The Kingdom of God: Spiritual Dimensions and Life

We've been focused for the last several weeks on the Kingdom of God and what it means. If you look at the Bible, you'll see that the idea of the Kingdom of God has changed over the years from the beginning of the Scriptures even to the New Testament. In the beginning, God drew people to himself. He had a relationship with them through other people. He was always the king and always the shepherd, but he did his work, sometimes in the Old Testament, in a different way than he does today. For example, as the king, he would oftentimes give instructions to Moses or his other followers that he had. He would tell them what he wanted them to do. They would communicate that to the people. He was the king, telling them what to do. He would also make sure that he took care of them, and he took care of them through the king that he gave them and through the priests that he gave them, so that they were controlled, their spiritual life and this nature was all controlled in the Kingdom of God. In the Old Testament, the idea of God as the king was prominent, very important, because God was trying to put together a way by which he could shape the life of his people. He wanted a land for them where they could have no influence but him, and he gave them this land of Canaan. He told them they were to drive out all the negative influences, all the people that worshiped other gods, so there would be only one group there, the people who were following him. And he would give them instructions through the king that he had and through the priest that he would have, and then he would care for them through the king and the priest too, so that their nation would be under his authority. They didn't know anything about him, and he was trying to teach them who he was, and this was his way of doing it, isolating them, instructing them, correcting them, making sure they knew exactly what they were to do. It didn't work really very well. The kings weren't very responsible to God. They strayed away from what he asked them to do. The priests were oftentimes even irresponsible in their own actions. So over the time, God just destroyed the nation, sent them off into captivity, destroyed the temple, everything that they had. No longer would they have this world that he had planned for them, this kingdom, the way they thought it was. In the middle of all this destruction, God sent them a word of promise and hope. In Isaiah chapter 9, this is very familiar to us because it's a part of what we call a Christmas story. Chapter 9 of the book of Isaiah, beginning with verse 6. What God was doing was saying to them, even though I've destroyed the nation and the temple and everything that's there, I'm not through with my people. I still have a plan for them. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders and he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing it and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. Now when the people of Israel heard this prophecy from Isaiah, they looked backwards at the great days of King David and the kings who ruled as their shepherd and as their guide, and they assumed that God was going to restore the new king to be the warrior King David who led them in battle, and the King David who ruled on the physical throne and made and enforced the rules and laws of the political and military kingdom that he had. So when Jesus came, the people who had knew this scripture and had long claimed it were shocked, disturbed when they discovered that here was a man who claimed to fulfill that promise, but he was not interested in the political or military throne of a nation. He was not interested in the political or economic structure of a country. He instead was interested only in talking about the spiritual dimensions to life. This was a shock to them. It was such a shock to them that they could not accept Jesus as the fulfillment of this prophecy. They understood it well, but they could not accept it. Because they could not differentiate between a king who ruled the political world and the economic world and the spiritual world, they couldn't separate those. But when Jesus came, he had no interest in the politics of the Jewish nation. He had no interest in the politics of the Roman world. He was only interested in the spiritual dimension of the lives of people around him. Yet he claimed to fulfill this promise. What we have to understand is that when the Bible talks about this, the government will be on his shoulders. He will govern, but we tend to think government, the natural human order. He was thinking government of the spiritual dimensions. It is very difficult to get this out of your mind. Periodically, people appeal to the followers of Christ to try to make sure that the political and military leaders of our country are born-again followers of Christ so that we can recreate the kingdom of God as David had it. It is a big mistake. It has been tried over and over again and never works. During the time of Reformation, both Luther and his people gathered around and with the princes of his nation decided that he would establish a place where the kingdom of God would flourish again. It never worked. Calvin set up his own city. He was on the city council, he was running the city council, and he was going to establish there the kingdom of God in that place. People who came to settle in this country settled on the eastern coast and they made it a law that everybody who was in the town had to be a believer and go to church every Sunday and do