the Kingdom: what it is - part 14 

the king of the kingdom

This morning we continue in our series on the Kingdom in which we have given shape and definition to the doctrine of the kingdom of heaven.  This morning’s message is entitled the king of the Kingdom. Since week one of this series, our simplified definition of the kingdom has been the community or territory over which Christ reigns as king.  Even our simple definition of the kingdom identifies the king.   So from the beginning of this series we have known the identity of the King; that’s Jesus. 

But I would be willing to bet that even before we began this series, you knew that.  More than likely you didn’t need me to identify the king of the kingdom of heaven.  Before this series, even if you knew nothing else about the kingdom of heaven you probably knew that Jesus was the King.

So this morning’s message won’t be an aha message but an AMEN message.  I probably won’t be teaching you anything new, but together you and I will rejoice in what we probably already know.  This morning’s message is not so much to identify the king – we have already done that.  This morning’s message is to celebrate our king; for he is worthy of worship.  He deserves honor, awe, adoration, glory, praise, reverence.

Let us adore him this morning as we explore Him and His character.

BY WAY OF COMPARISON

Sometimes the easiest way to describe something is to do so by way of comparison.  A while back I asked a friend to give me a definition of the New Covenant without reference to the Old Covenant.  He said that’s pretty much impossible because without an understanding of the Old Covenant, one will have a really difficult time appreciating the essence and the glory of the New Covenant.  So in order for someone to really understand and appreciate the New Covenant, it’s best to begin with a look at the Old Covenant and move forward from there by way of comparison.

THE KING OF OLD

While we could explore the person, mind, heart and character of Jesus without reference to the kings of the old order, I think it will help us to have a greater perspective and appreciation of our king if we compare him to the kings of old.  Turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 8.  Remember that Israel made the exodus out of Egypt under Moses.  He wasn’t a king, but more of a judge or prophet.  Then Joshua succeeded him as the leader of Israel, leading them not as a king, but as a military leader in the conquest of the Promised Land.  Then in the Land, Israel was led by judges for a few hundred years.  During that time they didn’t have an earthly king on the throne.  God was essentially their king.  But eventually, they went to Samuel who was their judge-prophet leader at that time and asked him to put a king over them that they might be like all the other nations.  Samuel warned them that that was a terrible idea.  First of all it was a rejection of God as king.  And second of all, on a practical level…well, just listen to what Samuel told them.

 1 Sam 8:10ff ¹⁰ Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. ¹¹ He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. ¹² Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. ¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. ¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. ¹⁵ He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. ¹⁶ Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. ¹⁷ He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. ¹⁸ When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

Clearly a bad idea.  But this is how the kings in the Old order operated.  Even those who were considered good kings like David and Solomon operated in this way.  Took the best of the people’s vineyards and gave them to his buddies.  Took the best of people’s cattle for his own use, took a tenth of the people’s flocks, and made the people his slaves.

PEOPLE EXIST TO SERVE KING

The Kingdom of Israel was oriented in such a way that the people existed to serve the king.  The king did not have the mentality that said, “I exist to serve these people.”  His mentality was, “I’m the king.  These people exist to serve me.”  

That was the king of the old kingdom.  He was MERELY A MAN like everyone else, and yet, he was all about him, took from people for himself, made people to serve him for his benefit.   If you look at our king and his earthly ministry you will find something different, something glorious and magnificent.  First of all, he didn’t come to establish an earthly kingdom in which he would take earthly vineyards from people, and make men to make earthly weapons, or make them to run before earthly chariots. 

And he certainly wasn’t just a mere man like everyone else.  He was God in the flesh.  He was the great I AM.  In him all the fullness of the deity dwelt bodily.  He was the image of the invisible God.  He was the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being.  If there ever was a king who deserved to have people serve before him in an army it was Jesus.  If there was ever a king who deserved to be able to take people’s vineyards and cattle, it was Jesus.  If there was ever a king who deserved to be served, Jesus is that King!

