Part 2: “Jesus and the Kingdom of God”
Acts 1:3, Mt. 13:24-50
Intro – I am doing a post-Easter sermon series called “Developing A Culture of Outreach”.
-two Sundays ago we looked at the first part of Jesus’ four part strategy in developing a culture of outreach among His people…and that was: 1) Jesus transforms lives…Today we discover the second part of Jesus strategy…
2) Jesus spoke about the kingdom of God Acts 1:3
“He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.”
The Kingdom of God
Now, let’s start by understanding what the kingdom of God is. When the Bible, and Jesus in particular, talks about the kingdom of God, what does it mean?
Notice how the disciples got it wrong in Acts 1:6…”Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
-they thought it was a political kingdom… a military kingdom that would deliver the Jewish people from Roman oppression and domination…they thought it would happen now…a kingdom whose fulfillment would be immediate…
-it’s easy for us even today to misunderstand the kingdom of God…
First of all, let me tell you What it is not:
A. It is not synonymous with the church…the church and the kingdom of God are not the same thing…
-the kingdom of God is far bigger than the church…the church is part of the kingdom of God…but it is not the same as the kingdom of God…
-we limit ourselves by only thinking about the church…we must not be only “church-minded Xns” but also “kingdom-minded Xns”
-the kingdom of God/heaven (used interchangeably) was an important theme of Jesus’ teaching…actually a predominant theme…He mentions the kingdom about 50 times in Mt. alone…while He talks about “the church” only twice…
-nothing wrong with being church-minded…what pastor wouldn’t want the people in his church to be church-minded? But there’s so much more to the work of God…
B. it is not just another name for heaven…not just the future heavenly kingdom…
-the kingdom of God is present here on earth now…and will be fulfilled at the end of history…it is both a
present reality and a future hope…
What it is:
Kingdom of God is that realm over which King Jesus reigns. The kingdom of God is any realm where Christ the King rules.
“The sphere of God’s effective reign” Dallas Willard.
The kingdom of God is the rule and dominion of God, which He established by His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead.
The kingdom of God is not a physical reality, but a spiritual one…it is not political or a military kingdom, but an invisible kingdom under the rule of JC…
eg. our oldest son teaching our grandkids to be kingdom-minded…”what does it mean to be a Christian? Means Jesus is King of your heart…”
-since it is a spiritual/non-physical realm it is not defined or limited by buildings, organizations, denominations…even a church…it is growing, living, expanding…
-the kingdom of God is a movement vs. a static institution…
-the kingdom of God exists wherever the Lordship of JC reigns…where God’s presence and power are demonstrated…where God’s light breaks into the darkness of this world…anywhere and everywhere…
Lk 17:21 “the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
The kingdom of God is both a present and future reality…present because Jesus said, “The kingdom of God is in your midst…” and future because one day when Jesus returns, He will establish His kingdom for ever and ever…
-the kingdom is both a “now, not yet” reality…
Mt. 5:10 “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven…”
- for example: every time…prayer answered…that’s the kingdom of God on earth…
…someone is healed…
…we gather to pray…
…declare our spiritual authority in Christ and in prayer take our stand against evil principalities and forces of darkness
…treat someone with Christ-like love, compassion…
…we simply love someone and serve them
eg. response to Ft. Mac evacuees…lots of kingdom work without knowing it!!