the things that the Bible said they should do. It never worked. For the kingdom of God that Jesus came to establish is not of this world. It is not of this world. What God wanted to do with his people is teach them how to be able to depend on God as the king, on God as their protector, on God as their provider, and not any human agency. Even in the Old Testament, what he wanted was the people to go to the prophet and say, what does God want us to do? And then the prophet would ask and tell them. He even wanted the king to say to the prophet, tell me what God wants me to do about this battle, about the finances, or about the things that I'm doing. So that all along in the Old Testament, God was always the king. But he exercised his kingly authority through human agencies. The king on the throne of Israel, the prophet says, is a spokesman for him. And when he came into this world, he took upon himself all the authority of the king. If anyone wants to enter the kingdom of God, you must deny yourself. You must take up your cross, and you must follow me. Follow what I tell you to do. Jesus, the king. So he gathered around him this group of people, no interest in the political structure of the world, no interest in the nation of Israel and their kings, or the Roman Empire and their kings, none of those at all. What he was interested in was those people who were with him that would be completely devoted to doing what he told them God wanted them to do. So he gathered around him this group of people, and he began to teach them what he meant. And you see, the kingdoms of this world have no power on the world that God wants to rule. The kingdoms of this world can say, it's against the law to murder somebody. And if you don't murder anybody, they say, well, you're a good law-abiding citizen. They say, the kingdoms of this world can say, it's against the law to steal from someone. And if you don't steal, they can say, great, you're a good citizen. But this is not enough for God. He wants to look inside of our hearts and our minds. He wants to ask, would you really like to steal something if you could get by with it? Then you're not in my kingdom. For I am the Lord who says you're not ever to have greed for somebody's stuff. It's not enough for you to say, I haven't murdered anybody my whole life. I certainly qualify for a place in the kingdom of God. And God said, that's not really enough. I want to ask you to remind yourself of all the times you've been so angry at the people around you. That you called them names, and you ridiculed them. In your own mind, you never touched them. But if you could, you would. I didn't rule your mind. I didn't rule your heart. I was not your king. You were a rebel against me. For you see, what God is interested in is not our external behavior only. But he's interested in our character and the nature of our heart and mind. That's the world he wants to rule. So when he came, he opened up this new vision of what God was trying to do about the kingdom. When he said to Abraham, when God said to Abraham, I'm going to put you in this land, I'm going to be a blessing to your people, and I'm going to guide them and provide for them and protect them. That's what he did when he brought them to the land of Canaan. He did all that. But there was one other thing that he said to Abraham that had not yet happened. I am going to make you a great blessing to the whole world. As long as all the kingdom of God was identified with the people in Canaan who were Jewish people, the whole world would never be touched. Jesus came with a different picture. The kingdom of God is now going to be moved so it influences the whole world. I am the king. What he did for us was something never done before. He said, if you will give me your life and surrender your mind and will to my authority and control, I will place in you my spirit, the Holy Spirit, so that you will have resident in your mind the very king of the world. So that you won't ever have to wonder, is this thought good or bad? For the Holy Spirit will tell you it's bad or it's good. You won't ever have to worry about whether what you are doing is what God wants or if there is something else he wants for. The Spirit of God will tell you that. He will both give you instructions that the king would give to you personally if you were sitting in his presence, and he will shepherd you, he will guide you. So that all of your life will be directed by the Spirit of God. That's what his intent was. So when Jesus died, and the Spirit of God fell on the people, a new kingdom had come. A new kingdom. There was one king, always the same from the beginning, God, but now he wasn't in another human being. You had to ask, what does God want me to do? He was inside the minds of the people. You, if you have surrendered your life to Christ, have inside of you the very presence of God. Like David had, and like Isaiah had. That's what the throne of David was. A man who could talk to God, listen to God, and obey to him. Now you have that role for yourself. God's intent is to build a world of people who belong to him. Now, the battle that we fight is not the same one David fought. He was fighting to be able to establish and hold on to this piece of ground that God gave them. The ground that God really wants to have is our hearts and our minds. That's what he's battling for. And that's the place in which this war takes place. So every person who comes to become a follower of Christ has an assignment as a part of God's military. It is to look around you and to see