But look what He said in Mark 10:45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Though he was the only one who ever deserved to be served, he said that he did not come to be served but TO serve.  Wow.  He didn’t come to round up His people to serve begrudgingly and force labor upon them or take stuff from people for his own benefit.  He came to serve and give his life as a ransom.  Don’t misunderstand me: we do indeed serve him, but not in the way kings were served in the old order.  And even if it was in that way, he deserves it. 

And we do not serve him because we fear him as a monarch or dictator.  The king has the power to declare: put them in the iron maiden.  Or off with their heads.  We don’t serve him out of fear.  We serve him out of a love for him, with obedience and a loyalty that stems from his love and service to us.  We are moved to serve him because he first served us.

None of those kings in the old order ever really deserved to be served in the way that they were.  They didn’t deserve to have people run before him in chariots and give their lives in service to him.  If anyone ever deserved that, it’s Jesus.  But that’s not the kind of King we serve.  He is the kind of king who served.  He knelt down and washed filthy feet.  He whose rightful position is at the right hand of the Father, set aside his divine prerogatives and came to a people who would reject him and spit on him, and ridicule him, and ultimately crucify him.  He came not to be served but to serve and to lay down his life.  Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.

THIS IS THE KIND OF KING WE SERVE: a king who served.  What AN HONOR.

OLD KINGS WICKED, NOT JESUS

Again, we are describing Jesus by way of comparison to the kings of old.  As you read through the books of Kings & Chronicles what you read over and over and over is “so and so became king of Judah at the age of ___.  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD…so and so became the king of Israel at the age of ___.  He did evil in the eyes of the LORD.”  There were a handful that walked in righteousness, but by and large most of the kings in the old order were wicked.  Can you imagine living in a kingdom ruled by a wicked king?  Can you imagine a government under a cruel monarch or dictator? 

Even in our democratic system, we have a primary leader. We are coming up on election season.  It seems every four years that people make the comment that we are going to have to choose between the lesser of two evils.

Not so with Jesus.  There is no election day whereby we choose our ruler.  God chose him before the foundation of the world.  And that’s probably a good thing.  We would probably choose a horrible leader if we had the power to elect him.  But look at the King that God has installed on the throne in the heavenly Jerusalem.  Unlike those kings in the old order who did evil in the eyes of the LORD, our king is the very antithesis of evil.  Jesus is the epitome of righteousness.  It feels good to know that the one in charge, the one governing our kingdom is a king of righteousness. 

JESUS REIGNS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.  That is the kind of King we serve and it is an honor.

If Jesus’ reign was recorded in the books of Kings & Chronicles, not only would it say that he walked in righteousness like his father David, it would say that Jesus’ righteousness far exceeded that of his father David.  Throughout those books David is held up as a standard of righteousness for kings.  For the handful that walked in righteousness we see them compared to David.  For example in 2 Chron 29:1-2 Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years.  His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah.  He did was that right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.  So David was pretty much a standard for righteousness in the world of the Kings of Israel.  Yet David was flawed.  For the most part he was great but as you probably know, he committed adultery with Bathsheba and then conspired in the murder of her husband Uriah to cover it up.  Jesus on the other hand was tempted in every way as we are and yet was without sin. 

So the kings in the old order were essentially wicked.  But our king, Jesus on the other hand is righteousness itself.  He is the very epitome of righteousness and his righteousness far exceeds David’s.

JESUS REIGNS IN RIGHTEOUSNESS.  That is the kind of King we serve and it is an honor.

A few weeks ago we looked at the typology of the Kingdom.  We noted that the OT story is a type or shadow of the spiritual things to come in the NT.  In the first century God brought forth the substance, the antitype in Christ.  He brought forth a new creation, a New Israel, who he redeemed out of a spiritual slavery in a spiritual Egypt, who then wandered in a spiritual wilderness for 40 years and then entered into the spiritual promised land, the heavenly kingdom.  We noted that the Kingdom of heaven is the restoration of Israel to her former glory during the glory days of Israel in the prosperous and peaceful reign of Solomon.  So we identified Solomon as a type of Christ. He was the son of David who ruled in justice, righteousness, peace, and built the temple.  Jesus is the antitype the substance, the son of David who rules in justice, righteousness, peace and built the temple.  As with all types and shadows, the antitype is far greater and more glorious than the type that foreshadowed it.  The same is obviously true with Jesus.  Jesus is far greater than Solomon.  Let’s take a look at Solomon and see how Jesus embodies those very things.

