The Kingdom of God - From Spiritual Presence to Literal Reign

So the title of my message today is the kingdom of God from spiritual presence to literal reign. So I ask the basic question what is a kingdom? A kingdom is not a vague spiritual feeling. It's interesting when you look at what mainstream Christianity believes in conflicting ideas. They believe that they're going to go to heaven, that everyone goes to heaven at the moment of the resurrection or you're going to go to eternal hellfire.
It's one or the other. And so there's a real challenge to explain when Christ talks about a kingdom in that context. Because if you believe you're going to heaven, isn't that where the kingdom is? And if Christ talks about a kingdom coming here, then how do you describe or explain that? Well, often the way that's explained as Mr.
Dyson covered today is well, it's it's in your heart or some other explanation. It could be it could be explained away or per or potentially explained away as uh as as as the beliefs of what we would call modern Zionists that it must be it must be the kingdom of Israel that we see today or maybe it was ancient Israel or maybe ancient Israel will become or maybe it's the church but it isn't necessarily a real kingdom where God actually rules.
So we begin to ask well then what is a kingdom? Let's start with that. What? It's not, as I said, it's not a feeling inside. It's not an interstate of peace. It's not a metaphor for good behavior. Any kingdom requires four components. Those of us who've been in the church for a while are familiar with this, but let's introduce it to everyone else.
The four components, you have to have a king or a ruler. You have to have territory. You have to have laws. And you need subjects. the four elements of any kingdom. Okay? Without these, there is no real kingdom. And scripture makes it clear that the kingdom of God is precisely that, a real government with Jesus Christ as king, the earth as its territory, the law of God as its foundation, and both spiritual and physical subjects who live under its rule.
Yet we also know that Jesus spoke of the kingdom as something already in your midst. Luke 17:21. How can that be if the kingdom of God has not yet come? The answer lies in understanding the two stages of the kingdom of God. Its spiritual presence now and its literal reality later. So when Christ walked the earth, he was the living embodiment of God's rule.
He was God in the flesh, fully submitted to his father's will. So the kingdom was present with Christ's presence. While we were driving to Olympia this morning, I had my wife do a quick search for me. I was thinking about Christ being present as the representative of a government that isn't from here. And does that have any biblical corlaries? Can you think of any? I was envisioning when Assyria sent representatives to Hezekiah, for example.
Would you say in your mind that those representatives were the kingdom of Assyria when they came to Israel? Well, they certainly weren't Israelites and they certainly weren't from any other kingdom or government. They were there on behalf of Assyria. They fully represented Assyria. Assyria was right there with those people, those representatives of Assyria.
Do you see the correlary? Christ is saying this is the whole history of kingdoms conquering other kingdoms. They send an emissary. This happened multiple times to Israel and Judah. An emissary is sent from a conquering king who says they come on behalf of that kingdom to say this kingdom is coming. You will submit voluntarily or by force voluntarily will go better for you.
This is the pattern. So Christ comes. He's standing amongst the Jews. They are not members of the kingdom. Christ is the only representative on earth at that time then of the kingdom of God. And he says, "Well, the kingdom is in the midst of you because what? They had the spirit of God." Of course not.
Christ, the emissary of the kingdom of God, stood there as a representative of that kingdom. This is a pattern repeated throughout history. It's something we should be able to recognize. This is what he meant when he described the kingdom of God being in their midst. After his resurrection and ascension, that spiritual presence continues through the church, which is his body guided by the Holy Spirit.
But that spiritual presence is not the end. It's the beginning. The gospel is not just that Christ reigns in our hearts. It's in the announcement that he will return to establish a literal world government. This is a truth mainstream Christianity does not understand. To rightly understand then this kingdom of God, its spiritual presence now and its literal reality to come.
I want to begin where Jesus did with the gospel. What exactly did he preach? Was it only about a future kingdom? Was it only about himself? Or was it both? Let's begin with that. My first point today is the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ are the gospel message. Both are the gospel message. The gospel is the central idea to Christianity.
A gospel. What does gospel mean? It means good news. When the Bible is allowed to speak about this, it consistently shows us and makes it clear that the gospel is not exclusively about the kingdom of God apart from Christ. Nor is it about Christ apart from the kingdom of God. They go hand in hand. The New Testament first defines the gospel by describing what Jesus himself preached.
Let's look at Mark 1:es 14 and 15. Mark chapter 1 here at the beginning of Jesus's ministry in Mark chapter 1 vers verse 14 it says now after John was put in prison Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God And it's not just one thing. He began with the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand.
