Where do we go from here?

Well, we are going to wrap this series up this week. The Kingdom is… We are talking about the Kingdom of God, or as Matthew says it in his gospel, the Kingdom of Heaven.

Today, as we close this series out we’re going to look at some important things to take with us as we move forward SO THAT we don’t close this reality as we close this series. There are aspects of the Kingdom of God we must establish in our lives that will give us a foundation to continue our pursuit and our living in this Kingdom.

/ / The Kingdom of God is not a moment, not a lesson, not a teaching series. It’s our HOME.

It’s where we are meant to live. It’s the very place Jesus called us to. And if we don’t learn how to prioritize HIS Kingdom over our own, we will miss out on much of what He has for us. It’s only good if we learn to live in it, not just learn about it. It’s meant to be a journey, an experience!

This wasn’t a series of / / information so much as it was a series of invitation. And I hope that has been your experience, that you have felt God inviting you in to this Kingdom. And if not, that’s ok, it’s not too late. In fact, it’s just the right time. You are invited. You have an open invitation to enter the Kingdom of God!

In John 10 as Jesus is calling us a bunch of sheep, he says this in John 10:7, / / “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the truth sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.”

This is an invitation IN to something. And you can read that and think, OK, he’s talking about our eternal salvation. He’s talking about heaven. And that’s obviously incredibly important.

BUT, if we don’t think past that we will miss what He has for us right here and now! Jesus continues to say in vs 10, and we’ve read this a few times over these weeks, / / “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”

That word life is so important: / / zoe - which means life in the PHYSICAL sense. / / First, the state of one who is possessed by vitality [the state of being strong and active; having energy]. / / Second, it relates to our means of sustenance, our livelihood, being looked after, having what we need. And / / thirdly, it is a life which is real and genuine, active and vigorous, devoted to God, blessed, the absolute fulness of life.

So, it’s this physical health and surroundings, as well as an emotional and internal fulness of life.

Jesus could have said, My purpose is so that you would have ETERNAL life, or resurrection life, or life after death, which would be pointing to his talking about heaven, our eternal life, which the bible says will be free from sin, free from effects of this world in any negative sense, right? Revelation 21:4, says, / / He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.

So there is definitely a great sense of this zoe, life, in heaven.

BUT, in John 10:10, Jesus doesn’t say that, he simply says, / / My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. Or as the ESV says it, / / life and have it abundantly.

This is the first take away I believe we have to get about the Kingdom of God. Write it down, hang it on your fridge, on your bathroom mirror, in your car, or on your nightstand, just put it everywhere:

/ / 1. The Kingdom is COMING, IS NOW AND IS YET TO COME!

And we’re going to look at these three things separately.

The Kingdom is COMING: Before Jesus even starts his ministry, the bible says John the Baptist was sent to prepare the way for Jesus. Matthew 3:3 says, The Prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said, “He is a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming! Clear the road for him!’”

And his message was pretty simple. Matthew 3:1-2 says, / / 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.”

or some translations say, the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

That word near, or at hand, means to come near, to approach. So John is saying, the Kingdom of God is coming, not in the distant future, but it’s approaching, it’s at hand, it’s happening, it’s on it’s way RIGHT NOW!...

So, in John 1:29-31, when it says, / / The next day 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.’

It’s like saying, Look, He’s here! The time has come. This Kingdom that has been approaching is right here, now. THIS is the King of the Kingdom I’ve been telling you about!

And this message that John was preaching to prepare the way, is all part of this approach. The series of events is like this. John is preaching that the Kingdom is approaching. Then Jesus goes to him to be baptized, and as Jesus comes up out of the water, Matthew 3:16 says, The heavens were opened and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. and 2 verses later it says, Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted there by the devil.

In that temptation the devil takes him to the peak of a very high mountain and shows him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory he would have if he ruled them all. And says to Jesus, “I’ll give you all of this, all you need to do is bow down and worship me.”

Now, remember last week when we were talking about Christianity being our choice to willfully deny ourselves for God’s purpose for our lives? And we talked about Jesus being in the garden of Gethsemane, where he prayed, Father, if there is any other way, please give me another option, BUT, I don’t want my will, I want your will.

That prayer defined two things, / / 1. Jesus had his own will, his own desire, AND / / 2. like us, Jesus had to willfully deny his own desire for the desire of God the Father.

