Hard Truth-Kingdom of God

Good News of the Kingdom of God

It all starts with an agreement, a covenant between God and Abram:

No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. (Genesis 17:5-10)

From Abraham and Isaac in Canaan, to Joseph and Moses in Egypt, the Hebrews kept up their end of the covenant. God prepared the the Hebrews to be His kingdom on earth. He instructed Moses to reiterate his agreement, a covenant between God and His chosen people:

Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 19:5-6)

A "holy" nation is one that is separate from other nations on earth. It appears that God intended for His people to live under His kingship, not under the kings of man like the other peoples of the earth. Through Moses, God shared his commandments and laws that were to be obeyed. But the people of Israel didn't really get it and even though they stumbled and rebelled against Him and flat out rejected Him, they did keep to the terms of the original covenant (the circumcision of the flesh) and God, always true to His word, continued to guide the Israelites. Eventually God made Israel a great nation on earth under David. Then God revealed a promise to David:

When your days are fulfilled to walk with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. I will not take my steadfast love from him, as I took it from him who was before you, but I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever, and his throne shall be established forever.’” (1 Chronicles 17:11-14)

Through David, God taught us about the kingdom of heaven. Unlike the kingdom of Israel, God's kingdom is far the greater

But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children, to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments. The LORD has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. (Psalms 103:17-19)

Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The LORD is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] (Psalms 145:13)

Even King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian ruler that conquered the nation of Israel, when confronted with the kingdom of God recognized:

How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. (Daniel 4:3)

600 years later, just as God promised, the kingdom of heaven came to earth as John the Baptist proclaimed

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)

And Amen, the King, Jesus was revealed

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)

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 (Matthew 4:23)

So now, let's talk about kings and kingdoms. On earth, few kingdoms of man still exist as a method of governance. Kingdoms have all but completely fallen away to democratic and parliamentary republics, socialism, communism, and autocracies, not because kingship is a flawed form of government, it fails because no earthly king has ever been worthy enough of its subjects. A good king may be loved and the next king hated. Throughout history, most kingdoms last only a few generations. The kingdom of God though, that is much different, God promised we would have a perfect everlasting King. Worthy is the lamb.

Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he (Jesus) answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.” (Luke 17:20-21)

The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus justified God's promise to David that "I will confirm him in my house and in my kingdom forever". In Jesus, we have a king that is worthy of our subjection. Think of a kingdom in the middle ages. Those who lived on the king’s land were subject to the laws of the king and in everything they did, they served the king. Whether a farmer who farmed the king’s land for the food to feed the kingdom or an ironsmith that forged the armor and weapons for the knights that defended the kingdom, everyone under the king served the king. When a king went to war, it was the most loyal knights of the king that would fight on the king’s behalf. As giver of the law, it was also the king that upheld justice, kept the law and punished transgressors of the law.

Read on... Hard Truth One: We Must Serve the King