Well, again, that only makes sense in one context. Christ himself is the representative of that kingdom saying these words. Therefore, the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ combined together are the gospel message. Luke confirms this. Luke 4:43. Luke 4:43. [snorts] But he said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent.
" Christ connects himself, the message of himself with the message of the kingdom of God. They go together and they establish together these two passages beyond any question that the kingdom of God was the central theme of Jesus Christ's preaching. But it doesn't allow for us to conclude that the gospel excluded Christ himself.
He was the messenger. The same Jesus who preached the kingdom also preached about his own identity. Let's turn back to Mark chapter 8. Mark chapter 8. I will tell you what I told Olympia. I reserve the right to add scriptures in any passage that I might originally call out only one. I may definitely add others. Just depends on if it makes sense.
[snorts] Here we're just going to we're going to read ma uh Mark 8:31. And he began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed. and after 3 days rise again. So here he's describing his role a part of his ministry and after his resurrection he rebuked his disciples for failing to understand that his death and resurrection were essential parts of the gospel message.
You know, intellectually they understood, I believe. But of course, they didn't have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. So, you know, imagine you're tutoring under Christ for three and a half years. He's trying to teach you things. He's repeated this message multiple times. Yet, if you recall when Christ was resurrected and they're all going to the tomb, how many of them expressed absolute shock and surprise? How many times did he tell them this is what must happen? And yet continually they were surprised by it. Somehow there
was a disconnect in their understanding and connecting these two things. And Christ chastised them for not remembering that his death and resurrection is a part of the gospel over in Luke 24 20 verses 25 and 26. If you're taking notes, I just want to urge you to leave some space before a scripture and maybe a little after just in case.
I might I might say, "Hey, we're going to start here instead." I was wondering to myself, am I did I do that here? Luke 24:2 and 26. Yeah, we're going to have to start this one in verse 24 to get context. It says, "And certain of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the woman, the women had said, but him they did not sut but him they did not see.
" So they so Christ is risen and they don't see him. So what happens then? He that's Christ said to them, "Oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken. Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into his glory? And then finishing in verse 27, it says, "And beginning at Moses and the prophets, he expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
" So Christ didn't just come to preach about the kingdom of God to the exclusion of of anything else. He himself is a central part of the gospel message. And so the gospel then is both the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. Now this is well understood as we move past Christ's sacrifice, his resurrection and ascension to take his place at God's right hand.
We get to Acts chapter 8 where Philip has been preaching the gospel in Samaria. And notice here, Acts 8:12. So the Samaritans, Acts 8:12. But when they, the Samaritans believed Philillip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, this is what Philip preached. It is that message which led people to become baptized believing in the name of Jesus Christ, his purpose, why he came, why he lived, and why he died, what that meant.
They believed that message, but also the message of the coming kingdom of God, the kingdom Jesus Christ himself came as a representative of. Paul followed the same pattern. Let's go back. We're still in Acts. Let's go back to Acts chapter 28. We're at the very end of the of the uh book of Acts. These are the last recordings of what Paul was doing in Rome before he was put to death.
And I'm reading I'm going to read here in verse 23. And so it says, "And so when they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging and to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets, morning till evening.
" We just read Christ did the same thing. preached about himself from Moses and the prophets, the Old Testament, the scriptures as they knew them. At the very end, Luke summarizes Paul's message in verse 31 of Acts 28, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.
So these passages establish an unmistakable pattern. The apostles preached the kingdom of God, but they did so by teaching who Jesus Christ is, what he did, what he's doing now, and what he will do when he returns to establish that kingdom. Paul reinforces this connection over in 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 5.
1 Timothy chapter 2. There we go. And verse 5, where he says, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all to be testified in due time." [snorts] And again 1 Corinthians chapter 3 11 first Corinthians 3 11 Paul says for no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid which is Jesus Christ.
Foundation of the gospel is Jesus Christ. So the kingdom is the destination of God's plan. Jesus Christ is the means by which entrance into that kingdom is made possible. Hence, we look back once again to the metaphor. Christ is the door. He is the way into the kingdom. To preach the kingdom without Christ is incomplete.
To preach Christ without the kingdom is incomplete. They go together. The gospel is defined in scripture as the good news of both the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ, the Messiah. My second point, the kingdom of God present in part fulfilled in the future. Present in part fulfilled in the future. This is about the nature and timing of God's kingdom.
