The Kingdom is Near (Made to Rule)

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Read on Informational meeting: February 16th at 6:30:

Intro to Series

A New Kingdom

Today we are starting a brand new series through the Bible where we look at the Sermon on the Mount.

This sermon of Jesus has radically changed and challenged me.

In some parts its disturbing.

In some parts its funny...

In some parts its offensive...

For me it is just radically other:

I feel like the world is always pushing us into this mold and the world will always just say that there are only two ways to go

Right or left

Conservative or Liberal

Up or down

Fight or flight

But the Sermon on the mount is truly the third way of Jesus’s kingdom. Its a way of living outside of the mold that we are getting pushed into.

But what is most key to know is that this sermon blew the lid off of who Jesus was…it astounded people

At the end of the Sermon, Matthew says these two sentences

Matthew 7:28-29

28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

. When Matthew is saying that people were amazed the Greek word that is there (ekplecco) means to be beside yourself or completely overwhelmed…This word also means “astonished”

This rings so true to me because the first time I ever read this sermon…I was so astonished that I gave my whole life to Jesus...

So its my prayer today that we would experience the Ekplecco of Jesus...

That we would get a fresh reading of Jesus and that we might come to understand this sermon in a way that is so deep and meaningful for us that it changes everything.

It’s my prayer that I would get out of the way enough for Jesus to speak so clearly that every week you leave here and you find it impossible to stay the same....

But first....We have to start with this question

What is the Gospel?

So in order to fully grasp what we are talking about today…I have to ask the question…what is the Gospel?

Because most of us in 21st century Evangelical Christianity have heard the following

Jesus died for your sins on the cross, so you can have a relationship with God and go to heaven when you die

Now for years the church growth movement kept whittling down the gospel message to these basic elements, Jesus died for your sins so you can go to heaven...

And its true but its also not a full picture of the gospel

When Jesus started his ministry he didn’t say, I am going to die and rise again…and that is the gospel…Although that is indeed, good news!

Jesus actually called something else good news!

In the new Testament Greek the word for Good News is “ Euangelion”

It is translated in your Bibles…Either Gospel or Good News

So let me lead you on a quick Journey of what Jesus called Good news....Well before he ever died and rose again.

Flip with me to Mark 1:14-15

The New International Version (Chapter 1)

14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1 starts with this idea that Jesus went proclaiming the Euangelion of God…That God’s kingdom has come near

Well thats in the beginning of Jesus’ life,…what about the end of Jesus’ life

Matthew 24:14

The New International Version (Chapter 24)

14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Jesus fully expected that the message the church spread around the world is about the kingdom of God…In fact jesus says thats when the end will come…when everyone knows about the good news of the kingdom...

Jesus taught the good news of the Kingdom of God

Now the reason why I bring this up is that the good news of the Kingdom is what the Sermon on the Mount is all about!

This is Jesus’ main message through out his entire ministry.

So we have to ask the question:

What is the gospel of the kingdom of God:

As it turns out this is a very significant question.

A Kingdom is characterized by two words: Rule & Reign

When you think about the word kingdom, you have to think about a king

We don’t really live in a world with many monarchies in it, but you get what a king or a queen is. Someone who has all sovereignty over a particular location. and they own everything

If you are a farmer, you live on the kings land and farm his fields

That king rules and reigns over everything.

So when we talk about God’s kingdom…we are talking about the rule and reign of God

When we celebrate Christmas we will often read Isaiah 9

Isaiah 9:7

The New International Version Chapter 9

7 Of the greatness of his government and peace

there will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throne

and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the LORD Almighty

will accomplish this.

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah was looking forward to the coming messiah and how does he describe the messiah’s coming

A new governance

reigning on David’s throne

Reigning over David’s kingdom

In fact Jesus’ first listeners, the people who were experiencing Jesus one on one, were a people who would have grown up looking for a messiah that was going to establish a kingdom that would last forever

They were looking for a messiah who would build this kingdom...

They would have been praying for this around the synagogues and their dinner tables.

The religious life of the Jews was buzzing with the expectation of a messiah

So for Jesus to be traveling all over Israel talking about God’s kingdom…This was ASTONISHING

THIS was NEW

This was BIG

SO here is what I want you to understand going into the sermon on the mount.

Yes the Gospel is that Jesus died on the cross for your sin, that on the third day he rose again…so that for whomever puts their trust in Him can go to heaven after they die...

Thats true..But that is only a future hope.

The Gospel that Jesus came preaching was the availability of the heavens right now through Jesus

is that God’s rule and reign is available to you right now. This is the good news!

And this is what Jesus comes proclaiming...

So as we get into the sermon on the mount today, I fear that I have tricked some of you because if you know your Bible, you probably thought that we were going to look at the Beatitudes today But the reality is that in chapter 4 there is this whole prologue that if you don’t get this then you wont understand what the sermon on the mount is all about.

So turn with me now to Matthew 4:12-17

The New International Version (Chapter 4)

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali—14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah.

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea,

beyond the Jordan,Galilee of the Gentiles—

16 the people living in darkness have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.” 

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”—

DO you see this right here...

Matthew inserts the passage of Isaiah...he is like Hey the messiah is here and here is what he is preaching

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near

I could spend the rest of today talking about these few words.