Turn with me in your bibles to 1 Kings 3.  From 1 Samuel, you will pass 2 Samuel and then you will be at 1 Kings.

1 Kings 3:5ff

⁵ At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”

Imagine if the God of the Universe told you that!

⁶ Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day.

⁷ “Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”

¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both riches and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”

Scripture immediately records an event in which Solomon gets to exercise this wisdom.

¹⁶ Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. ¹⁷ One of them said, “My lord, this woman and I live in the same house. I had a baby while she was there with me. ¹⁸ The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us.

¹⁹ “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him.²⁰ So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. ²¹ The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.”

²² The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.”

But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king.

So Solomon told them to go down the street to the local DNA testing center and just settle the matter.

²³ The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’”

²⁴ Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. ²⁵ He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.”

²⁶ The woman whose son was alive was filled with compassion for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!”

But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!”

²⁷ Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.”

²⁸ When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.

We see in Solomon’s decision that he was indeed exceedingly wise.  God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.  There was no on wiser than Solomon.  We owe most of the book of proverbs to him and men from all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.

One of the people who had come to engage Solomon’s wisdom was the queen of Sheba.

1 Kings 10:1-5 ¹When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relation to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions. ² Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. ³ Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her. ⁴ When the queen of Sheba saw all the wisdom of Solomon and the palace he had built, ⁵ the food on his table,the seating of his officials, the attending servants in their robes, his cupbearers, and the burnt offerings he made at^[a] the temple of theLord, she was overwhelmed.

Solomon was so great and so wise that the queen of Sheba came to see and hear in person.

So Solomon as a king was phenomenal.  God gave him the opportunity to have it all.  And he chose wisdom that he may govern God’s people well.  God liked that and made him the wisest man who ever lived.  He was able to make even the most difficult decisions in wisdom, wrote the proverbs, people came from all over to see him and hear him.  One was the queen of Sheba.

Solomon as the king of Israel in her glory days was a type that foreshadowed Jesus as the King of the gloriously restored Israel – the kingdom of heaven.   Solomon was a type of Christ.  If Solomon was great, then Jesus would be greater.  If Solomon was wise, Jesus would be wiser.  And this is exactly what we see in the text.

In Matt 12:42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here.

Jesus as the antitype of Solomon, is greater than Solomon.  Solomon was a great king over a glorious Kingdom; Jesus is a greater king over a more glorious kingdom.  Jesus is one greater than Solomon.

As we saw Solomon was challenged with difficult decisions.  The dead baby is hers. The queen of Sheba challenged him but nothing was too difficult for him.  Jesus had some similar challenges in his ministry.  One of them is somewhat reminiscent of Solomon.

Matt 22:15ff ¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went out and laid plans to trap him in his words.¹⁶ They sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians. “Teacher,” they said, “we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are. ¹⁷ Tell us then, what is your opinion? Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”

¹⁸ But Jesus, knowing their evil intent, said, “You hypocrites, why are you trying to trap me? ¹⁹ Show me the coin used for paying the tax.”They brought him a denarius, ²⁰ and he asked them, “Whose portrait is this? And whose inscription?”

²¹ “Caesar’s,” they replied.

Then he said to them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

Jesus was wiser than Solomon and rendered decisions in wisdom greater than that of Solomon. 

John 7:46  “No one ever spoke the way this man does.”

Matt 7:28-29 ²⁸ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, ²⁹ because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Luke 4:22  All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.

So Jesus is greater than Solomon and wiser than Solomon.  Solomon went down in history as a great king.  But Jesus is greater! That is the king we serve and it is an honor!