The kingdom of God obviously is a central theme throughout the New Testament, throughout the ministry of Christ, throughout the ministry of Paul and the apostles, but many misinterpret its nature. Now, they either relegated entirely to the future or they redefine it as purely spiritual in the present. A full biblical evaluation shows that the kingdom of God is both a present spiritual reality and a future literal government to be established on earth at Christ return.
Notice Luke 17 20 and 21. Luke 17 20 and 21 because this is what Christ told the Pharisees. Okay. Luke 17 verse 20. Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them and said, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation." Nor will they say, "See here or see there.
" Therefore indeed the kingdom of God is incorrectly translated here within you. Do they have the Holy Spirit? The challenge you have if you're a translator who believes in going to heaven after death. This is very neat, isn't it? This is a neat way to explain what otherwise is not explainable. If the kingdom of God is somehow in heaven where you're going to be versus on earth where you believe that somehow it is because it's within you because it's in the church.
It's hard to explain these things. But here we have this neat little explanation. It's within you. Well, yes, of course it is because I love Jesus. So therefore, that must be where the kingdom of God is. And the answer is really, why don't we just remember what the scriptures actually say and actually look at what the scripture says? We know Mr.
Dyson covered this today, but that's a mistransation. He means in the midst of you. And it's the same as I began explaining. An emissary comes from a foreign kingdom to Israel to say, I'm from another kingdom. That kingdom is going to conquer you. You can submit voluntarily or by force. That's what happened repeatedly in the Old Testament.
Was the kingdom of Assyria then in the midst of Israel by those that represent it? And of course, the answer is yes. And this is what Christ means. I represent the kingdom of God. Therefore, the kingdom is in the midst of you. It is in your presence. So, because Christ is referring then to himself as the embodiment of God's authority and rule and he's standing among them, he can make this claim boldly.
It is his very presence that brings the kingdom of God in the midst of them as the representative of God's kingdom. Now notice Matthew 12:28. Matthew 12 28. Here Satan, excuse me, here Christ is being accused of casting out demons because he must be the ruler of the demons. Notice what Christ says about that. Here we are.
I'm I'm going to conclude in 28. He said or I'm going to begin in 28. He says, "But if I cast out demons by the spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you. I am here with the authority of the kingdom of God. I'm not the representative of Satan. I am not Satan. I am not the ruler of the demon world. My authority therefore comes from God.
And if God is God and if his kingdom rules all of physical creation and he is the representative of that then he is the representative of the ruler of all creation and his authority comes from that ruler. It is over all authority which mean when Christ casts out a demon it isn't because he is the authority over the demons like Satan is.
He's the authority over Satan and all of the creation. They could not see that. But this shows that the power and authority of God's kingdom was already at work during Christ's ministry as a physical representative of that kingdom. God's rule then through his spirit was already intervening in the world through Christ and then later through his church.
Paul confirms that believers today are under that spiritual rule. Colossians chapter 1 verse 13. Colossians chapter 1 verse3 Paul says he has delivered us from the power of darkness that is the rulership of this world and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love. Becoming a part of God's church conveys us into the kingdom of God.
We're not citizens yet. I'll explain that later. We are now subjects of that kingdom. And of course, this does not mean the kingdom of God is fully established on earth. It means that those led by the Holy Spirit are living under God's government in anticipation of the kingdom's full arrival. Though spiritual rule exists today in the church, which it does, we recognize that scripture is clear that the kingdom will be established literally on earth at Christ's return.
You know, it's funny. Some things are are not so obvious until you think about them within a context. What is in the Lord's prayer? Matthew chapter 6, Christ's instruction when he when he when the disciples ask him, "How should we pray?" And he says, 'Well, in this manner in in in Matthew chapter 6, verse beginning in verse 9, he says, 'In this manner, therefore, pray our father.
Immediately, we're not praying to Christ. We're praying to the father. So now we see a hierarchy in authority. Christ says we pray first to the father. That's who we pray to. Okay? And where is the father? In heaven. He says, "Hallowed be your name. Father, your kingdom come." Where he doesn't say we should pray your kingdom stay there.
Bring us into your kingdom in heaven. We are to pray your kingdom come here. How do we know that? Because it says very clearly, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." The connection is absolutely unmistakable. God's kingdom is to come to this earth and his will is to be done on this earth exactly as it is in heaven.