So, what’s the devil doing here? He’s trying to make it sound like he’s got some sort of authority to help Jesus bypass the cross and give him what He’s come to this earth to do, establish the Kingdom of God on this earth. So he says, “I can do that. I’ll give you all these kingdoms, the glory, the rule, the reign, it’s yours, just worship me. Make a choice, right here, right now. You don’t have to deny yourself and suffer, I’ll give you want you want, just deny God...”

And in Matthew 4:10 Jesus says, and remember this, just in case you ever feel like you are being given that option, to willfully deny God and choose your own desire, Jesus says, / / “Get out of here, Satan. For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him.”

Jesus is establishing in that moment that no matter what happens, no matter what comes, no matter what road he sees that may make his purpose easier than what he knows he HAS to do, he’s not going to do it. He is committed to denying himself and taking up the cross for all humanity and giving his life for the purpose that God sent him for.

And it says the devil went away… He knew he wouldn’t win that one.

And what’s the very next thing that happens?

Matthew 4:17, / / From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

It’s coming folks, it’s approaching, get ready to receive!

And then it does… / / The Kingdom is NOW

Mark 1:14 says,/ / Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. “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!”

/ / “The time promised by God has come at last!” What a great statement.

In Matthew 12, Jesus has just healed a man who was both blind AND couldn’t speak, and in the process of this healing he also removes a demon from this man’s life. The bible doesn’t indicate if he healed the man and then cast out the demon, or if he cast out the demon resulting in the mans healing. But either way, the man now has his sight, he can speak, and he’s demon free - I mean, he’s had a good day!

But of course the Pharisees, the religious leaders, who already don’t like Jesus, and are looking for things wrong with him say, / / “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.”

Now, personally, I don’t know what they were thinking. This doesn’t even make sense. And Jesus shares the same sentiment. He says, “Guys, if a kingdom fights against itself it is doomed to fall apart. So, why would satan cast out satan? That would ensure his kingdom’s destruction.”

And then he says in vs 28, / / But if I am casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you.

The ESV says, But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.

That word in there ‘has come upon you’ means already attained, to come before, precede, anticipate.

It’s happened! You’ve just received it. I’ve been saying it’s coming, well, now it’s here. You no longer need to wait for it, it’s NOW!

This is why, in Matthew 6 when Jesus teaches his followers how to pray, he says, / / “Pray then like this: Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

Your kingdom come. Different word there, from what we read in Matthew 12, but this one means to come from one place to another, to appear.

So, Jesus is saying, Pray like this, God, let your Kingdom appear now! Let it show up here and now!

This is how we should be praying. God let your Kingdom come. Why? What happens when the Kingdom comes? The authority comes.

If one kingdom comes in and establishes its rule in a region, whatever other kingdoms may have been there before don’t matter, the new kingdom has been established, meaning the King of that Kingdom is now in charge of that region. So, by praying, “God, let YOUR Kingdom come!” We are saying, “Whatever other kingdoms may be at play here, supersede them, overtake them, push them out in favor of YOUR Kingdom. I want YOUR authority to be the authority here.”

And then you add the next part, your WILL be done.

If we want the will of God to be done, what do we need to do? Willful self-denial. So, not only are we praying for God to do something here, but we are also committing to doing something ourselves.

/ / I will lay down my kingdom for the coming of Your Kingdom.

I will deny my will, for the sake of yours!

We’re saying, I will give up what authority I think I have in this life to have Your authority be the authority in my life, in this situation, in this moment, in this time and space.

One doesn’t happen without the other, does it?

You have to be willing to deny your own kingdom, your own will, your own perceived authority, to invite someone else’s to take its place. Two kingdoms can’t exist in one space and time. You have to remove one for the other. So, by telling us to pray that way, Jesus has just tricked us in to committing to getting rid of our kingdom and our will, if we think about it!

OK, we know he didn’t trick us. He was pretty plain and simple about the whole thing. / / If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. Matthew 16:24

And maybe, and this is just a side note, but could I suggest to you this morning that we have an issue of competing kingdoms in our lives? Maybe we haven’t seen the transformation, or the impact we expected from God in our lives because we haven’t yet been ready to give up our kingdom, will & authority in place of His.

Many people pray, God do something, without being willing to lay down their something.

A whole lot of us want God to change us, except we don’t want to really change anything. We want our situation to change, but it would be super nice if we didn’t have to change anything ourselves. And, come on, God is God, right? So, he should be able to do that, just fix the situation.

Nope, sorry, / / If you want Gods Kingdom, you have to be WILLING to, READY to and actually follow through with LAYING DOWN your own!