To repent means to re-evaluate your life

Because God’s rule and reign is near to you.

We like to be in charge of our own lives don’t we

We can pretty well rule and reign over our own lives

But Jesus’ whole message is

HEY! Rethink your life…The thing you have been praying for…for God’s kingdom to come…its now her and available to you

So re-evaluate your life for the kingdom…of heaven is near..

God’s governance is near

And now the gospel author Matthew will use kingdom of heaven while others use kingdom of God...

This is a small change but its so significant

To use the word “Heaven” right now conjures up images of clouds, angels, harps…its some place way out there

But to the Jews in the 1st century....to say the word heaven was much different

In the Jewish mind, Heaven was 3 layered

Sort of the terrestrial layer…the ground beneath your feet

The air that surrounds you and

Where the stars are

So When Jesus says…Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near

He is saying that God is closer than the air you breathe

Also there is so much more but I will just give you one more point...

Many of us have a faith that makes us feel like we need to appease God…That we need to go to him...

But the gospel is so radical because it reveals a God who loves us so much that he comes near to us!

This is huge!

Jesus is telling humanity that his governance is closer than the air that we breathe and it was God who took initiative to come to us…Even before anyone could understand the Grace of the cross, Jesus showed his kingdom to be one of unmerited grace

Jump down with me to verse 23

Matthew 4:23-25

23 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them. 25 Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him.

So again…Matthew now shows that Jesus now isn’t just proclaiming the kingdom off by the lake any more…He taught through the synagogues and because the rule and reign of God is available to everyone people from all over are getting healed

Even the gentiles from Syria and the Decapolis ‘

Even people who might be considered enemies of Israel

Definitely people who were unclean and not worthy to be in society

We get this picture that God’s life and his rule were available to them as well...

So right in the beginning of the sermon on the mount…we get this picture of the world flocking to Jesus

And his main message is what Jesus calls the gospel…The availability of God’s rule and reign

So first: What is a kingdom

A Kingdom is the range of your effective will

Anything you have say over is in your kingdom

Let me give you an example…Everyone raise your right hand right now…Get it up high in the sky…even if you are at home!

Ok I tricked you…You are all right now living within the range of my effective will…You all did what I wanted you to do

So the range of my effective will is you…and those of you who are all at home with your hands up.

So you all have a kingdom...

Your will, what you truly want and desire has a range.

and that is how you identify your kingdom

Some of you might be vastly influential on social media…

Some of you are influential within our schools

some of you are influential at work

Some of you have influence among families

Jesus’ call to his kingdom is to repent or reconsider your life and to live in His kingdom.

and here is what the call to Jesus’s kingdom means and this is crucial

Jesus wants to extend his kingdom rule through you

and that is good news!

And here’s the deal...

The Sermon on the Mount is all about what it looks like when God’s rule and reign is extended through you.

This is why it is so crucial that we start in the prologue of the Sermon on the Mount.

So for the rest of the time, maybe 7-10 minutes I just want to unpack with you that you were made to rule

You were created for God’s kingdom to be in your life

Now if you are a reader of the Bible this should not be a new idea for you:

BUT I recognize that for a great many of you, you might need to re-listen to this message or shoot me an email because what I am going to share with you rarely gets taught in church...

And it’s a tragedy.

And it all starts on page 1 of your bibles…Flip with me to Genesis 1:27-28

The New International Version Chapter 1

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground

God made you in his own image

So that you can rule over all of creation

Do you get it

God made me for covenant relationship (Gen 1:27)

You were made in the image of God

God made me for kingdom responsibility (Gen 1:28)

Genesis 1:28 basically says that humanity is responsible before God for life on earth!

God built us to live out His authority all over creation.

However unlikely this may seem from your current viewpoint

God has equipped us for this task by framing our nature to function in a conscious personal relationship of interactive responsibility with him

Which means...We only exercise our kingdom Authority with God as he acts with us

He is intended to be our constant companion or co-worker in the creative enterprise of life on earth

This is what his love means for us in practical terms

Now with the first sin in the garden Our relationship and responsibility to God also were corrupted

When humanity ruled in the garden and sinned it showed that adam and eve were making their own decisions

They wanted to rule their own life

The forsake the governance of God

And if you were to do a study in the Old Testament you see them making the same decision over and over again.

Over and over, Because of sin…We build up our own kingdoms

But this is where we get back to the prologue of the sermon on the mount.

The New International Version Chapter 4

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus is declaring that what was lost in the garden

The relationship and responsibility

The covenant and Kingdom

are now at hand

You see when we do what Jesus says and we repent, we surrender our kingdom to His kingdom

In this way, you become a living representation of good news

Challenge

Maybe your here today and you have spent time building your own kingdom.

whatever it is you have left God out of it.

God does not go where he is not invited

So you come to church you worship God but then you go work on your own kingdom

Well the invitation and challenge of Jesus today is to repent, to reconsider your own kingdom, Because God’s kingdom is available to you right now

Communion

Today we will take communion together

Communion is a declaration that you want to live by Jesus’ kingdom and not the ones you’ve built for yourselves

Matthew 26:26-28

26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”

27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Mt 26:26–28.