Thus, Christ said, "This is what we should pray for." This obviously anticipates a future fulfillment when God's government will be fully established on this earth, not merely in the lives of individual believers. Now, notice Paul's writing in 1 Corinthians 15. Let's tie these two together. 1 Corinthians 15, we get to the end of of 15.
And if you want to make a note on if to try to keep things organized in your mind, there are certain biblical um let's call them chapters in the in the Bible that you need to note because you'll always be able to remember that they contain certain information. We know that 1 Corinthians 13 is called the love chapter.
1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection chapter. It's a very important chapter for us to know. We get to the end of this verse 50. And Paul tells us something. He says, "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood, you and I are flesh and blood. We cannot inherit the kingdom of God." Well, that's interesting. Therefore, the kingdom of God is not ruling on the earth right now because we're flesh and blood.
Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. But I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible. We just read where flesh and blood is is compared to being corruptible.
And yet we see here that the resurrection brings the dead back incorruptible. And we shall be changed. Why? What's he saying there? Well, you have to accommodate for two situations. When Christ returns, there are those who have died in the faith. There are those who are alive in the faith. And if you're a first fruit, you've been baptized.
You've received the Holy Spirit. You are and you're alive when Christ returns. You're alive in the faith. God doesn't kill you in that moment so he can resurrect you. He changes in a moment. In the twinkling of an eye, those alive are changed to join those who have died in Christ in resurrection. Because now we will be incorruptible.
Now we inherit the kingdom of God as spiritborn sons of God. Now we are citizens of the kingdom of God because flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God, but the spiritborn son or daughter does. This also implies that while the kingdom rules over physical people because when Christ returns are their people alive who enter as human beings the millennial period.
Yes, there will be those who live through all of the tribulation, the wrath of Satan, through the day of the Lord, which is the wrath of God. There will be those who live, human beings, and so they're going to be alive when Christ brings the government of God to this world. Are they going to be allowed to operate autonomously from that kingdom or does that kingdom come to rule the whole world? They are going to be subjects of that kingdom.
Can you be a citizen different from being a subject of a kingdom? I don't have time to walk you through history, but in Rome, remember Paul claimed his citizenry that gave him elevated rights over subjects. Rome recognize citizens and subjects. Two categories. You can't be a human citizen of the kingdom of God. You can be a human subject of the kingdom of God.
Daniel foresaw this literal kingdom coming in Daniel 7 27 [snorts] Daniel 7 27 it says then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people which people, the saints of the most high. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions, that's powers or authorities, all dominions shall serve and obey him.
It's just a way of saying all of the governments, all of the nations and the tribes and all of the peoples who today live on this earth have their own forms of governments and organizations, nations, kingdoms, whatever you want to call them. They're organized together somehow. Every authority in place on this earth is given to the first fruits called here the saints.
Are we given that independent of Christ or under Christ? Christ comes as the king of kings. He's going to have kings under him. These governments are still going to exist or the peoples subject to them is a better way to say that are still going to exist. Only now they look to who's really in charge, who's who's ruling now? Who's the boss? Because all the governments of men have now been put down and put under Jesus Christ.
And he's going to give those rulerships, those positions of authority to the first fruits. As it says in Revelation 20 and verse 4, Revelation 20 and verse4 is very clear about the role of the future of the first fruits. Revelation 24 says, "And I saw thrones." Now, I want to tell a bad joke there, so I'm going to move past that. I saw thrones.
Thrones represents represents seats of authority, seats of power. Okay? I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then [snorts] I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness of Jesus and for the word of God who had not worshiped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads or in their hands.
And they, this is now talking about the saints of God, those who were resurrected, those who were changed in the twinkling of an eye, they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. lived, ruled, and reigned with Christ under his authority. So now we see from Daniel that we're going to be given the authority over the governments of men, over however men are organized, nations, nationalities, families, however they're organized, God is going to establish his first fruits as the rulers over them under Jesus Christ.
That's not symbolism. That's literally going to happen. It's going to last a thousand year. And that's why we call this period the millennium. That happens when the seventh trumpet sounds. And then John hears this in Revelation 11:15. Revelation 11:15. Then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.
A change is going to happen in rulership, a declaration." Now, pause for a minute. This is before Christ returns. A declaration from God that says a change in authority is going to happen over the whole earth. Is it instant? Do we have a correlary scripturally you can think of that's like this? Well, go back in your mind to when Saul was placed as king over Israel.
