Jesus' radical message of the Kingdom of God
Matthew • Sermon • Submitted
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· 262 viewsJesus calls us into the Kingdom of God but, what exactly are we being called into?
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Main Point - Jesus is calling us into a life where God reigns and this new way of life goes in the face of the systems of this age.
Main Point - Jesus is calling us into a life where God reigns and this new way of life goes in the face of the systems of this age.
Sticky Point - When you fully bow to Jesus as King the compass of your life will be radically changed.
Sticky Point - When you fully bow to Jesus as King the compass of your life will be radically changed.
Sticky Point - When you fully bow to Jesus as King the compass of your life will be radically changed.
Sticky Point - When you fully bow to Jesus as King the compass of your life will be radically changed.
Joke - Pastor teaches the same sermon for 1 year straight every Sunday.
After one month people were ok
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6 months people were complaining to the pastor to teach something else.
Introduction -
After 12 months the elders told the pastor he would have to teach a new sermon or he would be fired.
How many of you know what a compass is?
The pastor responded by saying - “Once you all start living this sermon, I will move on.”
Can someone explain to us what the purpose of a compass is?
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How would you feel if I only preached one sermon every week for the next year?
So, what would happen if you used a compass that was completely messed up and gave random readings?
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What if I told you that Jesus only had one topic and he never spoke about anything else for 3 years?
This is how the Scriptures describe the systems and kingdoms of man.
What if I told you this topic of Jesus was so important to Him that he refused to ever speak on any other topic?
They are not leading us into a true north.
We all take direction from a culture.
Today we are going to delve into the only topic Jesus ever preached on
and try to understand why it was so important to him
Rather, they are systems aimed to divide and destroy us.
What we wear
And why it should be so important to us.
How we speak
What we read and listen to
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Even our morals and ethics are given to us through culture.
Even a person’s religion is often shaped by their culture.
Example - Most White males in the United states claim to be Christian, even though they have never read the Bible, or attend church. Their culture tells them they are Christian.
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Now we all
Matthew 4:
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
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Can you point out what the one and only message ever spoke on is?
Can you point out what the one and only message ever spoke on is?
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So, what exactly is the Kingdom of Heaven?
So, what exactly is the Kingdom of Heaven?
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King of Heaven and Kingdom of God are the exact same thing.
Matthew is writing to Jews who refuse to use the name of God out of fear of blasphemy.
The Jews, used the location of God’s throne (Heaven) as a way of speaking of Him without using His name.
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Kingdom of Heaven/ God = The reign or rule of God.
When we hear the term Kingdom of God we should not think of a place but rather of the rule of God.
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The Scriptures speak of God’s reign in two ways.
The Scriptures speak of God’s reign in two ways.
Here and Not Yet.
So, God’s reign is presently here and yet it is still to be realized in the future.
So, what does that mean?
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To understand this Here and Not yet concept we need to understand how the writers of the Bible understood time.
The age/Present Evil Age---------------------The Age To Come/Kingdom of God.
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Scriptures on this present age:
Scriptures on this present age:
Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.
Matt 13:
Also you—being dead in the trespasses and the sins, in which once ye did walk according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience,
Eph 2:
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
Gal 1:4
But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Cor
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Humanity chose to rule on their own without God.
Adam and Eve screw up
Adam and Eve screw up
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
Gen 1
Humanity was created to be princes’ and princess of God on earth to reflect His nature and power to creation.
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But humanity chose to be their own king and rebelled against God’s reign and rule.
This lead to humanity constantly being deceived by Satan.
In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2 Cor
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The characteristics of this evil age.
Divisive Tribalism
Hatred for others not like you.
Blinded by the god of this age (deceived)
Murder
corruption
Hunger for power
Death, disease, and the list goes on and on.
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The Age to come:
The Age to come:
The promise of a future age where God fully reigns over all creation.
He shall judge between the nations,
and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore.
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
On that day the root of Jesse
will stand as a banner for the peoples.
The nations will seek Him,
and His resting place will be glorious.
So He said to them, “I assure you: There is no one who has left a house, wife or brothers, parents or children because of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”
who will not receive many times more at this time, and eternal life in the age to come.”
Luke 18:30
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Characteristics of the age to come.
Characteristics of the age to come.
No war, no disease, God’s full glory on display through all creation, nature is no longer under a curse, the nations will seek Jesus and live in His way, eternal life.
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
No death, no anxiety or depression, no tears of sadness.
No tribalism, only one King, LIFE, Joy and Beauty.
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Jesus says change the direction of your life for the Age to come (The Kingdom of God) is right in reach through me.
Jesus says change the direction of your life for the Age to come (The Kingdom of God) is right in reach through me.
Here is the Gospel (Good News). The age to come has invaded this present evil age in and through Jesus.
Here is the Gospel (Good News). The age to come has invaded this present evil age in and through Jesus.
Through Jesus we come under God’s reign in the present and taste the promise of the coming age.
For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come—
Under the reign of God we can escape the corruption of this present age.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
And we know that God, in his justice, will punish anyone who does such things.
Under the reign of God we have been delivered from this present evil age.
who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.
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Through Jesus we are invited to follow him into the reality of the Age to come (The Kingdom of God) in the here and now.
We are invited to live the Kingdom life now!
Kingdom ethics now!
Kingdom power now!
We are invited to taste the eternal future in this present age!
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But we still live in this present evil age.
We are ambassadors of the age to come.
We are princes’ and princess of the reign of God.
We represent the future to those who live in the hell of this present age.
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Because we live out of the Age to come in this present age we are promised hostility and persecution.
Your life will offend people as well as offer hope.
Your ethics should offend people, as well as offer hope.
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Jesus is calling us into a life where God reigns and this new way of life goes in the face of the systems of this age.
Jesus is calling us into a life where God reigns and this new way of life goes in the face of the systems of this age.
God is calling us to be the people of the future pointing the way to the Age to come (the Kingdom of God.)