…the gospel is shared…
…person places their faith in Christ for salvation…
…peace is chosen instead of war…personal or nations
…embrace weakness instead of human power, control
…support a child in a developing country
…take a casserol to your neighbor…
…a person forgives someome who hurt them…
…we choose to obey Christ as Lord…
…we say no to a secret sin and yes to God…
…when we choose righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit…
…return too much change the cashier gives us…
…stand up for/ defend the poor, needy, oppressed…
…care for the widow, orphan, fatherless…
…put other’s needs before ours…
And a thousand other ways…
-in both small and big ways…we see the demonstration of God’s kingdom here on earth continually…
We don’t see these things happening all the time…some people’s prayers aren’t answered, some are not healed…sometimes we the poor and needy are oppressed…sometimes we do treat people poorly…sometimes we do make sinful choices…
-that’s because the kingdom of God is here, but not fully…this whole world and our lives are not fully under the lordship of JC…now, not yet reality…
The kingdom of God is what Jesus came to earth to launch…He came to start a growing kingdom movement in which His followers would live a HS empowered life that He could use to expand/advance His dominion/lordship in this world…
…in which more and more spiritual territory for the Lordship of JC could be won…lives would be rescued from the kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light…
Metaphors of the Kingdom (Mt. 13:24-50)
Now we aren’t specifically told in Acts what Jesus taught about the kingdom during His 40 days between His resurrection and ascension…but we do know what He taught about the kingdom of God during His three year ministry…
Mt. 13 is probably the most concise teaching on the kingdom of God that Jesus gave…
And in that chapter He gives us at least 6 metaphors of the kingdom to help us understand it better:
-specifically, Jesus is addressing the issue of the immediacy of His kingdom vs. the long-term view…
-in other words, His disciples and many Jews of the day expected God’s kingdom to arrive quickly, suddenly and decisively…like we read in Acts 1:6 ‘…are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
-so to help His people learn about the true nature of God’s kingdom, Jesus provides these metaphors to show that the kingdom requires time for it to grow and come to completion and to deliver final judgment…
-the kingdom has come, but the end is delayed…when there will be the final sorting out of good from evil…
The Kingdom of heaven is like:
1) good seed vv.24-30
-gradual growth (time) and eventual productivity… despite weeds…
-the final sorting out of good from evil will be at the end of the age…
2) a mustard seed vv.31-32
-starts small, grows large…
-Jesus is contrasting the kingdom’s tiny beginning under His ministry with it’s vast glory at the end of the ages
-so don’t despise small, humble beginnings…
3) yeast v.33
-similar to the mustard seed, yeast is small and seemingly insignificant, but (you bakers will know this) it affects everything it contacts…
I’m told that yeast is a single cell fungus which reacts when mixed with sugar and excretes carbon dioxide and alcohol…which is the process of fermentation… yeast grows, irreversibly, persistently, pervasively and unseen…affecting everything it is in contact with…
-in other words, kingdom growth is irresistible and unstoppable…a quiet working from within…an intensive, inner transformation of lives, culture, communities, the world…
4-5) hidden treasure v.44 and fine pearls vv.45-46
highest value, supreme worth…because it is so valuable it is worth sacrificing everything for…
as Don Carson points out, “under rabbinic law, if a worker came across a treasure buried in his masters field (hiding it from invaders or left there by previous generations), if he lifted it out, it became the property of his master.
But if he left it where it was, he could wait until he had enough money to buy the field and then he could remove the treasure which would now belong to him…
-whatever the cost of the field, the treasure is worth more; whatever the cost of the pearl of great value, the kingdom is worth more; whatever the cost of discipleship, the kingdom is worth more; whatever the personal cost and sacrifice required, God’s kingdom is worth more…”
Don Carson God With Us p. 83.
-which it is when our lives are transformed by Jesus, when we come to know and love Him, His gospel and His kingdom…the value becomes real for us…
6) fishing net vv.47-50
-picture is of a dragnet that fishermen use to collect all sorts of fish from the lake, bring them ashore and sort out the good ones from the bad ones…
-once again a picture of the end of history when Jesus will gather all people before His judgment throne and separate the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous…
-but the picture of the net speaks of gathering… there is a gathering component… in the kingdom we want to bring lives to Jesus…
Why Would Jesus want us to be kingdom-minded?
-because being kingdom-minded means being missions-minded…the kingdom is God’s mission…it’s outreach focused…its where Jesus it at work expanding His gospel movement…He is developing a culture of outreach…
Mt 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.
Conclusion
So, in light of Jesus’ teaching on the kingdom of God, what can we do to develop a culture of outreach right here at Northgate?
** don’t forget the assignment to connect with someone from the other service…
1) make Jesus King of your heart…
2) think and practice kingdom living…
3) tell others about “this gospel of the kingdom”
Prayer and Worshi