When Saul had finally shown his rebelliousness and God had had enough of that, what did he do? He sent Samuel to anoint a new king. And he told David, you will be king over Israel. God has said, "So though it happened, though there was a transfer of power in that moment, did it happen instantly? Did David immediately take power?" And of course, the answer is no.
Who was the God of the Old Testament? The word, the one that became Jesus Christ, was the God of the Old Testament who oversaw all of what happened there. Do you think on Christ in Christ's mind he doesn't understand the whole history of Israel to be able to recall and call to mind the very correlary between Saul and Satan and David and Christ.
Who takes Saul out of power? God. Who takes Satan out of power? Christ. Who was the God there? Christ. It's Christ. It's an incredible unity in the scripture on these things that we can see the forerunners illustrating to us things that will happen later. The kingdom of God is already present then spiritually in the lives of those who submit to God's rule and who are led by his spirit.
You can have the spirit of God and not be led by it. simple reality. The Bible study I have coming up this week talks about carnal nature as Paul described it. It's a fascinating study helping us to understand where Paul places a corollary before us where he says that we have a carnal mind versus a spiritual mind.
It is the seat of authority over the mind that he's describing. So can you have the Holy Spirit and not be led by it? Yes, because it's still choice. Why did you get the spirit to begin with? Well, hopefully it's because you wanted to yield, but you still have a choice. All right, my third point. The kingdom of God or excuse me in this one is about the promises to Israel fulfilled historically but not the final kingdom of God.
So ancient Israel was not the final kingdom of God and the coming unification of Israel is also not the kingdom of God. So let's begin with the final excuse me that the ancient Israel's promises were fulfilled historically but they do not represent the final form of the kingdom of God. All right. Did Israel receive the kingdom that was promised to them? And if so whether later expectations of a kingdom of God misunderstand that fulfillment.
Scripture give us a gives us a clear balanced answer. Israel did receive what God promised them as the nation of Israel. That's a physical people on a national level. But that fulfillment was not identical to the kingdom of God Jesus preached. Those are not the same thing. You might not be confused about that. Good. We'll still cover it.
Let's go back to Joshua chapter 21. We know that God made promises about giving Israel a promised land and setting them up as a nation. I have in mind another message I'm going to be giving based on John 1:16 which talks about grace unto grace. It's beautiful. It's this is a magical part of that story of what John was trying to talk about.
I love the mind of John as an old man as he's looking back and he can explain so many things that he wasn't quite capable of processing as a young man, but he sure got him as an old man. All right. Uh I'm where am I going? I'm going to Joshua 21. Rambling. Slow down and get where I'm going. Okay. Joshua 21 beginning in verse 43. It says, "So the Lord gave to Israel, this is the nation, the physical nation, all the land of which he had sworn to give to their fathers, and they took possession of it and dwelt in it.
The Lord gave them rest all around according to all that he had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them. The Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass. I was contemplating.
God, what this is saying is that God made promises to Israel that he was going to give them the promised land. He was going to lead them to it. He was going to deliver it to them. He did exactly what he promised to do. What did he tell them they were supposed to do? Go in and possess the land. God paves the way. He opens the door.
He escorts them right to the threshold and he says, "Go in." Now, they went in, but he said, "Here's what I want you to do. You got to conquer the whole land. You need to drive out the people of the land and take possession." Did Israel do that partially? always partially always failing somehow to do exactly what God said to do.
So God never did fail, but Israel failed repeatedly. Let's notice here in 2 Chronicles 6:4, Solomon confirms exactly the same principle that God fulfilled everything he promised he would do. [snorts] 1 Chronicle, excuse me, 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 6, beginning in verse 3. Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel.
This is Solomon. while all the assembly of Israel was standing. And he said, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who has fulfilled with his hands what he spoke with his mouth to my father David." These passages leave no doubt that God kept his promises to physical Israel. [snorts] They became a nation.
They inherited land. They were ruled by kings of the line of David. So in that sense, Israel did receive the kingdom. They were promised under the old covenant. There isn't any doubt about that. It's very clear. It's very obvious. However, scripture also shows that the physical kingdom was temporary. It was conditional, was it not? What did Israel have to do in order to remain a nation? Obey.
God entered into an agreement with them, a covenant agreement with them. Israel said, "All that you have said, we will do." In a marriage vow, that's the same thing as saying, "I do." Let's turn over to Deuteronomy chapter 28 here to be reminded that God had given them both blessings and cursings. Deuteronomy chapter 28.
