / / “Blessings on the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven, and glory in highest heaven!” (Luke 19:38) They were ready for Jesus to be King, to lead them as a nation on this earth... but what they didn’t understand is that this Kingdom that Jesus had been talking about was / / not of this world.

6. The Kingdom is Not of this World

When Jesus was on trial before Pilate, he is asked the question in John 18:33-37, / / “Are you the king of the Jews?” he [Pilate] asked him.

Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”

“Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”

Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”

This idea that the Kingdom of God was not the restoration of Jerusalem was a hard thing for the Jewish people to fathom. This is what they had been hoping since they had been exiled from their homeland. Israel had fallen to the hands of the Assyrians more than 700 years before this point, and the nation of Judah, where Jerusalem is located, had been conquered by the Babylonians in 586 BC. For nearly 600 years there’s been no Jewish nation, no king of Israel. But there’s been hope. Hope in a Messiah that would come and sit on the throne of David again. The confusion is that I think they were hoping for an earthly king, and they received an eternal Messiah.

The Pharisees, who didn’t even like Jesus, asked him in Luke 17, / / “When will the Kingdom of God come?” and in Luke 17:20-21, / / Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

The Kingdom of God is not confined to geographical boundaries, but is defined by the hearts of those who submit to the rule of God.

This is why Jesus said in Matthew 11:12, / / …from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it.

There was now this conflict. Of Jesus who was preaching the Kingdom of God, saying, Repent, meaning, turn back to God, and those who were opposed to his teaching. John the Baptist was killed, beheaded. And Jesus is here saying, the kingdom is advancing because John and I are preaching the Good News, which is repent of your sin, turn back to God, the Kingdom is near! and as a result, people were upset, religious leaders felt like they were losing control because Jesus was bringing real true freedom. And this balance of power in what people thought was a natural kingdom and what was a purely eternal, spiritual kingdom where the God of the Universe is ruler of all, was starting to show up.

See, every time someone decides to give their life to Christ, the kingdom has just advanced, because someone decided to put their life under the rule and reign of God.

/ / With every repentant heart the Kingdom of God advances!

/ / 7. The Kingdom of God BECOMES OUR EVERYTHING

If you truly see Christianity as not just salvation for eternity in heaven, and subsequently not enduring an eternity without God, which would be terrible, but you actually see it as the invitation into a Kingdom that is both Here & Now, where a King has rulership, then our approach to everything changes.

I was born in Canada, and if you wanted to become a Canadian citizen, you have to pledge an oath, and because Canada is still a commonwealth country, meaning we still consider the Queen of England as our true leader, even though we are an independent free nation. And when you say the oath of Canadian citizenship you pledge allegiance to both Canada and Queen Elizabeth the Second, and to faithfully serve and uphold the laws of Canada.

But here’s the thing... I never said it, because I was born Canadian. And for a lot of people they are born into their nation, and they are never faced with having to give an oath.

Now, last year when I became a US Citizen, I had to say an oath, and it’s pretty substantial. And I’m going to read it because if you were born here, you may not have read it, and you didn’t have to say it under oath, and I want to share a point here.

“I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.”

Why did I choose say that oath? Like it says, taking this obligation FREELY. No one made me say this oath, I CHOSE to. why? Because I wanted to be an American Citizen. And I had to give that oath with all honesty, integrity and the followthrough it requires. If we go to war tomorrow, and there is a draft, I may get shipped off to basic training.

When I drive down the road, I know there are laws to follow. I don’t steal. I don’t kill. I don’t break into places. I don’t threaten other peoples way of life. I pay my taxes. I file with the IRS. I don’t hide money I make. I make sure my Drivers License is up to date. I replace the sticker on my car every year… Get this… I even enter the round-about when it’s my time…neither cutting people off, nor holding up traffic by doing it wrong.

We all understand the rules, the laws, what governs our nation. And because we desire our nation to be run effectively, and to continue to be a great place for people to live, we uphold those laws. We uphold, to the best of our abilities what it takes for America to exist as America. We all take part. We all have a role.

Now, I haven’t said all that to get political, but simply to take a moment to look at the oath that one takes to be a citizen of a nation they desire to be a citizen of.

I desire to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven. And trust me: it’s benefits far outweigh those of even our great nation.

I desire to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Jesus. He is a fair, just, sovereign king.

I desire to be a citizen of the Kingdom of our God. Whose rule will never end, whose kingdom will never cease.

A leader who would lay down his life for his people.

/ / The Kingdom of God is represented in a king who took OUR everything, so we could take HIS everything. That’s what happened on the cross. Jesus took all of my shame, sin, guilt, and punishment, and I received all of his life, goodness, mercy, grace and forgiveness… What more could you ask for in serving someone?

/ / So, Why is the Kingdom important?

See, when you are in a kingdom you enter under the umbrella of the rule and reign of that king.

Yes, you are subject to the kings rule, but you are also protected by the kings reign.

You are protected, covered, looked after.

A good king cares for his people.

A good king looks after his people.

A good king leads his people in freedom, not bondage, even though there is an absolute dominance of a kingdom mentality, God does not use his authority to rule us in a dominant way, but rather, uses his influence and power to make us more free and more alive and even goes as far as not just inviting us IN to this kingdom as subjects, but Jesus said in John 15:15, / / I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you!

We’ve just spent weeks talking about receiving the Holy Spirit, and receiving his gifts. That we receive the Holy Spirit at the time that we believe. Well, Romans 8:15-17 says, / / So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ are heirs of God’s glory.

Together with Christ we are heirs…or we are co-heirs with Christ.

So, the fact that Jesus saw this as not just his most important message, but the very foundation and purpose of his entire life, ministry, death & resurrection, should give us the idea that for us as well, this is a pretty big deal!

When we believe in Jesus Christ we step into the Kingdom of God and not only under His rule, reign and covering, but become co-heirs with Christ himself, receiving an eternal gift far beyond anything we could ever fully understand in this life.

Over the next few weeks we’re going to look at what it means to live in this kingdom, and for a King we can give our all to, that gave his all for us!