In week 2, we poked fun at our friend Solomon.  The Law decreed that the king should not accumulate much gold or horses, or have many wives.  Solomon, as great of a king as he was walked in direct violation of those things as he received about 25 tons of gold every year, he had 1400 chariots and 12000 horses, he had 700 wives of noble birth and 300 concubines.

What about Jesus?  Did Jesus accumulate much gold?  He had humble beginnings was born in a manger, not a palace, and as he said, “foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head.”  It seems that the only gold he accumulated was that which he received from the Magi when he was an infant.

Did Jesus accumulate horses?  As far as we know he didn’t own one.  In fact he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey he borrowed.

Did Jesus accumulate wives?  During his earthly life not even one.  The only wife of Jesus is the one heavenly bride, the church, the New Jerusalem, a bride to whom He is ever-faithful.

So in all of Solomon’s excellence, we see serious failures.  But in Jesus, the king of the Kingdom, the antitype, we see one who is greater than Solomon, one who far exceeded Solomon’s excellence in every way.

That is the King we serve and it is an honor.

JESUS HAS IT ALL

In Jesus we have one who has it all.  Jonathan Edwards said that what makes Jesus glorious is “an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies.”

Not only is Jesus completely just, but he was also merciful and compassionate.  His marvelous majesty is mixed with meekness.

Though he was given all authority and dominion and power, he walked in complete submission to his heavenly father.

Though he could sit down with the teachers of the Law and baffle them with doctrinal paradoxes he could sit down with common people and fishermen and tell stories and give illustrations they could relate to.  In one scene we see him going toe to toe with the teachers of the law asking whose son is the Christ?  David?  Then if he is David’s son, why does David call him lord?  Then in another episode we see little children coming to him.

In one breath he calms a storm and shows his sovereign authority and ability to control all things and then we see the same mouth unopened as he is led like a lamb to the slaughter.

In Jesus we have a lion and a lamb.  In Jesus we have the lion of the tribe of Judah who rules with an iron scepter.  And yet, in Jesus we also have the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

The man who hung on the cross bleeding for the sins of his people is the same Jesus who sits at the right hand of God as the King of Kings.  So often the church only sees Jesus as the guy who hung on the cross.  He is certainly that, but he is also the king – the one who has authority, dominion, and sovereignty over all things.  Our king is the very same one who shed his blood to atone for sins.  He is not only the Lamb, but also the Lion.

Jesus was the only one who ever deserved to be served and yet he came to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. The only one who ever deserved to have people lay down their life for him and yet he laid down his life for his people.

THIS IS THE KIND OF KING WE SERVE.  AND IT IS AN HONOR.

www.ncfgeorgetown.com  preterist fellowship, preterist church Austin tx, Church in Georgetown, Texas. Reformed church Georgetown, Texas Preterist church Georgetown Texas. Pastor David Boone. Associate pastor Jesse Gutierrez, Sermon audio mp3 sermon download Full Preterism. Covenant Eschatology. New Covenant Fellowship Georgetown. Page House 10:00 am Loving God. Loving Others. Realized eschatology fulfilled eschatology  Preterist church Austin Texas.  Bible church Austin Texas Second coming of Jesus Christ churches in Austin area. Churches in Georgetown TX

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the Kingdom: what it means - part 13 

the citizens of the Kingdom

For about three months now we have been exploring the doctrine of the Kingdom, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of Christ, the renewed, restored, reunited, regenerated Kingdom of Israel ruled by a descendant of David who is also Jehovah, our righteousness.  The Kingdom was the primary teaching of Jesus throughout his ministry.  In my opinion, this is the most exciting and relevant topic we can discuss as the church of Jesus Christ.

We started with the definition of the kingdom, then the history of the kingdom, followed by the prophecies of the kingdom, then the nature of the kingdom (spiritual), the typology of the kingdom (furthering our understanding of the cohesive nature of God’s story and the spiritual nature of the new covenant) and last week we discussed the freedom of the kingdom (free from the penalty of sin but not free to walk in sin).