So at the end before they cross over to take the promised land over in verse 15, we begin with curses on disobedience. But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all his commandments and his statutes, which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.
Israel was not faithful. So in 7:22 BC, God divorced Israel and he sent Assyria in to conquer them to utterly wipe out the nation, the northern 10 tribes. By this time, we have two nations. Israel's no longer one. After the death of Solomon, Riaboam, the son of Nebat, takes the northern 10 tribes and forms a separate nation.
They didn't want to be under the rulership of Riaboam. So now we have two nations, Israel and Judah. God calls them sisters after that. And he talks about being married to both. And in the marriage to Israel, he says, "You were an unfaithful wife. So unfaithful that by 7:22 BC, he'd just had enough.
There was she was an encouraable wife. And so he divorced her. He put her away. because this was the result of the curses that she agreed to when entering into a covenant with God. And so that that kingdom obviously collapsed. The failure of Israel did not represent a failure of God's promise. But the limitations of a physical kingdom governed by unconverted human beings is what did that.
The prophets began to speak of a future kingdom distinct from the former one. It was greater in scope, eternal in duration, and ruled directly by God through the Messiah. So Isaiah writes, go back here to Isaiah chapter uh 9:7. Isaiah chapter 9:7. Let's actually I'm going to start here in verse 6.
If you listened earlier, you left a little space there. You could add a little six. [snorts] Says, "For unto us a child is born. Unto us a son is given. And the government," notice that doesn't say governments. It's one government, the kingdom of God. The government will be upon his shoulder and his name will be called wonderful counselor, mighty God, everlasting father, prince of peace.
of the increase of his government singular and peace there will be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. Jeremiah 23 adds to this. Jeremiah 23:5. Jeremiah 23:5 says, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will raise to David a branch of righteousness, a king.
" That's a capital K, a king shall reign and prosper and execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will dwell safely. Now, this is the name by which he will be called, the Lord our righteousness. This is the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. When he came, Israel was once again expecting national restoration.
But Jesus obviously redirected and rejected their expectations. Mr. Dyson covered this very issue. They tried to set him up, pursued him to set him up as king. The Pharisees saw a Messiah coming not as a lamb to be slaughtered, but as a king to conquer, to reestablish Judah as a nation, to to shake off, to tear off Roman rule.
That's what they looked for in Christ. And they were going to set him up as a king, as was read earlier. But in John 18:36, we'll read um read parts of 33 and 36. John 18, I believe this was read earlier, but it's okay for the sake of the sermon, we'll read it again. So John 18, when Christ is specifically asked though, John 18:33.
Yeah. Well, it helps if you're in John like how you know you read something and it just does not work. That's one of those cases. All right. So, John 18. There we go. It's already looking familiar. So then Pilate the entered the ptorium again and called Jesus and said to him, "Are you the king of the Jews?" Now Jesus asks him, he says, "Are you speaking for yourself about this or did others tell you this concerning me?" Now what does Pilate say? Am I a Jew? Could it be more obvious? He's saying, I look, this isn't
my idea. The Jews are saying this about you that you claim to be a king. So Christ's answer is what? My kingdom is not of this earth. If my kingdom would were from here, my people, my subjects, my citizens would fight. My kingdom isn't from here. That's verse 36. So, he didn't deny being a king, did he? He just denied that his kingdom was some sort of an earthly kingdom, pulled out of the nations of the world.
These aren't his kingdoms. That means the Jewish nation was no longer his nation in that sense. And he certainly wasn't sent to rule over them when he first came. That's what he's saying. That's not my job. So Christ simply denied that his kingdom would originate from human political systems or national power.
The New Testament further explains that the promises to Israel ultimately point beyond physical disscent. Romans chapter 2. Romans chapter 2. where Paul says in verse 28 and 29, for he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. So we know what circumcision is and we know that it was the physical sign under first originally Abraham's covenant and then as a part of the covenant with God and Israel that it was a sign of that covenant.
He says, "But he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter, not in the flesh." Meaning no more is is the church to be considered a home of the Jews. It isn't isolated to only the Jews. The church is now those God calls out of the word. Jew the world Jew and Gentile.
No longer just Jews only. Meaning the salvation isn't of the Jews alone. It is offered to Jew and Gentile. Now notice over in Galatians chapter 3, Paul makes a conclusion for us in uh Galatians 3 29 where he makes an interesting statement because he's talking to a church in a gentile area.
