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[3859.88 --> 3866.76] And God used him to give us some of the best literature there is on faith and doubt and the resurrection. |
[3867.92 --> 3870.76] And I commend to you, by the way, if you're someone who's got your questions, |
[3871.42 --> 3873.82] you're showing up to hope out of an interest in Christianity, |
[3873.96 --> 3879.20] I do commend to you a book by C.S. Lewis that has been a companion to so many doubters and skeptics. |
[3879.36 --> 3880.68] It's called Mere Christianity. |
[3880.88 --> 3885.30] It's a great read, a bit of an older English, but worth every minute of your time. |
[3885.30 --> 3893.26] Jesus gave many convincing proofs that he was alive because it was so hard to believe. |
[3893.98 --> 3899.86] He took his time with his own disciples so they would know and have confidence that he was alive. |
[3900.84 --> 3903.38] But that's just the first thing he did in this 40 days. |
[3903.46 --> 3904.36] What's the second thing? |
[3904.36 --> 3910.40] We read in verse 3 that Jesus gave himself to teaching about the kingdom of God. |
[3910.40 --> 3915.54] This is so connected to Jesus saying he's alive. |
[3915.62 --> 3919.36] In fact, it's one thing to know Jesus rose from the dead, that a body came back to life. |
[3919.44 --> 3921.20] It's another thing to know what it means. |
[3922.20 --> 3926.26] And I would say, if I may be so bold, many Christians will know that Jesus died for them, |
[3926.32 --> 3927.12] that he's forgiven them. |
[3927.14 --> 3929.14] But when you ask, why does the resurrection matter? |
[3929.20 --> 3931.68] They're like, well, because he forgave our sins. |
[3931.68 --> 3936.36] And I want to suggest that this teaching on the kingdom of God is absolutely central to the Bible, |
[3936.62 --> 3937.70] to the teaching of Jesus. |
[3937.94 --> 3943.76] And I hope it expands and deepens and broadens how we see the beauty of the gospel itself. |
[3945.14 --> 3947.98] Now, this teaching of the kingdom is how Jesus started his ministry. |
[3948.62 --> 3950.90] In Mark chapter 1, verse 14 and 15, Jesus says, |
[3950.90 --> 3951.74] Good news. |
[3952.54 --> 3953.58] The time has come. |
[3953.70 --> 3955.24] The kingdom of God is near. |
[3955.44 --> 3956.76] Repent and believe. |
[3956.88 --> 3958.52] And he does that in all the gospel accounts, actually. |
[3958.52 --> 3961.98] He starts his ministry with the announcement of the arrival of the kingdom. |
[3962.42 --> 3967.18] After his resurrection, he's going around for 40 days teaching about the kingdom of God. |
[3967.28 --> 3968.82] So this clearly matters to Jesus. |
[3969.28 --> 3972.00] It's mentioned over 40 times in the gospel of Matthew. |
[3972.30 --> 3976.60] And just because we don't use that language very much today doesn't mean it's not critically important. |
[3977.96 --> 3985.38] The kingdom of God, in very short summary form, is the rule of God over his whole world. |
[3985.38 --> 3990.30] It is God's rightful power and kingship over creation. |
[3991.70 --> 3994.66] And Jesus came to establish it. |
[3995.22 --> 4000.22] And you'll notice, by the way, in our passage, the disciples, which, by the way, all Jewish people at Jesus' time, |
[4000.28 --> 4001.70] were praying for the kingdom to come. |
[4002.00 --> 4003.44] They were hoping it would be in their lifetime. |
[4003.70 --> 4007.78] They all were fervently waiting for someone to come and establish God's kingdom. |
[4007.88 --> 4010.24] And notice what did they say to Jesus in verse 6. |
[4010.24 --> 4018.40] When they met together, they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel? |
[4019.20 --> 4024.18] And what their vision was, very important, they thought that God's kingdom was going to be God, |
[4024.26 --> 4028.80] through Jesus or some Messiah figure, reestablishing Jerusalem, rebuilding the temple, |
[4029.10 --> 4032.46] having this beautiful city on a hill, and all the nations would stream to it, |
[4032.56 --> 4035.64] and it would be God's special place, God's special people. |
[4035.64 --> 4041.82] What they did not know is that Jesus' vision for the kingdom was so much bigger. |
[4042.72 --> 4046.36] And I can't wait now to share with you how Jesus demonstrates his vision. |
[4046.76 --> 4050.46] Because after announcing in the beginning of his ministry, the kingdom of God is near, |
