The Kingdom

When we pick a theme for the  year we usually talk about it and then come back to it numerous times throughout the year.

This is a theme that could be talked about all 52 weeks.

  1. Future fulfillment of kingdom
  2. Kingdoms work in us
  3. Bringing his kingdom to the world

2. The Term Kingdom of God

The term Kingdom of God and Heaven

They are used almost 90 times in the New Testament

Jesus first sermon was repent for the kingdom of God is here Matthew 4: 17

His miracles were to prove the kingdom of God had come upon them Matthew 12: 28

His parables illustrated kingdom truths Matthew 13: 11

The prayer Jesus taught them was that his kingdom would come Matthew 6: 10

On the night before his death Jesus assured His disciples that he would share his happiness and joy with them in the Kingdom Luke 22: 22 – 30

He also promised that he would appear again on the earth in glory to bring the blessedness of the kingdom on the earth.  Matthew 25: 31, 34

3. Kingdom Defined

Kingdom defined “God’s people in God’s place under God’s rule”

This is a good definition and we need it because the one thing the Bible does not do is define what it is for us.

The reason there is no real definition for us is because Jesus was talking to a crowd that understood what it was

EXAMPLE: Went on a missions trip to England and went into the schools to share One of the thins we did was explain American culture to them.  Doing that  to you would be a waste of twenty minutes.

Matthew 3: 1 – 3 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoke of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying int he wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight”

So where would the people in the audience have this knowledge of what the kingdom is?  The Old Testament.

4. The Kingdom in the Old Testament

The kingdom is not mentioned int he Old Testament, but it is defined

  1. God is king over all of creation.
    1. One example 2 Chronicles 20: 6 “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.”
    2. Isaiah 37: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.”
  2. God desired to build human kingship into his creation plan.
    1. Genesis 1: 26 – 30; Genesis 2: 15 – 17 make man in our image and have him rule over creation.  Fill and subdue the earth. Spread the kingdom outside the garden.
    2. Adam rejects this commission and forfeits his role as king, but God doesn’t reject his desire to rule through mankind.

5. God promises a king

  1. God will bring kings (instead of one king Adam) through the seed of Abraham Genesis 17: 6
    1. Adam was given dominion while God was going to work through the seed of Abraham.
    2. Sin keeps getting in the way of God’s purposes.
  2. Through these kings, God was going to bless the whole world.
    1. Kingdom of priests and a holy nation Exodus 19: 6
    2. Glory spread though the whole world Habakkuk 2: 14

6. Israel’s rejection

  1. Israel wanted a king like the nations around them rather than one fashioned in God’s glory.
    1. Like Adam we want things our own way.
  2. God promised through David, an everlasting kingdom would be established through the earth. 2 Samuel 7: 12 – 16
  3. David’s descendants rejected God’s rule and eventually the nations was destroyed and sent into exile.
    1. Moments of revival and God’s rule, but overall a rejection of God’s promises.

7. The Promise

  1. God’s plan was not changed even by this second failure not he part of man.
  2. Daniel 2: 44in those days, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,
  3. The Lord will be king over all the earth Zechariah 14: 9
  4. He will build his new kingdom and a new temple and will reign from Jerusalem
  5. John and Jesus the kingdom’s here today
  6. The people knew this was going to happen, what they missed was that it was happening in front of them today
  7. God would bring the kingdom and redeem mankind in the midst of it.  Isaiah 53