the people around you whose lives are controlled not by God, but by Satan. Their own minds are thinking the bad thoughts and they're holding on to anger and resentment and bitterness and they're filled with self-centeredness. And what he wants you to do is to let God live in your life in such a way so that they can see that here is something that does not live in me. So he said, here is the assignment. As you're going through the world, you are to make disciples of all the people around you. That's our battle. Our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual forces. Powerful spiritual forces in the world all around us. The powerful spiritual forces that have caused people to think if they can do the things that they want to do and satisfy themselves, life is going to be great. He wants to show them that when they start off ignoring what he tells them, their life ends in disaster. So what he does is he places you in a community, on a job, where you are to live this life under the king. And you have the kingdom of God right there in your life. And the people who don't have the kingdom of God are right next to you. And they're comparing their life with yours. They're comparing how you handle the same things they handle. That's why all of us have to go through the same things others have. We have to lose our family members. We have to lose our children. We have to go through disasters financially. We have to go through all the things other people in the world go through. Except, when we go through them, the king is our shepherd. And he guides us. He tells us how to think. And he tells us what to do. And he assures us of the victory. So we live right next to all these people, and the same things happen to them that happens to us. And so he says, you trust me, you depend on me, you do what I tell you, and you will find life. And as you live your life beside these people, they will see the greatness of our king. The power of our shepherd. So they will say things like, I don't know how you do this. I don't understand how you can face the things that you're facing and seem to be able to handle it. How did you do the things that you do? What do you account your success to be? And we can say, our king and our shepherd has guided us. We always point to that. Go into all the world and make disciples. Baptizing them, he means by that, showing that their old self-directed life is gone and their new God-directed life has started. And then, teach them to do all the things I've told you to do. That's our job. And every one of them become new soldiers in this great army of God. And our purpose is to go to all the world as images of God, reflecting what he's done in human nature. And what happens to us as we do it, is that we become witnesses, not just by our words, but first by our life. And if it doesn't happen by your life, no matter what you say, it's not going to attract anybody. What they want to see is, does the king who controls your life make a difference that I would like to have in my life? That's why you need to make friends with people who are not going to church, who don't know Christ. So that they can be close enough to you to see how you raise your children, how you treat your grandchildren, how you treat your spouse, how you handle the financial problems of your life, how you handle the disappointments of your life, the physical things, the other things that go on. How do you do it? It's the king, that's what you say. So the kingdom of God is no longer geographical. It's no longer connected to a political party, or connected to a head of a nation, or to the courts, or to any of these physical things that in the past people thought were very critical to the kingdom. They're all gone. When you look at the New Testament, what you see is a dramatic change in what God wants to happen in this world. Paul was writing to the church in Rome. They had a terrible ruler. He was a homosexual guy. He killed his own family to get his power. He was ruthless in almost every way. He had no reflection of morality in his life at all. Of course, these people in Rome had to live under his authority. When they looked at him, he looked nothing like David, nothing like the people of the Old Testament. Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities. Romans chapter 13, verse 1. For there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authorities is rebelling against what God has instituted. And those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. Now, he's not saying you should accept what this Roman emperor does in his moral life as an example for yourself like you would for David. He's not saying that. He's saying he has one responsibility, and that is to govern this nation politically and militarily. And that's his job. And I hold him accountable for doing it right. So you obey him in these parts of your life, but me in the others. For rulers hold no terror over those who do right, but those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from the fear of those of one in authority? Then do what is right, and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do good. The word servant here is the same word that we use for deacon in the church. This terrible, horrible, moral-less man is a servant or deacon of God, and he's a deacon to do good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, that word again, deacon, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it's necessary to submit to the authorities not only because of possible punishment, but also because of conscience, that is, if you don't do what the law tells you to do, the Holy Spirit will tell you that's wrong. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, that word deacon again, who give their full time to governing. Their only job is to govern, politically, militarily. They have no responsibility for the spiritual things of this world. Give everyone what you owe him. If you owe taxes, pay taxes, if revenue, then revenue, if respect, then respect, if honor, then honor. Peter writing to the believers mirrors exactly what Paul was saying. In 1 Peter 2, beginning at verse 13, he says, submit yourself to the Lord, submit yourself for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men. Whether to kings, as the supreme authority, or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong, and to commend those who do right. For this is God's will, that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. Live as servants of God, not just obedient citizens, but as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone, love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, and honor the king. What he tells us in the New Testament is that the human government is not a part of what the kingdom is. Its job is to keep decent order so that his kingdom can do its work. Sometimes we try to fasten our attention on who is being elected president or senators or the offices that hold in our country as if they are part of the kingdom purpose. I don't think they are. They're simply here to make it so that we can do the work God's given us. Leave us alone, let us do what our king tells us to do. Everywhere people begin to depend on the political and military structure to further the kingdom of God, it fails. Where the gospel is growing with greatest power are in places where it is almost illegal to surrender your life to Christ. God has given us a great mission, and he wants us to understand that it is our responsibility. What happens if we say, well, Christianity is not doing very well because our president is not doing their job, he's not a good Christian, or senators are not good Christians, or representatives or mayor or city council, whoever it is. When you do that, what you do is remove the responsibility from yourself. The kingdom of God grows because of you. You count the number of disciples that you have been a part of making, and you'll see what's wrong or what's right with this country. For the kingdom of God grows when the soldiers who are his soldiers are fighting wickedness and evil inside themselves and around them. That's where it comes from. What's happened in our country is not the result of what's happened in Washington, D.C. or the Supreme Court. It's what's happening in the empty seats of our churches. It's what's happening because there are less and less people whose lives belong to Christ in this land. Less and less people over whom the king has ultimate authority. What God has established is a kingdom where Christ is the king and he's also our shepherd. He asked us to do the work of his kingdom and accept the full responsibility for what we ought to be doing. Not only did he place the Holy Spirit within us, not only does he give us the presence of the Spirit to guide and provide our needs and help us to understand, but he now draws a different image of the kingdom. A king who serves, who rules the body, the political body. Now in the book of Corinthians, Paul draws us another image. It's still an image of authority and control. Now you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. The body that you have is under control of the mind. You can't move your hand unless your mind tells you to do so. You can't take a step unless your mind directs your leg and your feet to make the move. It's a picture of absolute authority with the head being Christ so that we are a part of this body. Under this authority, the body begins to do the work that God gives us. The hand does what the hand is supposed to do, the foot does what the foot is supposed to do. All of the power and authority comes from the head, which is Christ. Now you are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it. And in the church, God has appointed first of all apostles, prophets, teachers, and workers of miracles. Also those who have gifts of healing, those who are able to help others, those with gifts of administration, those speaking in different kinds of tongues. Are all apostles, are all prophets, are all teachers, do all work miracles, do all have gifts of healing, do all speak in tongues, do all interpret, but eagerly desire the greater gift? And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in tongues of men and angels and have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge and have faith and can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. The key ingredient in the kingdom of God, as in the body, is complete surrender to its authority. The hand has to be able to say, whatever the mind tells me to do, I am going to do it. If one finger does it right to grip something and the other three and the thumb don't, you can't hold it. It takes all of them to grip. This is the picture of the kingdom of God. There is one king, and when he says to his people, this is what I want you to do, we all say, what is my part? When the hand grips like that, the muscle in the arm begins to get bigger, so that whatever you've gripped, you can move it. This is the picture of God's authority over his people. It's not your next door neighbor who is going to give you strength and power. It's not