[4050.54 --> 4056.00] he then over and over and over again throughout his whole ministry shows people what the kingdom of God is like. |
[4056.04 --> 4056.92] Are you ready for this? |
[4056.92 --> 4065.50] Jesus shows them when he walks up to a man who is oppressed by demons, and he casts those demons out. |
[4065.56 --> 4069.78] It's his way of saying the kingdom of God has authority over satanic oppression, |
[4070.08 --> 4073.52] and they flee under the power of God through the ministry of Jesus. |
[4074.38 --> 4077.98] When Jesus is in a boat and a storm comes and threatens to wreck the ship, |
[4077.98 --> 4081.42] he puts his hand over the water, and the water goes still, |
[4081.42 --> 4087.54] because God's kingdom through Jesus has the authority to calm quote-unquote natural disasters. |
[4088.78 --> 4092.88] When Jesus goes to a group of lepers, and they want to be healed, |
[4092.96 --> 4097.06] Jesus touches a leper, and right there the body is healed, |
[4097.12 --> 4101.66] because in God's kingdom through Jesus' authority, there is no room for disease and sickness. |
[4102.56 --> 4103.44] It is healed. |
[4105.02 --> 4109.66] And then when Jesus sees a sick girl whose parents are upset with Jesus for not getting there fast enough, |
[4109.66 --> 4114.06] and he raises her back to life, Jesus is saying and demonstrating, |
[4114.28 --> 4121.90] in God's kingdom, which I have come to establish, death itself is undone, and life is here. |
[4122.76 --> 4124.58] Do you see now the kingdom of God? |
[4125.18 --> 4131.22] It is God's beautiful world eradicating sin, eradicating evil, eradicating satanic oppression, |
[4131.40 --> 4134.48] eradicating natural disasters, eradicating death itself. |
[4134.48 --> 4139.68] And so when Jesus makes a claim, the kingdom of God is near, whoa, that's a big claim. |
[4140.38 --> 4144.02] And then he does his ministry and says, this is exactly what it looks like. |
[4144.04 --> 4147.82] And I want us to see every miracle, all his teaching, his forgiveness of sins, |
[4147.98 --> 4153.42] is all a sneak preview of the beauty of the kingdom of God. |
[4153.72 --> 4157.82] What this world looks like when it's under the rightful rule of God our Father, |
[4158.26 --> 4159.52] through Jesus Christ his Son. |
[4159.52 --> 4165.56] And often in our membership classes or when I'm teaching Surge, our discipleship group, |
[4166.24 --> 4167.82] I often summarize the kingdom this way. |
[4167.94 --> 4175.30] Jesus has come to restore our lives and the whole creation to the way it was meant to be from the beginning, |
[4175.74 --> 4177.74] in harmony and love and peace. |
[4178.28 --> 4185.22] And through his death and resurrection, he seals forever that one day it will be again restored, |
[4185.64 --> 4189.22] perfected, and healed because of his finished work on the cross. |
[4189.22 --> 4189.34] Jesus. |
[4191.64 --> 4194.74] I was talking with someone after the 9 a.m. service who's visiting our church, |
[4195.06 --> 4197.98] and she studied in Bible college and was talking about how the kingdom, |
[4198.06 --> 4200.70] when she learned what the kingdom of God was, it changed her faith. |
[4200.74 --> 4202.54] And I said back to her, almost impulsively, I said, |
[4202.80 --> 4205.00] when I started understanding what Jesus was saying, |
[4205.32 --> 4206.88] when he preached the gospel of the kingdom, |
[4207.08 --> 4210.50] it made me realize how beautiful Christianity is, |
[4211.12 --> 4213.96] how good the news of Jesus is. |
[4214.00 --> 4218.28] In fact, I would say in part, that's what compelled me into ministry. |
[4218.28 --> 4221.92] That Jesus Christ did come to forgive sins, yes. |
[4222.16 --> 4224.42] He came to overthrow the power of death. |
[4224.70 --> 4227.02] He came to defeat the enemy of Satan. |
[4227.24 --> 4230.22] And he came to forgive the wretchedness of sin. |
[4230.98 --> 4233.26] The kingdom of God is here. |
[4233.26 --> 4238.62] That's what the resurrection is all about. |
[4239.48 --> 4243.02] That's why in his new resurrected body, in his new resurrected state, |
[4243.16 --> 4245.08] he's then saying, this is what it means. |
[4245.86 --> 4247.86] I overcame death and resurrection. |
[4248.26 --> 4254.12] Life has come to my creation, and it's yours to experience and to show the world. |
[4254.12 --> 4259.96] Now, this week, I found myself, and this may sound strange, |
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