This morning we continue our series by looking at the citizens of the kingdom. 

Who are the citizens of the kingdom?  Simple answer: (in case it gets lost in all of the details) The true Israel, those in Christ, the righteous, who live by faith.

If we were to pose this question to a Jew in Jesus’ day: who are the citizens of the Kingdom?  Their answer would have been a resounding, “We, the Jews, are citizens of the kingdom.  The kingdom belongs to Israel.”

That would have been a no – brainer for them.  It would have been a foolish question to them.  In their view all flesh and blood Israelites are citizens of the Kingdom.

Jesus’ Jewish contemporaries were a people ready for the kingdom.  They knew the time was right.  They knew the prophecies of Daniel and that they were living in the time of those kings.  When Jesus and John the Baptist came preaching the kingdom of heaven is near, the people of the day were like, well yeah, look around.  Fourth kingdom, bro.  Of course the kingdom is near.  It’s time.

The Jews were expecting to receive it, because after all, they were Israel and according to the Scriptures the Kingdom belongs to Israel.  But Jesus said some pretty drastic things, some exclusive things, some mind blowing and earth shattering things to His Jewish audience.  Remember, Jesus’ audience was Israel.  Jesus never went to the gentiles.   Jesus wasn’t speaking to the whole world, his ministry was not in Georgetown Texas.  Jesus’ audience was Old Covenant Israel – those that thought the kingdom was theirs for the taking based on race - because they descended from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 

Let’s look at some of the things that Jesus said to them:

I’m going to read to you a few verses from Matthew’s gospel, but I’ll probably move through them too fast for you to flip around.  I have them noted as bulletpoints in the bulletin.  If you want to try to flip around and keep up, feel free, but I would encourage you to simply listen attentively and as you do, put yourselves in the shoes of first century Jews.

Put yourselves in the shoes of those who were waiting to receive the kingdom, those who assumed that they would automatically be citizens of the Kingdom based on race.  Remember; that was his audience.  He wasn’t speaking to a bunch of English speaking western minded white people in Georgetown Texas.  He was speaking to Jews.

And this is what he said to them:

Matt 5:20 for I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

That would have been a shocker to his Jewish audience.  Wait a minute.  What do you mean we will not enter the kingdom unless??  There’s no unless. We are of Israel and the kingdom belongs to Israel!  Clearly, according to Jesus, not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Citizenship in the kingdom is not based on race.  According to Jesus, only those more righteous than the Pharisees and teachers of the Law would enter the kingdom.

Let’s see what else he said to the Jews:

Matt 7:21 not everyone who says to me Lord Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father in heaven.

Again, not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Citizenship in the kingdom is not based on race.  According to Jesus, only he who does God’s will would enter the kingdom.  What else does he have to say about citizenship?

Matt 18:3 “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Citizenship in the kingdom is not based on race.  According to Jesus, only those who are humble like children would enter the kingdom.  What else does he have to say about citizenship?

Matt 19:23-24 “I tell you the truth, it’s hard (not impossible) for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”

Not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Citizenship is not based on race.  And it would be hard for the rich to enter the kingdom.  As I understand it, this would have been a shock to their paradigm.  According to their paradigm, wealth was a sign of God’s favor.  Citizenship in the kingdom would be reserved for those who have God’s favor.  Thus, if citizenship in the Kingdom was not for all Jews but limited to some certainly the rich would be among them.  But Jesus says just the opposite.

James, in his letter to the twelve tribes scattered amongst the nations says in James 2:5 Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the Kingdom God promised to those who love him?

It shouldn’t surprise us that status in the kingdom that is not of this world is not determined by the things of this world – ie worldly wealth.  Notice he doesn’t say it’s impossible for the rich, just difficult.  So much for the idea that the rich would certainly be citizens of the kingdom. 

What about the religious leaders?  If only some of the Israelites will have citizenship in the Kingdom, certainly the religious leaders will, right?  Speaking to them, Jesus says in:

Matt 21:31 “…I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did.  And even after you saw this you did not repent and believe him.”