So many of the brethren are gentile converts. And he says to them, "And you, if you are Christ, so if you have the Holy Spirit, if you've been baptized and received the spirit of God, if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed." The Pharisees stood up and arguing, "No, we are Abraham's seed." And and here Paul is saying, "No.
" Now, if you have the spirit of God, if you are Christ's, you are Abraham's seed and hes according to the promise. This shows that while physical Israel received the physical promises, the kingdom of God is something greater. It's eternal. It's spiritual in composition, and it's universal in its scope. It's not a reestablishment of ancient Israel, nor is it confined to any one nation on the earth.
The kingdom Jesus preached is not a denial of Israel's history, but its fulfillment and transcendence. The former kingdom proved what human rule cannot accomplish. The coming kingdom will show what God what only God's rule can achieve. We're going to see what that rule looks like when Jesus Christ comes and brings that government to this earth.
My final point, we have a future restoration of physical Israel after Christ's return. There will be a nation called Israel at the beginning of the millennium that is brought back where God had promised them to be. They will exist as a nation, not independent of God, but as an example to the world. This is the purpose they were supposed to fulfill when they were the only nation on the planet who had God as their God. The other nations had gods.
>> They created and invented out of wood and stone, out of earth and out of objects, out of creation itself, but they didn't have God. They didn't have the God. Only Israel had the God. They were supposed to be the nation on earth that said by their example we have the God, the God of all gods and they failed.
They are going to have an opportunity to live up to that responsibility that God had originally given them during the millennium. Notice here in Ezekiel chapter 37. We know that they were divided. We've talked about that today. Okay, let's go to Ezekiel 37. Israel and Judah are not destined to remain separated.
They are destined to be brought back together. Ezekiel chapter 37. Well, let's pick this up here in verse 15. It says, 'Again, the word of the Lord came to me, saying, as for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it for Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions. Then take another stick and write on it for Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.
Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, "Will you not show us what you mean by these?" Say to them, "Thus says the Lord God, surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel, his companions, and I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, and make them one stick, and they will be one in my hand, and the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes." Then say
to them, "Thus says the Lord God, surely," this is what it means. Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations. When Ezekiel's writing this, Israel has been in captivity for something like 130 years. Israel's dispersed. They don't exist. The northern 10 tribes are gone. Samaria and all the lands of the north are occupied by former Assyrian peoples.
He says, "I will take the children of Israel from among the nations wherever they have gone and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land. And I will make them one nation in the land on the mountains of Israel. And one king shall be king over them all. They shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again." This is clearly prophetic.
Why has this ever happened? In all the history of man, has this ever happened? Israel and Judah coming back together as one nation. You can look at your map today and you can see an area called Israel. And if you didn't know better, you might think that that's all Israel. But it's not because in 1948, that land was given to the Jews.
Who are the Jews today? Same as they were at the time of Christ. Judah, Benjamin, and Levi. Where are the other tribes? Because they're not a part of Judah. And yet, it is Judah that resides today in the land they call Israel. It's an important understanding that we have that we do not have a unification on earth today of Israel and Judah back as one as God had prophesied here.
So we yet wait this this has to happen when well it obviously can't also be talking about the church. This is clearly talking about nations. Nations understood in the context as who as who they were as a people. So this is clearly not talking about the church in the future. So that's not us. So then we have to have a reathering of physical Israel.
Now that has to be timed after Jesus Christ returns to establish his kingdom as Jeremiah describes this future event in Jeremiah 30:3. Jeremiah 30:3 he says for behold the days are coming says the Lord. So this is God talking that I will bring back from captivity my people Israel and Judah says the Lord and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it.
Let's drop down to verses 8 and n because he adds to this. He says, "For for it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of Hosts, that I will break his yoke from your neck, and you will burst your bonds. Foreigners shall no uh more enslave them, but they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King, whom I will raise up for them.
" They're going to serve God and David their king. So, that begs a question. If someone were to argue that this somehow happened in history, then where is David? David's long dead by the time Israel is no longer under covenant with God. This is obviously the future. It cannot be fulfilled at any time until David can be their ruler.
Well, that's not going to happen until after Christ returns and David is resurrected to be their ruler and prince. So, this obviously unmistakably puts this at the time of the return of Jesus Christ when David is going to be resurrected. Let's go back here quickly to Ezekiel 37. Ezekiel 37. beginning in verse 24. So Ezekiel 37:24, David my servant shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd.
