Jesus told Pilate that He was a King but that His kingdom was not of this world. The same applies to us. The tension we deal with is the kingdom of God is invisible, does not look powerful, and does not always seem relevant to most of our life. When we say this, we really mean that our Heavenly King does not feel as real, relevant, and able to provide as the other kings in this world.
1. Worldly Kings: The Things Besides God that Rule Our Hearts
These are things that seem powerful and desirable. These things seem fit to rule
because of what they can give us.
White Witch and Edmund Example (Chronicles of Narnia)
Think of the things in our life that we lean on for support. We allow worlds kings to rule our lives because we think they will consistently give us everything we want. However, we ultimately find them to not be as powerful and consistent as we think. Our service to these kings will always be performance based and their satisfaction will always be conditional on our performance. They breed insecurity when we realize that we cannot meet their standards and they cannot adequately provide for us.
Ex. Relationships, GPA, Money, Business, Role Model, Pastors, Friends, Parents
Edmund Thrown in the Icy Prison (Chronicles of Narnia)
Whose blessings we want the most of and whose curses we are most afraid of determine who we serve and how we will live. You must please the Kings to get what you want! Kings aside from Jesus are never as powerful as we want them to be and always demand performance for acceptance.
2. Becoming Kings: Putting Ourselves on the Throne
"Everyone carries a kingdom in their heart" (John Calvin).
We want to control people, things, and situations for our security. Eventually we realize that we are unable to control the things around us because we are not God.
We then become insecure and operate using a blessing and cursing system and we put every person in our life on a merit based system of control...
Ex. "They can be my friend as long as they…" or "You do this and I am leaving……"
Being the King of our lives will end up being a disaster. When we are finished manipulating everything around us for control, we will find a very empty, insecure way of living.
3. Serving Jesus as King
You either serve a King that constantly demands everything from you which makes us insecure because we are unsure we can’t meet his demands or a King that provides for us and loves us unconditionally.
The kingdoms of this world operate on fear, flattery, and insecurity. Jesus is truly powerful and reliable. He is secure in his power and therefore does not coerce us with the worldly system and manipulation.
Even salvation itself is not merit based but the result of a King who provided his Son as a perfect sacrifice for us. He knows us, loves us, and has forgiven us. He can always provide us with what we need. That is grace. .
Colossians 2:13-14
We then do not serve a domineering God who conditionally loves us to control us. We serve a Heavenly Father and King who only disciplines us for our good, not out of insecurity, but out of love.
How does your relationship with God look? Is it a merit based relationship based on your daily standing before God or is it one who rests in the sufficiency for all that God has done in Jesus? How will the first type of service contrast with the second?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
Review 03/08/09 Kingdom of God Series Part II
(From Ryan Willoughby)
Matthew 6:33, Romans 14:17, Luke 17:21
Primarily, we discussed the idea that God's kingdom is not a limited, finite thing. Rather, it's fluid and dynamic. For believers nowadays, the kingdom of God is Jesus Christ living and working in believers as the Holy Spirit. Eventually, this spiritual kingdom will manifest itself during Christ's millennial reign then be consummated at the coming of the New Jerusalem. We also discussed quite a bit on exactly how the Spirit lives in us today through prayer (Romans 8:26-27), worship (John 4:24), service (Romans 1:9), study of the Word (John 6:63), and building of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 2:18-22).
Matthew 6:33, Romans 14:17, Luke 17:21
Primarily, we discussed the idea that God's kingdom is not a limited, finite thing. Rather, it's fluid and dynamic. For believers nowadays, the kingdom of God is Jesus Christ living and working in believers as the Holy Spirit. Eventually, this spiritual kingdom will manifest itself during Christ's millennial reign then be consummated at the coming of the New Jerusalem. We also discussed quite a bit on exactly how the Spirit lives in us today through prayer (Romans 8:26-27), worship (John 4:24), service (Romans 1:9), study of the Word (John 6:63), and building of the Body of Christ (Ephesians 2:18-22).
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Ryan Willoughby to be Guest Speaker this Week!
Ryan Willoughby, a good friend, former Highland Community Church member, and current UGA graduate student will be leading the "Hope for Highland Coffee Hour" this coming week. This will not be something to miss! Ryan will be continuing our series on the Kingdom of God, a subject he is very passionate about.
Review: 03/01/08 Kingdom of God Series: "My Kingdom is Not of this World"
While on Earth, Jesus spoke of the "Kingdom of God" more than any other subject.
Read:
Matthew 3:12-17
Luke 17:20
Jesus grew up in a Jewish society that was awaiting the coming of a Messiah to bring forth a physical Kingdom. The Jewish people had been ruled by numerous nations since 600 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel. Leading up to the time of Jesus and the nation anxiously awaited for their eventual freedom from Roman rule and the establishment of a peaceful kingdom on the Earth. Most were looking for a physical kingdom.