This has been a real fight and struggle over the last few weeks for me. Every time I walk into the kitchen I have to remind myself, “Alright Augi, deny yourself, your kingdom, your desire, for a better way. If you want freedom, commit to being free.”

And most times I listen, and sometimes I don’t.

And the enemy will try to use moments like that to shame us in to hiding, and trying to take control of our lives. This is why we have to remember, the Kingdom of God has come, is coming, and is YET to come. Jesus and John both preached that the Kingdom is approaching… I think we are always in a state of ever approaching Kingdom. Because we are on a journey of learning to get rid of ours, learning to lay down our way for His. And when we do, His Kingdom CAN come, it can be established. And it’s a constant recognition that our desire and our will is always going to want to take priority in our lives. It wants to win.

Look at the scenario surrounding Jesus prayer, “Not my will, but yours.” It’s at the END of his life. This wasn’t something he conquered at the very beginning when he was just getting started, and then he was good. Before he even starts ministry he tells the devil where to go. “No, sorry, I won’t deny God for what you’re offering. Scripture says worship God and God alone.” And yet, it is up until the very END that Jesus is having to CHOOSE to deny what is humanly desirable for God’s desire.

If you think you can pray on a Sunday morning, “God, I want your will for my life. I want your Kingdom to be established in my life.” And you’re going to walk out and never deal with any other desire, will or kingdom wanting to take over.....I’m sorry, that’s just not what is going to happen.

But, the more we commit to Him. The more we give over OUR rule for His. The better we become at taking that approach. The more faithful we see Him, the more faithful we will be. Right? We talked about that a couple weeks ago. His faithfulness teaches us how to be faithful!

Because God IS establishing His Kingdom. He did 2000 years ago as he healed that blind and mute man. He did as he hung on that cross and died so we could live. He is now as we allow Him that access to our lives. AND he will.

/ / The Kingdom is YET TO COME:

Jesus talked a lot about eternity, about what is to come, about believing so that we would never die, or that we would have eternal life. Now, we know the body dies. We’ve certainly experienced enough of that lately and hear a lot about it. But, for those who believe there is something to come.

When Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick, and he didn’t get there in time to pray for him and heal him, so he ends up dying, he goes to see his sisters, Mary and Martha, who don’t know that he actually intends to raise Lazarus from the dead. When he arrives and is talking to Martha she tells him that Lazarus has been dead for 4 days, and he says, / / “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me, will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.”

Now, he does raise Lazarus from the dead, who continues to live on the earth, but Jesus is pointing to something much greater here, isn’t he. I assume, as we don’t know of any Lazarus that’s 2000 years old at the moment, that he didn’t last forever after that resurrection, he did in fact die at some point, again.

But, death is simply a transition for those who believe.

John 3:16, those who believe receive eternal life. Yet, we know we die.

But the Bible also talks about the Kingdom of God that is YET TO COME.

We read last week in Isaiah 9:7, / / Of the increase of His government and of peace there will be no end!

His kingdom, His government is being established and will be established.

We also know that Jesus said very clearly he was coming back. And that we don’t know when, so we need to live like we’re ready for him to return at any moment. Both of the parables we went through in Matthew 25, the ten bridesmaids, and the parable of the talents both give a strong warning that no one knows when Jesus is going to return, but when he does, the bible says that he will establish his kingdom on this earth.

So, He has, He is, and He will. All true. And all important! But for us, the Key to experiencing the change we want in our lives is that in the here and now, God wants to establish His kingdom in our lives right now, that we would experience what it means to give up our kingdoms and give up our wills, and not conform to this world, but be transformed as we allow HIS kingdom to have the authority in our lives. That is how we experience change. Willful self-denial on a daily basis.

Not for a sermon series. Not just for a moment. But every day!

The next thing we have to remember in this journey of the Kingdom of God, which actually makes the first part much easier, is:

/ / 2. The Kingdom of God is built on RELATIONSHIP

If you think of the reason Jesus came it’s two fold:

First, John 3 says that God loved the world so much, that he sent Jesus. So, first things first, He came for relationship. He came because of love.

Jesus actually says 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...

John 14, Jesus says in vs 23, / / All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. vs 26, …when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative - that is, the Holy Spirit - he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.

Everything Jesus did was to establish a connection between us and God, in His fullness: Father, Son & Holy Spirit.

And the more we understand who He is, the more we understand his heart, his rule, how he does things, and the authority of His Kingdom.

