Step 1: The Kingdom of God is huge and is for you!

Series: Simple Faith

January 25, 2009

Pastor Tom Shedd

 

From last week:

 

a tool for sharing the gospel, called “Simple Faith” . Mockup given to Brett today for artwork for booklet.

 

5 steps

review the 5 steps

 

Not the only way, not even the best. But as I see it, these are the essentials of helping someone become a Christian.

 

Simple Faith

 

1)         The Kingdom of God is huge and is for you!

 

2)         God chose choice.

 

3)         Bad choices require law.

 

4)         The Brilliant Plan - God pays!

 

5)         Simple Faith is your choice.

 

booklet

 

1)         The Kingdom of God is huge and is for you!

1)         The Kingdom of God is the overarching concept of the universe

A)        The Kingdom is all around all the time. The Words of Jesus which were recorded by his disciple Matthew at the start of his ministry were that people should do an about face because  - the Kingdom of God is at hand.

            The Realm of the King has no boundaries, example -- the Boundless Limits in Time and Space. It is huge.

 

B)        God wants you to enjoy the Kingdom. This offer of the Kingdom comes to us because God loves each one of us. The kingdom offer applies not only in our lives on earth but extends beyond death into eternity. It is for you.

 

Therefore - we don’t want to miss it!

 

Vision:

to share the gospel with people leading up to the Easter events

 

 

1)         The Kingdom of God was core to the message of Jesus.

 

At beginning of Jesus ministry, Matt. 4:17, Matthew records the kernel of the message of Jesus when he says:

 

 17 From then on, Jesus began to preach, “Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”

 

And again, when describing the initial message, Matthew says:

 

23 Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease.

 

Note that in both of these summary statements, the Kingdom is the key.

 

Also, in the book of Acts, when Luke talks about what Jesus did during the 40 days between the resurrection and the ascension he says,

 

Acts 1:3

 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

 

When the disciples asked Jesus about the Kingdom, he gave them a curious answer:

 

Acts 1: 6-8

6 When the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, are you going to free Israel now and restore our kingdom?”

 7 “The Father sets those dates,” he replied, “and they are not for you to know.

 8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power and will tell people about me everywhere--in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

 

The disciples had an expectation about what Jesus meant concerning the kingdom, but the answer of Jesus indicates that what he was talking about and what they were expecting were not necessarily the same thing. This after all the teaching the Jesus had given concerning the Kingdom.

 

So what did the disciples/apostles think about the kingdom? With what could they compare?

 

Their concept of the kingdom was certainly fixed in their first century Jewish context. Apparently in that time there was a sense that God had predicted the coming of a deliverer who would restore the kingdom to its former glory.

 

If a kingdom is the realm of a king, then the first kingdom of Israel was under Saul.

 

Samuel the prophet had warned the leaders not to aspire to having a king, but when they insisted, a king was selected for them -- a tall, good-looking man named Saul.

 

 

2)         Ten principles about the Kingdom of God.

 

1)         The Kingdom of God is the realm of the King.

In any kingdom, those who are ruled by the king are part of the kingdom. The borders of the kingdom determine who is and who is not governed by the king.

 

In England, those living in the British Islands are in the Kingdom of the King of England. Those living in Germany are not.

So over what realm does the God the King rule? Every realm of time and space throughout the universe.

 

2)         The King has determined how the Kingdom works.

The King makes the laws. God made decisions in eternity past as to how this universe would operate and how those creatures living in it would live.

 

3)         The King allows the Kingdom to operate according to those determinations.

Physical realm - according to laws of physics; biology

Spiritual realm - according to how reality is separated for human and angelic beings

Human realm - according to moral law

 

4)         The King has chosen to be hidden in order to maintain the principle of choice in humans.

If God is too obvious then we would not have choice.

 

5)         Similarly, the King has chosen to not intervene dramatically and become unhidden except in some key moments of His choosing.

Generally speaking God does not reveal Himself, but there have been occasions, such as to Moses in the burning bush, to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, to Elijah in the cleft of the rock.

 

Even when the second person of God took on human form, there was question about who he really was.

 

6)         By contrast, the King desires personal interaction with individuals in which He may remain hidden yet be very active, thus, we are commanded to pray.

God wants us to pray. God wants us to express to Him what is on our hearts and minds. He promises to hear and answer but reserves the right to say both “yes” and “no” and to answer according to His own will and timetable.

 

7)         Prayer is the mechanism through which God can and does intervene in the daily lives of individuals in His kingdom.

So although He remains out of sight, He is very active in the lives of Kingdom citizens.

8)         For those who have faithed, God invites individuals in as children of the King, and even as joint heirs with Christ.