Read:
Matthew 20:20
Matthew 16:21-22
Luke 22:47-49
The ministry of Jesus was marked by displays of miracles, authoritative words, and the proclamation of the coming Kingdom of God. Though many revolutionaries had came before Jesus, his ministry was marked by authority. There was an expectation, even by the disciples of Jesus, that he was ultimately going to set up a physical kingdom on the Earth.
This is analogous to the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia." The children enter into Narnia, a frozen land where it is always winter but never Christmas. Then, they hear of the coming of Aslan, the Messiah figure, who was rumored to be back in Narnia. This is evidenced by the icy kingdom of the White Witch beginning to melt as spring finally begins to approach. Many thought that Aslan would instantly kill the White Witch and establish His Kingdom.
As Jesus moved throughout the towns and cities displaying miracles, many Jews saw this as a sign of the coming spring when the nation of Israel would be free.
Read:
Matthew 21:1-11
Matthew 21:12
Jesus enters Jerusalem with people welcoming him with palm branches and calling Him Hosanna. They anticipated him to enter the nations capital with power.
Jesus is then arrested by the Romans. The people realize that Jesus did not bring the kind of kingdom they wanted. He did not come to conquer their oppressors. As this realization sets in, their affection for this "King" and "Messiah" wains and many support his crucifixion.
Read: John 18:33-37
Jesus tells Pilate that He is a King but His Kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is eventually nailed to a cross and killed. He then arises three days later.
Question: Did the Kingdom of God come?
A. Yes: Jesus has come to begin the process of redeeming all that is screwed up in the world. He invites us to participate in this process through missional living by sharing the Gospel, ministering to the poor, and redeeming our culture. Believing in Jesus allows us the enter this Kingdom as children of God and allowing Him to be the Ruler of our lives. Being part of this gives us identity and purpose in our lives.
B. Not Yet: One day, Jesus will come back and establish a physical Kingdom where death and darkness will be completely swept away. Christians eagerly await this day.
Much like Jesus, living for the Kingdom of God requires sacrifice and will not always be easy. We are forced to give up the idea of having our own little Kingdom to be fully part of his much larger, more permanent Kingdom. God helps us do this as he works in us to continually establish His Kingdom on the Earth.
Read:
Matthew 3:12-17
Luke 17:20
Jesus grew up in a Jewish society that was awaiting the coming of a Messiah to bring forth a physical Kingdom. The Jewish people had been ruled by numerous nations since 600 BC when Nebuchadnezzar conquered Israel. Leading up to the time of Jesus and the nation anxiously awaited for their eventual freedom from Roman rule and the establishment of a peaceful kingdom on the Earth. Most were looking for a physical kingdom.
Read:
Matthew 20:20
Matthew 16:21-22
Luke 22:47-49
The ministry of Jesus was marked by displays of miracles, authoritative words, and the proclamation of the coming Kingdom of God. Though many revolutionaries had came before Jesus, his ministry was marked by authority. There was an expectation, even by the disciples of Jesus, that he was ultimately going to set up a physical kingdom on the Earth.
This is analogous to the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia." The children enter into Narnia, a frozen land where it is always winter but never Christmas. Then, they hear of the coming of Aslan, the Messiah figure, who was rumored to be back in Narnia. This is evidenced by the icy kingdom of the White Witch beginning to melt as spring finally begins to approach. Many thought that Aslan would instantly kill the White Witch and establish His Kingdom.
As Jesus moved throughout the towns and cities displaying miracles, many Jews saw this as a sign of the coming spring when the nation of Israel would be free.
Read:
Matthew 21:1-11
Matthew 21:12
Jesus enters Jerusalem with people welcoming him with palm branches and calling Him Hosanna. They anticipated him to enter the nations capital with power.
Jesus is then arrested by the Romans. The people realize that Jesus did not bring the kind of kingdom they wanted. He did not come to conquer their oppressors. As this realization sets in, their affection for this "King" and "Messiah" wains and many support his crucifixion.
Read: John 18:33-37
Jesus tells Pilate that He is a King but His Kingdom is not of this world. Jesus is eventually nailed to a cross and killed. He then arises three days later.
Question: Did the Kingdom of God come?
A. Yes: Jesus has come to begin the process of redeeming all that is screwed up in the world. He invites us to participate in this process through missional living by sharing the Gospel, ministering to the poor, and redeeming our culture. Believing in Jesus allows us the enter this Kingdom as children of God and allowing Him to be the Ruler of our lives. Being part of this gives us identity and purpose in our lives.
B. Not Yet: One day, Jesus will come back and establish a physical Kingdom where death and darkness will be completely swept away. Christians eagerly await this day.
Much like Jesus, living for the Kingdom of God requires sacrifice and will not always be easy. We are forced to give up the idea of having our own little Kingdom to be fully part of his much larger, more permanent Kingdom. God helps us do this as he works in us to continually establish His Kingdom on the Earth.
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