They shall also walk in my judgments and observe my statutes and do them. So this clearly tells us that when God's kingdom comes to this earth, we will not have nations operating under their own governments under the government of God. It will be one government, one law. It will come from God and they will obey that law.
And it says, "And my servant David shall be their prince forever." At the time of this writing, princes and kings, vassal kings is the same thing. You can be a prince under a king or a king under a king. A king under a king is a vassel. A prince under a king is a relation. It's the same thing. You rule how the king tells you to rule, where you are told to rule.
And in this case, David will be Christ's prince over Israel. But the restored Israel will not be the kingdom of God because they will not yet be spirit. But they will be subjects of that kingdom. living as a model nation to the rest of the world. Their obedience and transformation will serve as a witness to other nations of God's way of life.
Ponder for just a minute. We have a thousand years to bring God's government to the entire world. Will that happen in the first year? What does the scripture hint at that tells us it can't? That it will not have happened in the first year or even the first few years. We have Gog and Magog. 1.0 all the peoples of the nations that basically are north and east and somewhat south and east of Israel nationalities people ethnos come together against Israel what they see as the unwalled villages they want to march in and take all of
the wealth that they see. So if we have taken the word of God and the knowledge of God throughout all the world, why do these people rebel so openly, if we've done it like that, so this just tells us it's going to be a process of time to take God's government throughout all the world. It's a process of time. It has to take time.
Ultimately, those peoples will also be educated and come under that authority and they're going to transform themselves into a new way of life. Isaiah chapter 2 describes this. Isaiah chapter 2:es 3 and 4. Well, let's I'm going to start in verse two. Now, it shall come to pass in the latter days.
Now, we know what's being talked about. The latter days always refers to the time of Christ's return. That the mountain of the Lord's house, mountain means government. The mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. Here, mountains means other governments. These are the governments of men. So the mountain of God, the kingdom of God is going to be established on top of all of the governments of men, which we read in Daniel chapter 7 earlier, which is going to be given to the saints.
All of those governments are going to be ruled under God's government, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.
For out of Zion shall go forth the law. Zion, Israel, same thing. From Israel is what this is saying. The law is going to spread across the entire globe. It's going to begin with Israel. He will teach us his ways and we shall walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. That's not ambiguous.
It's not a misprint. It's not an analogy. It's not a metaphor. It's literally what's going to happen. Very plain language. Let's notice again in Zechariah 8 23. Zechariah chapter 8, thus says the Lord in verse 23, the Lord of hosts, in those days 10 men from every language of the nations shall grasp the sleeve of a Jewish man, saying, "Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.
" You see how clear it is that we can see now that God is going to bring Israel together. Israel and Judah reunited as one tribe, one nation to be the example nation on the face of the earth to all the other nations. And all the other nations are going to realize this is how we're supposed to live.
Israel will finally by because God will have given them his spirit as we have read before they'll finally have God's spirit and therefore can be an example to this world. So these scriptures show that physical Israelites will once again be used by God, but this time in a righteous capacity to teach and model his way to the rest of humanity.
They will no longer be exalted for their ethnicity, but honored because they walk in God's ways and they serve God faithfully. So God has not forgotten his promises to physical Israel. After Jesus Christ returns, he will reather the scattered descendants of Israel and Judah. He will reunite them into one nation.
He will place them back in their land. And he's going to establish them as a model physical people under his spiritual government. They will not constitute the kingdom of God. They are physical and physical cannot inherit the kingdom of God. They will be subjects of the kingdom of God. One day, once they finally get their chance to be changed, to be converted, once they finally receive that eternal life, they will become citizens of the kingdom of God and join us as fellow citizens of that kingdom.
The kingdom of God is not a vague idea or a distant dream. It's really the very heart of the of the gospel message. It's the destination of God's plan for all of humanity. It began with Christ's first coming. It continues now in the spiritual rule of his church and will be fully realized at his return.
Jesus Christ is both the message and the means for God's kingdom to come to this earth. He's the one who preached the kingdom and he's the one who's going to rule it. He reigns now in the hearts of his people because we have the Holy Spirit. But soon he's going to reign over all the nations with power and glory. So let's not get distracted by worldly kingdoms, political ideologies, ethnic distinctions.
None of that matters for us now. Our kingdom is the kingdom of God. We are all brothers and sisters together awaiting our change, our transformation, our entrance, our citizenship in that kingdom when Jesus Christ returns.