This is the second week of our four-week series on “Discovering that the Kingdom of God Is Near.”
I’m excited about this series because the gospel of the “Kingdom of God” is the gospel that Jesus Himself preached. We saw this last week, when we discovered that the gospel of simply going to heaven when we die is only a small part of the vast, life-giving gospel of God’s Kingdom.
It is true that in Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternal life with Him. It’s a wonderful truth. But the good news is even better than just that.
God is not only concerned with getting us into heaven; He is also concerned with getting heaven into us, here and now. And that is what the gospel of the Kingdom of God is all about.
Last week, we focused on two key verses from the Sermon on the Mount. The first was Jesus’ instruction to pray, “…your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10).
The second was Jesus’ teaching regarding our everyday living priorities when He said, “…seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33)
So, this is God’s will for us … to pray that His Kingdom would break into our lives daily, and that His Kingdom would be our highest priority.
Today, I want to talk about our identity as…
citizens in God’s Kingdom … particularly the privileges and responsibilities we have for being part of His kingdom.
And here’s a good place to start … every born-again believer, every person who has committed his or her life to Jesus, is a part of God’s Kingdom.
In a famous gospel passage in John 3:3, Jesus explains it this way to the Pharisee Nicodemus, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
He then repeats it in verses 5-6, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (John 3:5-6)
This passage has many things to teach us, but let’s make sure we get the main point straight right away … no one attains, earns, or works for their place in God’s Kingdom – we are born into it.
And if we are born into God’s Kingdom that means we are His children. Makes sense, right? The apostle John assures us of this fact when he wrote…
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1
This also underscores that God’s Kingdom is no earthly kingdom, which means that when we are born into God’s Kingdom by grace, we must learn a new way to live – God’s Kingdom doesn’t operate in the ways that worldly kingdoms do.
Worldly kingdoms are based on things like political power, military might, wealth, beauty, intelligence, and all the things we see valued by the world around us.
But the values of God’s Kingdom are radically different. These values include … love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Did that list sound familiar? It should … they are the “fruits of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23.
Jesus taught His disciples that things like “greatness” and “leadership” in His Kingdom flow from humility and service, which are definitely not part of the value systems in worldly structures.
Think about where we live, work, and go to school. What values do worldly systems reward?
Our political systems reward power and persuasion,
our business systems reward competition and wealth, and
our society rewards celebrity and beauty.
Now, I am not saying that these things are always bad. I am only saying that they are just not the things that God values, and they are not the way He runs His Kingdom.
And wherever His people live, work, and go to school, His Kingdom can be found, operating with different values.
As we mentioned last week, we often confuse heaven with God’s Kingdom. Heaven is a great place, and we’ll get there someday because Jesus paid the price for us. But in the meantime, heaven is breaking into the here and now.
Perhaps we have become preoccupied with heaven when we should be looking for how God is bringing His Kingdom to earth.
Perhaps, I should pause and mention one note of explanation. Those of you familiar with Matthew’s gospel will know that he usually prefers the phrase “Kingdom of Heaven” versus “Kingdom of God”.
You can understand why many people have interpreted Matthew’s phrase to mean heaven itself, but if you compare the Kingdom of Heaven passages in Matthew with the Kingdom of God passages in Mark and Luke, it becomes clear they are interchangeable.
The reason for these two phrases is one of demographics. Bible scholars believe Matthew’s gospel was written for a primarily Jewish audience. The Jews of the first century were very careful about using God’s name.
Instead, they substituted “heaven,” because everyone in the Hebrew nation understood that heaven was where God ruled on His throne. So, Matthew’s use of the term “Kingdom of Heaven” is just a courtesy to his primary audience – the people of Israel.
The Kingdom of God is the true context for discipleship. No serious student of Jesus can ignore the teaching or demonstration of the kingdom.
Jesus explained His actions in terms of the Kingdom of God. Healing, deliverance, and feeding the masses were all signs of the Kingdom of God. The world longed for the rule and reign of God to come to earth, and they received their answer in the actions and teaching of Jesus.
In His absence, Jesus expects US to demonstrate and explain God’s Kingdom today. To be about the kingdom is to be about the Father’s business.
Perhaps one reason the church struggles in the area of spiritual formation is that we are not making disciples of the kingdom. In our enthusiasm for God’s forgiveness and mercy, perhaps we have neglect His purposes and plans.
Everyone who trusts in God can expect to go to heaven, but Jesus is after more than eternal reward. He wants us to join Him in the family business.
Receiving God’s forgiveness and mercy – as wonderful as that is – tends to keep us focused on ourselves. But when we are more focused on God’s Kingdom, we find ourselves immersed in His priorities.
Jesus is the King of an entirely different kingdom, a realm with another language, another way of life, a different culture. God wasn’t kidding when He said that His ways are not our ways. Listen to these words from Isaiah 55:8-9…
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
We are born into a realm that operates differently, and just as newborn babes, we must learn the ways of God’s Kingdom. This is one reason so many Christians have difficulty finding traction in their spiritual lives.
We have been born into another kingdom, but we are trying to live our lives by the values of the world’s kingdom.
The apostle Paul took this new birth very seriously. Here’s part of his prayer for the newborn Christians in the city of Colossae…
“Giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Colossians 1:12-14
Notice two things in this prayer … as children of the kingdom, we have an inheritance from God. This includes eternal life, and so much more.
Second, notice the difference between “dominion of darkness” and the “kingdom of the Son” or the “Kingdom of light.”
It’s a vivid image but it’s more than an image. Imagine how we move and walk in a darkened room – we are afraid of what might trip us up. We move cautiously, fearfully.
Now consider how we move in the daylight – with freedom and confidence, unafraid of missteps and falling.
So, which kind of movement describes your life in Christ?
Wouldn’t it be awful to have a grand inheritance as children of the light, but still live life as though we were in darkness?
Here is what we have learned about God’s Kingdom…
We enter His Kingdom by the new birth – it’s not something that we can attain by working harder or trying to be good enough. Being born from above is the entryway, the beginning of a whole new life.
Since we have entered a new kingdom, we have new things to learn. How foolish it would be to hold on to the values of the kingdom of darkness.
We need to recognize and accept the fact that God’s ways are not our ways; His values are not our values.
The task of being a disciple is the work of learning a new way to live, turning kingdom values into practical actions. How do you think the worldly people around us might react, if we only live and act as children of God?
The world lives in darkness, and I am convinced that they will see the light, if we but live like we are in the light.
Finally, this is the Father’s will for each one of His children. It’s His joy to give us the Kingdom of God, to lead us into a new way to live. As we close today, consider these inspiring words of Jesus:
“Do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:29-32)
If we truly worship and trust God, then we can live a life free from worry, receiving from the Father’s hand all that we need, because He joyfully wants to give us His Kingdom … the key is trust and commitment in our faith in our Lord Jesus.
If you need to renew and strengthen your commitment and faith journey in God’s Kingdom, what better day to start, than today.
I pray each of you will walk, work, and grow boldly as citizens in God’s Kingdom daily. Amen