the city government or the national government who gives you strength and power. It is God. So we all listen to the head, and what he tells us to do, we all do it. And then the power of God is demonstrated because of what we've done. Whether it's teaching the Bible, reaching people for Christ, building disciples, expanding his kingdom, all of those are God's task. We simply surrender to him. The kingdom of God, Jesus tells us, is different than it used to be. The Holy Spirit will rule you, and that will be your king. Then Paul illustrates this in a different way. It's like a body. No one but your head controls your body. It's not your neighbor or anyone else, but just you and God. And each one of you are a small part of this, and you have a job. What's really wrong with churches is there are many people who are parts of churches that they are not useful members to God. They're willing to do this, what they want, but not willing to do whatever it takes. You can't live as a body if that's not true. If you have someone whose arm is taken away from them, they're not able to do what they need to do. The church requires every single person as a part of that body to say, Christ is my head, and whatever he asks me to do, I will do it regardless of the cost. Christ is my Lord. Whatever he tells me to do, I will do it until he says stop. The kingdom of God is not located outside of us, but inside of us. And if we begin to think that the reason the church doesn't succeed is because of something out there, then Satan has won. He causes us to believe that it's not our fault if the kingdom stumbles, but it is. And God will hold us accountable for that. God has intended that the body be healthy, and strong, and powerful, and successful. But it can only happen in one way, and that is when Jesus Christ is the Lord of every single member. They're willing to do whatever he tells them, whatever the cost might be, as long as it takes. That's what the kingdom of God is all about. So when Isaiah wrote the passage, unto you a child will be given, he was talking about, unto you a king has been given, who will tell you how to act, what to do, when to start, and when to stop. And if we do it, then the kingdom of God will cover the earth. Would you bow your heads for a moment? I want to ask you to remember in your own life a time in which you said to God, I give you my life. I want you to ask God simply, God, are there things in my life you ask of me that I will not do? And you listen to the Holy Spirit talk to you. If the reason you don't do them is because you don't think you can, you've misunderstood. Whatever God asks you to do, he will empower you to do. I want you to ask yourself, God, am I focused on people who are outside your kingdom, making friends with them so they will see how I make decisions and what my life is like? They have to get close enough to know you and how you live before God can show them his handiwork. You should have one, two, three people that you're building relationships with that you know don't have Christ in control of their life. That's where the battle for their souls is being fought. You're the soldier in that place. God asks you to take an assignment in his kingdom, and for reasons of your own you say no. Reconsider it. Lord, you've given us an opportunity to be a part of the kingdom of God, to allow you to work through us to change the world. How humbling that is. If we assess ourselves today in your presence, we want to hear you tell us about our citizenship in your kingdom. Are we a good citizen, or are we in danger of judgment from you? I ask, Father, if there are people here who have never really given their life to you. They may have been baptized, they may have said words about that, but they've never said, God, you have everything in my life, that you'd tell them that now. You would tell them today that they would enter your kingdom. So, Father, we ask that you would talk to all of us, and in these moments of quietness, tell us what you want. And if you want us to make a change, make it clear, give us the courage to be willing to say, today I know what God wants, and I'm going to give him what he's asked for. Are we a good citizen in the kingdom of God? So we listen to you. We're going to have the pianist to play. As you think about what God has said to you, you may want to say, today I need to make a change, and I want someone to pray for me. We'll do that. What is it God's asked of you? Don't leave here without the King being able to say, you're my good and faithful servant. Don't leave here without the King being able to say, you're my good and faithful servant. Don't leave here without the King being able to say, you're my good and faithful servant. Don't leave here without the King being able to say, you're my good and faithful servant. Don't leave here without the King being able to say, you're my good and faithful servant. Would you stand please for a moment of prayer together? For one person in Jesus Christ to change the whole course of human history, you have a lot more than that here in this building. I praise Lord that we would be as submissive to you as your Son Jesus. That as your Holy Spirit guides us, that we would be completely obedient. That we would unleash on this community the full force and power of your kingdom. That everyone around us might see what it's like to live with you as their Lord. We give thanks and praise to you for all that you've done. And help us to keep the promises we made today to you. In Jesus and in the power of Jesus we pray, Amen.