New Relationship with God

Gospel "Good News"  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Citizens of the Kingdom of God, Child of the King

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Introduction

Gospel “Good News”
What God has accomplished in Christ to show mercy to sinful human being.
Sin
Broke us
Broke our relationship with God
Broke our relationship with others
Gospel
God heals our brokenness.
God restores our relationship with Himself.
God heals our relationship with others.
Christian Living
Transformation into Christlikeness
New relationship with God
Living in relation with others
What is our new relationship with God?

Covenant relationship

What is a covenant relationship?
A covenant is a binding contract between two parties, both of whom have obligations specified in the covenant. In Old Testament times, covenants were often given by an all-powerful suzerain (overlord) to a weaker, dependent vassal (servant). On the one hand, the suzerain guaranteed the vassal benefits and protection. But in turn, the vassal was obligated to be loyal solely to the suzerain, with the warning that any disloyalty would bring punishments as specified in the covenant. How was the vassal to show loyalty? By keeping the stipulations (rules of behavior) also specified in the covenant. A covenant put in place a relationship—in Israel’s case, a relationship with the one true God, who alone could save and sustain them. So the rules were very important. No rules? No relationship! As long as the vassal kept the stipulations, the suzerain knew that the vassal was loyal. But when the stipulations were violated, the suzerain was required by the covenant to take action to punish the vassal. In an extreme case, the relationship could even be altered or suspended by the suzerain.” (Fee, Gordon D., and Douglas Stuart. How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth. Fourth Edition. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014. Print.)
Modern day - Contract
Old/New Covenant
Old Covenant between God and Notion of Israel
New Covenant between God and Church
Hebrews 8:1–13 (ESV)
1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
We enter into the covenant relationship when we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.
We come under the authority of God as servants. He provides and protects us. We submit and obey Him. Stipulations and Benefits of the covenant is written in the Gospels and Epistles of the NT.
Matthew 22:37–40 (ESV)
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
John 13:31–35 (ESV)
31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Not only are we in a covenant relationship with God, but we are...

Citizens of the Kingdom of God

Colossians 1:13–14 (ESV)
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Delivered - Saved
Delivered - to rescue from danger, with the implication that the danger in question is severe and acute—‘to rescue, to deliver.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 240. Print.)
Transferred from one Kingdom to another Kingdom
Dominion - a state of control over someone or something—‘control.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 472. Print.)
Kingdom - an area or district ruled by a king—‘kingdom (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 15. Print.)
Beloved Son - Jesus Christ
Philippians 3:20–21 (ESV)
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
His Kingdom
Jesus Preached - Matt 3:2Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
basileia is the only Greek term for “kingdom,” occurring around 150 times and consistently translated as such. Two particularly significant phrases containing the term basileia are “kingdom of heaven” and “kingdom of God.” These phrases are functionally synonymous and both refer to the dominion of God on earth and incorporate the heavenly realm as well. This kingdom is brought to a climax through the person and work of Jesus Christ, and maintained through the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers.” (Renn, Stephen D., ed. “Kingdom.” Expository Dictionary of Bible Words: Word Studies for Key English Bible Words Based on the Hebrew and Greek Texts 2005: 564. Print.)
Hence the kingdom is God’s divine, kingly reign as proclaimed and inaugurated by Jesus’ life, ministry, death and resurrection, and the subsequent outpouring of the Spirit into the world. In this sense Christ is reigning now, and the kingdom of God has arrived. At the same time the church awaits the future consummation of the divine reign. This “already” and “not yet” dimension of the kingdom of God implies that it is both a given reality (or the divine power at work in the present) and a process that is moving toward its future fulfillment or completion.” (Grenz, Stanley, David Guretzki, and Cherith Fee Nordling. Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1999. Print.)
Lord taught us to pray and seek the Lord’s rule and reign to come.
Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Matthew 6:33 (ESV)
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Seek - to try to obtain something from someone—‘to try to obtain, to attempt to get, to seek. (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 564. Print.)
Seek His rule and reign in our lives now as we wait for the culmination at the end of the age.
God’s Kingdom reign in the Church.
Church/Body of Believers
1 Corinthians 3:16 (ESV)
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?
1 Peter 2:4–5 (ESV)
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We are the Temple/Building of God in where he dwells by His Spirit.
1 Peter 2:9–10 (ESV)
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
"Citizens in the new nation (vv. 9–10). The church is “the people of God,” His holy nation, His “Israel” (see Ex. 19:6; Gal. 6:16). This fact does not mean that the OT promises will not be literally fulfilled for the Jews in the kingdom, but rather that the church today is to God what Israel was to Him under the Old Covenant, in a spiritual sense. Since Christ is our King-Priest, we are a royal priesthood. “Peculiar” (v. 9) means “for one’s own possession” (Eph. 1:14). What a privilege it is to be a child of God and have citizenship in heaven (Phil. 3:20).” (Wiersbe, Warren W. Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1992. Print.)

Children of the King

Adopted
John 1:12–13 (ESV)
12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
Galatians 3:26 (ESV)
26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.
Believe by faith
Receive - to include in an experience, take up, receive Receive someone in the sense of recognizing the other’s authority. (Arndt, William, Frederick W. Danker, et al. A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature 2000: 584. Print.Believe/faith)
Believed/faith - to believe to the extent of complete trust and reliance—‘to believe in, to have confidence in, to have faith in, to trust, faith, trust.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 375. Print.)
God makes
He gave the right to become...” (John 1:12b)
Children of the King
Holy Spirit
Romans 8:15–17 (ESV)
15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Galatians 4:6–7 (ESV)
6 And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Adoption - to formally and legally declare that someone who is not one’s own child is henceforth to be treated and cared for as one’s own child, including complete rights of inheritance—‘to adopt, adoption.’ (Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene Albert Nida. Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains 1996: 463–464. Print.)
Heirs - Someone who will inherit the possessions from a parent. This word refers to someone who will inherit property—typically a firstborn son (e.g., Matt 21:38; Mark 12:7; Gal 4:1). Figuratively it can refer to those who share in the inheritance of Christ (Gal 4:7)” (McLaurin, Dougald, III. “Ancestry and Posterity.” Ed. Douglas Mangum et al. Lexham Theological Wordbook 2014: n. pag. Print. Lexham Bible Reference Series.)

Summary

We are in a New Covenant relationship with God.
We are a part of His Kingdom in which He reigns and rules in the church culminating with His physical Kingdom
We are adopted into the family of God through faith and the indwelling Spirit of God. We are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ.
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