As followers of Jesus it’s important that we understand the Kingdom of God… how it works…and what it’s all about…if you’re going to spend eternity there you really ought to know a little bit about the place.
Something I’ve said for the past two weeks…and I’m going to say it again… with respect to reading the Bible…one of the biggest mistakes people make is that they read it as a spectator…as a novel…or like a fictional story…
Scripture becomes nothing more than a collection of stories and events that took place thousands of years ago…not realizing the application for us today.
In Mark 4:30 Jesus said
How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?
How does Mark know this…as far as we know Mark never heard Jesus speak and certainly wasn’t one of His followers…everything Mark knew about Jesus he heard from Peter…John Mark…wrote down not necessarily in order…all that Peter remembered about what Jesus said and did.
Ever thought about this verse?…can you see Jesus scratching His forehead and even talking to Himself?…gives you a little insight into the human side of Jesus.
Ever thought about how to tell someone what the Kingdom of God is like? Ever find yourself like Jesus…How can I describe the Kingdom of God? …do you know your Bible well enough to be able to share that with someone?
The term Kingdom of God encompasses several aspects…in one sense God is sovereign…supreme…over everything that is…on a small scale…He is the spiritual ruler over the lives of those who willingly submit to His authority.
Jesus didn’t want us just guessing about how things will work out until He returns…so he gave the disciples eight parables that describe how God is working on earth…and in Heaven.
Last year I preached through those eight parables that describe how God is working in the world today…and until the Lords returns…today’s verse comes from one of those parables…[Mark 4:30]
How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it?
In this verse we see how Jesus sought to describe what the Kingdom of God is like.
We don’t know what the disciples were thinking but it was obvious to Jesus they had the wrong idea of God’s Kingdom…Jesus felt the need to correct them concerning what the Kingdom is really all about.
The Kingdom of God is inauspicious…it takes things and people who show no future promise or success and uses them in incredible ways.
—Jesus takes a boy’s lunch and uses it to miraculously feed thousands.
—God uses a forgotten man Moses to lead Israel out of slavery.
—God used David…the youngest son of eight boys doing a job no one else wanted…taking care of sheep…to be a giant-killer then king of Israel.
—God used Gideon…from the smallest family in the smallest tribe in Israel to be a great military leader.
—God used a baby born in a stable to save the world.
That is the intent of the Parable of the Mustard Seed…if you’re not familiar with that parable Jesus uses the analogy of the mustard seed…making a comparison of how that small seed grows until it becomes larger than all the garden plants… an illustration to describe how the church will flourish to reach people.
Look at all the things that have been the result of Christianity in just 2000 years.
The Kingdom of God has been providing benefits for hundreds of thousands of people…everywhere the Kingdom of God has gone it has brought with it:
—hospitals…schools…morality…ethics…decency…compassion and salvation.
—wherever the gospel has gone it has abolished cannibalism…child abuse… slavery…racism.
—Wherever the gospel has gone it has built orphanages…cared for the sick and comforted the bereaved.
—wherever the gospel has gone it has provided halfway houses…recovery programs…shelters…food pantries…housing…and disaster relief.
Jesus is about to reveal things that no human has ever had the benefit of hearing or knowing concerning what Heaven is like.
I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. [Matt. 13:35].
When describing the Kingdom of God Jesus shows that we won’t have to wait to enjoy the benefits of the Kingdom….WHY?
The Kingdom of God can best be seen as being ‘already but not yet’.
The Bible refers to the Kingdom of God as a present reality…as already “among you” [Lk 17:21] …the kingdom of God was near to them because the King of the kingdom was there…but at other times as a something in the future … at the Last Supper Jesus tells the disciples He’s looking forward to drinking new wine with them… “in the kingdom of God” [Mk 14:25] so also not yet.
In these eight parables Jesus illustrates the three phases of the Kingdom of God:
| Present internal | In Hearts of Believers | Present Age (Between 1st & 2nd Comings) |
| Future Physically | On earth | Messianic Age (After 2nd Coming) |
| Eternally Visible | Literal New Earth | Eternal Age (After the Messianic Age) |
After we die we go to Paradise where we wait with all the other Christians who have died…all waiting to go to Heaven.
Here’s what important…the necessity to make the distinction between the current place where all Christians who have died are at now…Paradise…and the final eternal place we will eventually all go to live in forever…Heaven.
Paradise is not our final destination…why the wait between Paradise and going to Heaven…waiting on what?… because we have not yet received our glorified bodies…that happens at the Rapture when Christ returns a second time…we must wait for that event…then we go to Heaven.
In describing the Kingdom of God which includes Paradise…the first point of discussion is do we take anything with us when we go….or…after death are we like a new born baby with no recollection or memory of anything?
Scripture would seem to indicate that we take nothing with us when we go to Paradise: “Naked I came into the world and naked I will return”…[Job 1:21] Isaiah 65:16 / 17 seems to validate that as well.
16 because the former troubles are forgotten
17 and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind.
These three verses would seem to suggest that we take nothing with us when we die…not even our memories…the former shall not be remembered
BUT…verse 16 specifically tells what will be forgotten…former troubles …‘troubles’ in Hebrew means…adversity…affliction …distress…hardship …these are the things we don’t want to remember…I don’t want to think about all the bad times I had while on earth.
These verses are showing what will be forgotten …things that will…not be remembered nor come to mind…it’s referring to our former ‘troubles.’
BUT…looking at verse [17] God seems to be saying there’s more to it than just forgetting the difficult times we had while on earth.