When we exercise faith in Christ our position in the Kingdom becomes more than citizen, it becomes children of the King. As children we have rights of inheritance and also we enjoy unfettered access to the King.

 

9)         The limits of our involvement with the Kingdom do not end at death.

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish by have everlasting life.

 

John 14: 2-3  2 There are many rooms in my Father’s home, and I am going to prepare a place for you. If this were not so, I would tell you plainly.

 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

 

10)       We have the opportunity to encourage other people to  become heirs in the Kingdom and we also have a responsibility to make the Kingdom  known.

When something good happens you generally want to tell other people about it. If you were to win a million dollars in the lottery, you would want to share that good news with everyone in this room.

 

What you have as a citizen of the Kingdom and as a child of God has infinite value -- as much beyond a million dollars as a galaxy is greater than a planet.

 

God wants us to communicate the good news one person to one person. He also allows us to use methods to communicate, but its up to us, the citizens of the Kingdom, to keep the ball rolling.

 

3)         Eight eras in History of Kingdom and Israel

 

1)         Patriarchal - kings listed in valley of Sodom and Gomorrah which went to battle with kings of the plains. Melchizedek was both a priest and a king of Salem. His name literally means king (melek) of righteousness (tsadak).

 

2)         United monarchy - Saul was the first king of Israel in about 1100 BC. Previous to Saul rule was through Judges, not always successfully as the 7 cycles in the book of judges recounts. Saul was reluctant when designated by the prophet Samuel, and the Lord expressed his disapproval at having a king for his people, as he wanted to be the king himself. When Saul disqualified himself from leadership, God through Samuel selected David to succeed Saul, even though the transition of power did not occur for another 20 years. When Saul was killed in battle, David became king and united all 12 tribes into the united monarchy. The kingdom of David was the high point of power and influence of Israel for the next 3000 years, until the 6 day war of 1967 when Israel took control of Jerusalem and began to build its economy and military, especially with US aid. At the end of David’s life, his son Solomon ruled the United Monarchy of Israel. His building program is chronicled in many places in the Old Testament, especially in Ecclesiastes. The rule of the united monarchy was 120 years, 40 years each for Saul, David, and Solomon.

 

3)         Divided monarchy. Upon Solomon’s death in about 920 BC, the monarchy divided. The ten northern tribes under military commander Jeroboam created their capital in the city of Samaria. The southern two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, established their capital in Jerusalem. From this point in the Old Testament history books there are two independent countries - Israel in the north and Judah in the south. If you don’t know this, and you just open up the Bible and start reading, you will really be confused and it won’t make any sense to you, especially if you think that the two terms, Israel and Judah are synonymous -- which I did for many years in my youth. For the next 200 years, the books of 2 Kings record the list of kings in the both the north, Israel , and the south, Judah. The books of 1 and 2 Chronicles give parallel accounts through the eyes of the priests, and continue on for another 200 years.

 

The northern kingdom of Israel had 19 kings, none of which were considered by God to be “good” kings, and in 722 BC, after numerous and repeated warnings through the prophets, God brought the full force of the Assyrian empire (whose capital was Nineveh) down on Israel, and the nation was destroyed.

 

The southern kingdom, Judah, had 20 kings from the time of Solomon, only 8 of which were designated “good” kings. Although they were spared from the Assyrian conquest, in 586 BC, again after numerous and repeated warnings by God through the prophets, the southern kingdom of Judah was captured by the Babylonians, who had conquered the Assyrian empire, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem were exiled to Babylon whereupon the city of Jerusalem, including the magnificent temple built by Solomon, was destroyed.

 

4)         In exile and return. The Babylonian captivity lasted for 70 years in an area that is very near modern Baghdad in Iraq. At the end of those years the Babylonian empire was conquered by the Medo-Persian empire and the new leadership under Cyrus and Darius allowed the return of Jews and the reestablishment of the capital of Jerusalem. During the next two hundred years the Medo-Persian empire dominated the region and was in constant conflict with Egypt.

 

5)         The Greeks defeated the Persians and took control of the region under Alexander. When Alexander died, the Greek empire was divided into regions with the Ptolemies taking Egypt and the Selucids taking Israel and the surrounding environs. During this time of Selucid, there were numerous revolts, the most famous being those led by the Maccabean brothers following the desecration of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes in about 170 BC.

 

6)         The Romans defeated the Greeks and the land of Palestine came under Roman rule in 64 BC. During Roman rule the land was governed by various levels of command, depending on whether the area was considered peaceful or hostile, which would change regularly. In 4 BC King Herod the Great ruled and was succeeded by family members in varieties of arrangements. John the Baptist was beheaded because he opposed the marriage of one of the kings to the wife of another of the kings. Jesus was crucified during one of the politically volatile times when there were many threats to Roman rule popping up throughout the land.