Even the way Jesus says what he does in John 14, / / All who love me will do what I say. I’ve got it up there in the ESV as well. If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. This is a direct echo of just a few verses earlier, John 14:15, / / If you love, obey my commandments. This isn’t, “You better do it!”, it’s a when you’re in love with someone you follow them. When you love somebody, it’s easy to listen to them. Jesus is all together lovely. When we realize that, it’s easy to do what He says because we know that He has only our best interest at heart.

Think about it. If you knew that someone was completely for you, no malice in them at all, and only ever did anything that would benefit you, bless you, help you, or move you forward, they were incapable of hurting you, and they told you to do something, would you do it? Even if what they told you to do you’ve never done before, you’re afraid to, and you’re not sure about it or the results… oh, and this person that would never hurt you, they are also the most comforting, peaceful, wonderful and loving person you’ve ever met. AND, they’re going to be there with you the entire time that you’re doing this thing that they told you to do.

Is there any reason NOT to? Of course not.

So, when Jesus says, “If you love me, you’ll do what I say.” It’s not manipulation. It’s not control. It’s because they see something you don’t, and you can trust them!

When Israel was in captivity, the prophet Jeremiah wrote a letter to them expressing what God was saying about them and their situation, and in it he says in Jeremiah 29:11, / / “For I [God] know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

/ / God has a plan for you

/ / The Plan is good.

/ / He has a future for you

and He’s thinking about it

/ / He wants to give you hope

A confident expectation of a positive outcome

So, you can trust God. You can trust His Authority that his Kingdom represents.

The Kingdom of God is not some tyrannical dictatorship where He demands you do what he says without reason. That’s not how God works. He invites you to lay down your way for a better way that leads to LIFE. And His way is trustworthy, honest, true, just and it is with you in mind.

/ / Inviting the Authority and Kingship of Jesus Christ to rule in our lives is the safest thing we could possibly do, because everything he does is centered in love.

The second reason relationship and the Kingdom of God are important is because it / / IS our connection to the King that IS the door to the Kingdom.

We don’t get in without Him. We don’t get in without relationship.

We read earlier, in John 10, Jesus said, “I am the gate”. In John 14:6 he says, / / “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”

No one… He IS the way. We do not enter the Kingdom without coming to him.

So, Step One: He even said it as he began to preach. / / Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

Repent, to humble ourselves, recognize we’ve done it wrong, and approach God asking for mercy and a better way. When we recognize we’ve been putting our kingdom first, our way first, our will above His, and we have missed the mark, and we come to Him and say, “I’ve done it wrong...” we realize He’s been waiting with open arms to invite us in.

/ / Step Two: Believe

We read from Mark 1:14-15 earlier, Jesus says, / / “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins AND BELIEVE the Good News!”

Over and over again, anyone who believes, will receive eternal life. We come under the authority and rule of Jesus Christ and HIS Kingdom when we believe in Him. And as we’ve seen, we are invited into a family, not a system of rule.

John 1:12-13 says, / / …to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn - not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.

This is our inheritance, to be sons and daughters of God.

Paul says in Galatians 3:26, / / For you are all children of God through faith [believing] in Christ Jesus.

So, in wrapping up this series but not wrapping up this topic, because this topic is everything. I mean, can we even call it a topic? It’s not a topic, it is our life, it is our purpose, it is HIS purpose. I want us to realize that the closer we get to God, the more we allow His love to change us, the more we love him, and trust him. And as we come to him, repent and believe, release OUR will for His. That willful self-denial for submitting to His authority in our lives, the more we experience the authority of His kingdom.

Because it IS in the acceptance of His authority, and the release of our own, that we give ourselves OVER to His power to change our lives. I might say I want change, but if I don’t lay down my will for His, that change won’t happen.

The more you release to God, the closer you get.

The more you lay down your way for His, the more His will will be evident in your life.

/ / The Kingdom of God is what you are called to enter into NOW.

I think I can sum up this series in the way that Jesus taught us to pray, and if we can walk away from this with one thing, it is this. Let us begin to pray like Jesus Prayed, / / “Your kingdom come, Your will be done!” And not just once and a while, but make this our main prayer, make this a part of our every day lives. Give way for the Kingdom of God to be the authority that rules in your life at every moment. Because when we do that it will be at the center of our lives every day of our lives!

If you start your day with “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done.” and don’t just say it as words, but also allow those words to remind you that if I want His Kingdom, I must give up mine. If I want His authority, I can’t be the boss. If I want his will, his desire, I have to lay down my own.

THEN change can happen. When we make HIM the priority.

So, start your day that way. Don’t let this be a series that ended, or a series of information. Let this series of invitation bring you into something new!