I (God) create new heavens and a new earth and the former shall not be remembered, nor come to (my) mind
When God says the former shall not be remembered, nor come to mind…it doesn’t mean that God will have a sudden loss of memory… rather… He’s referring to something else…God is saying…I also have the capability of choosing not to recall past sins.
So does that mean that we also won’t remember our sins on earth…why would we want to?…that would only diminish the wonders of being in Heaven.
Jesus’ nail-scarred hands and feet will be forever a reminder of what it cost Him for us to be in Heaven…there is no reason why we would want to possess memories from our earthly lives.
Not wanting to contradict Job…during our study of Romans I shared with you what we do take with us after we die…when we’re in Paradise waiting to go to Heaven.
Hopefully we are all familiar with the realm of salvation…how God saves us… how we get saved…how we grow spiritually…and where we are ultimately headed as believers…this segues into the second part of Jesus’s teaching.
Going back to the idea that we won’t remember our sins on earth…BUT that doesn’t mean that we won’t have memories about what we did while on earth.
That is part of the reason for believers receiving crowns and rewards…so we will be continuously reminded of the acts of faithfulness done in that small window of opportunity God gives us on earth.
When we get to Heaven…God is going to reward us for what we’ve done during our time on earth…that will be a reminder of the acts of faithfulness done while on earth.
Then we’re going to have the big marriage supper of the Lamb… good times a coming…NOT contradicting Job 1:21…but you do take something with you.
FIRST the memory of how you lived your life on earth…that is part of the reason for the crowns and rewards given out to Christians…we will forever be reminded of the faithful acts done on earth…no reason why we cannot possess memories from our earthly lives.
SECOND thing you take is your personality…death is a relocation of the same person from one place to another…everyone will not be the same…the place changes but the person remains the same.
THIRD thing I think you take into Paradise is your prayer list…those you have prayed for who are still on earth…I believe those who have departed before us and are in Heaven can and do pray for us.
Scripture tells us that ‘He (Jesus) ever lives (in Heaven) to make intercessions for the saints’ [Heb 7:25] …if Jesus is praying for us in Heaven is it too far a stretch to believe that those who are with Jesus are praying for us as well?
FOURTH thing we take with us is our knowledge of the Bible…it’s common to hear people say…’We don’t understand now but in Heaven we’ll know everything…No you won’t….God is omniscient…you’re not…He knows everything…you never will…we will forever be learners.
FIFTH thing is the memories and experiences you had with Jesus while here on earth…you will have the opportunity to personally thank Jesus for all the times He intervened in your life.
Biggest sin a Christians can make is ingratitude…not thanking Jesus for what He’s done for you…I will forever be grateful that God chose me and allowed me to preach His Word.
SIXTH thing will be all the people you had a hand in winning to Christ …all those you prayed for or shared the plan of salvation with…they will want to thank you for your effort.
Every person here this morning is here because someone prayed for you… when you get to Heaven you can personally thank them for their perseverance.
In every New Testament letter there is an emphasis for us to be exactly what Paul was…as believers we should be…examples in speech…in conduct…in love…in faith …and in purity [1 Tim. 4:12].
If we’re just content to live out our earthly lives
…believing that just being ‘religious’ should be sufficient,
…OR…being sincere is good enough
…OR…that we’re just all going to the same place cause God loves everybody.
…OR…I have an admiration and respect of Jesus
…none of those are good enough
This goes back to last week’s message regarding Luke 6:46…a statement that reveals the faulty assumption people make concerning their salvation…believing they are followers of Jesus only to find out they were self-deceived…here’s how self-deception works:
FIRST…sincerity is not salvation…those who claim to be ‘religious’ believe that that should be sufficient…it’s not.
They fail to realize that genuine saving faith always results in a life of progressive godliness…if a person claims to be saved but habitually and unrepentantly continues in known sin…has no hunger for God’s Word…and no growth in godly living …they need to examine where they are truly in the faith.
SECONDLY…The person who was told that all they had to do was make a profession of faith…walk an aisle…and say a prayer…. PROBLEM… salvation apart from obedience to God’s Word is useless…it lacks evidence of the fruit of the Spirit.
THIRDLY…the self-deception of trusting in religious activities such as… attending church…hearing sermons…reading the Bible…attending Bible studies believing just doing “church” equates to salvation.
FOURTHLY…the self-deception called ‘the fair exchange’…or the balancing out approach.
The person gives himself the benefit of the doubt by rationalizing about all the good he has done….which balances out or offsets all the bad…no need of confessing and asking forgiveness for his sins.
FIFTH…type of self-deception is the person who looks to feeling…experiences and earthly material blessing for proof of his salvation.
SIXTH…there’s those who believe they can work their way into God’s good graces…confident that all the things they did in Jesus’ name…praying …serving …worshipping… ‘I’m just a working fool for the Lord’…but never having a personal relationship with Him…BUT all the while thinking they had one because of all the things they’ve done. Are going to be disappointed.
All these reveal one thing…the futile efforts and extremes people go to trusting in themselves and their own efforts rather than trusting in Jesus and having a personal relationship with Him…if you believe you’re good enough on your own…that’s self-righteousness.
May have answered the call to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior…two things:
FIRST…does our life reflect that decision…are we truly living changed lives or are we still following the old…habits…patterns and attitudes of our former life?
SECONDLY…have we dedicated our lives as a living sacrifice…with the intent of serving God in a manner that would glorify Him?
How can I describe the Kingdom of God? …It is a kingdom where God reigns supreme…a kingdom ruled by His Son the Messiah…a kingdom that exists here and now…in part…in the lives and hearts of those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior…a kingdom where someday all who have made that decision will all live in.