 

This is the setting against which the disciples were being taught the principles of the Kingdom of God. Jewish understanding at this time was that God had predicted through the prophets that a leader would come who would restore the glory of the kingdom.

 

Those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah also expected a change to come in the kingdom of Israel, so that when Jesus taught about the kingdom the disciples had difficulty understanding what Jesus meant. They could only know their history and current circumstances. They could not understand the teaching of Jesus as we do now after 2000 years of history.

 

To complete our story, in the late 60’s AD, Rome finally was compelled to squelch rebellion in Judea, and laid siege to Jerusalem. In 70 AD Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple of Herod, which was at the time one of the wonders of the ancient world, was completely leveled so that not one stone remained upon another, just as Jesus had predicted.

 

7)         Muslims and Christians. The land continued to be ruled by Rome, with Roman structures and names until the Fall of the Roman empire and then the subsequent rise of Islam in the 600’s. Because of a perceived threat to the holy places, the Roman church launched a series of Crusades from 1100 to 1350 to retake the land. The Arab Muslims successfully expelled the Crusaders but were overrun by the Ottoman Empire.

 

8)         Zionism and the creation of the state of Israel. At the time of World War 1, the Zionist movement was gaining strength and the migration of Jews into the land and the purchase of property had begun. At the end of the war, a movement to create an independent Jewish state began which was ratified following World War 2 and the Holocaust with the creation of Israel in 1948. Subsequent wars with surrounding nations led Israel to capture nearly all of the land of the David monarch, but in negotiations some of that land was given back. As of 2009, the Israelies are still in negotiations about the future of Palestinians lands and people, with Palestinians controlling Gaza and the West Bank and Israel controlling the rest of the land from the border with Egypt at the Sinai to Lebanon in the north and the Jordanian border being the Jordan river. Israel also controls the Golan Heights which is disputed by Syria.

 

4)         Jesus and the Future Kingdom

A)        Jesus talked often about coming again and what would happen when he did.

In Acts 1, after the ascension of Jesus, an angel told the disciples:

Ac 1:11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. And someday, just as you saw him go, he will return!”

 

B)        Similarly, the prophets spoke about a coming time that has not yet come. Ezekiel 40-48 details the division of the land and construction of a temple which does not appear to have yet occurred in human history.

 

C)        The book of Revelation also speaks in great detail about the establishment of a future Kingdom. Jesus will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Amillennial

Premillennial

Pretibulationalists

Midtribulationalists

Post-tribulationalists

 

 

5)         The Kingdom of God and the Church

 

The understanding of the church at Rome, the Catholic church.

The thought they were the kingdom of God on earth. In fact as the church became more powerful in referred to itself as the Holy Roman Empire.

 

The understanding of the reformers and protestants.

The reformers felt that the kingdom of God was not limited to the Roman church, but was the realm of all believers.

 

The understanding of modern evangelicals.

That the kingdom of God was the realm of heaven and earth and that when Christ returns He will set up the Kingdom of God on earth.

 

The understanding of postmodern evangelicals and the emerging church.

The Kingdom of God is already here and we are living in it, and that it continues into eternity.

 

6)         What the kingdom of God means to Me

 

The kingdom of God is huge. It is at least as large as the universe, and the universe is mind-boggling large compared to the size of the earth. The Kingdom of God is larger than the universe because the universe has limits based upon its age and its expansion since the beginning at the Creation event. God existed before that.

 

The kingdom of God is for you and me. We have purpose in the kingdom, not just for the time we are on earth, but on into eternity. There is a part of you and me, our soul, which never dies. We have the opportunity to live with God forever in a very privileged state - as His children.

 

7)         How much does someone need to know about all of this to energize “Simple Faith”?

 

Hardly anything!! Faith is so simple that a small child can understand it and can respond.

 

So why do you need to know all this stuff about the Kingdom of God?

1)         For your own growth.

 

2)         For you to be able to answer questions when you are sharing your faith through the booklet “Simple Faith” which will become available to you in a few weeks.

 

3)         Because you are living in it! Get excited about it! This is real! This is not imaginary -- this is not myth -- this is real! You are a child of God and a join heir with Christ! Go tell someone about it! This is good news!

 

As you begin to communicate Simple Faith, the first step is to help people understand that:

 

8)         The two things you need to know and be able to communicate to others:

 

1)         The Kingdom of God is huge.

 

2)         The Kingdom of God is for you.

 

Are you excited about it? You should be!

 

PRAY