Not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Those who believed John’s message and repented no matter how dirty would enter before the religious leaders.  Only those who repent and believe would have citizenship in the kingdom.

Look what else Jesus said to the religious leaders.  Matt 23:13 Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!  You shut the kingdom of heaven in men’s faces.  You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to.

Jesus is the gate.  To enter the kingdom, one must go through Him and by and large the religious leaders rejected Him and by their influence prevented many others from entering.  Not every Israelite would enter the Kingdom.  Not only is citizenship in the Kingdom not based on race, it’s not based on wealth or status.

A lot of statements from Jesus that would have been shockers to these Israelites in his day.  What do you mean, Jesus?  We are all Jews.  The kingdom belongs to us.  Why would you say that some of us enter the kingdom and some won’t?  How could we not be in the kingdom?  The kingdom belongs to Israel and we are Israel.

That was PARTIALLY TRUE: KINGDOM BELONGS TO ISRAEL…BUT WHO IS REAL ISRAEL???

If the kingdom belongs to Israel, and it does, then I guess it depends on how you define Israel and in the first century, God was redefining Israel in Christ, in the New Creation.

Paul contributes to this discussion in a very profound way.  Turn with me in your bibles to

Romans 9.

Romans 9 (just like most of the NT) is best understood in a kingdom context.

Remember that the NT wasn’t written in a vacuum.  It has the OT as the backdrop.  What is written in the NT is based on the foundation of the OT.  A very important concept we find in the OT is that of the potter and the clay.  Isaiah 64:8 Yet, O LORD, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

This is simply one verse among many that identify God as the potter and Israel as the clay.  This is important to have in mind as we move into Rom 9 because Paul uses this language.

Rom 9:1ff  I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— ² I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.
Why, Paul?  Why do you have sorrow and anguish?  Because many, in fact most, of his fellow flesh and blood Israelite brothers rejected Jesus and thus, rejected the kingdom.  He is sad because the Kingdom that is for Israel is being rejected by most of Israel.
³ For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, ⁴ the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. ⁵ Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

He is distressed because he loves his fellow Israelites but because they are rejecting Christ, they will not enter the kingdom.  They have cut themselves off from the kingdom by cutting themselves off from Christ.  But wait, Paul!!!  Are you saying that the kingdom doesn’t belong to Israel?  All of the prophets, who proclaim God’s word, say that the Kingdom belongs to Israel.  Are you saying, Paul, that God’s word has failed?  His response:

⁶ It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.

This verse is huge.  I think that a good understanding of this one verse will help our understanding of the Bible a great deal.  This verse indicates the question of their day: who is real Israel?  The debate of the day was: We are children of God; you’re children of the devil.  No, we’re children of God; you’re children of the devil.  We’re true Israel, you’re FISRAEL.  No, we’re true Israel; YOU’RE FISREAL.  You’re preaching a fospel!  No, you’re preaching fospel!  Both sides were making the same claims.  Paul, speaking with authority says that not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.  Not everyone who descended from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob belong to God’s chosen people, his covenant community.  Not all ethnic Jews are citizens of the Kingdom.

 ⁷ Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children.

To be a descendant of Abraham was to be part of God’s chosen people.  Those terms were synonymous for them.  But look what Paul says in verse 7 Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” ⁸ In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring. ⁹ For this was how the promise was stated: “At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son.”

Paul points back to God’s promise to Abraham that his children would be God’s chosen people.  Paul points out that Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac, but Ishmael was not regarded as a true son of Abraham, only Isaac was.  You Jews are good with that.  You Jews all agree that Ishmael and his descendents didn’t make the cut – they aren’t a part of the promised seed.  Even though they’re sons of Abraham by race, they aren’t among the elect.  Not all sons of Abraham by flesh and blood are regarded as the true sons of Abraham and you Jews have never had a problem with that.

¹⁰ Not only that, but Rebekah’s children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. ¹¹ Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad —in order that God’s purpose in election might stand: ¹² not by works but by him who calls—she was told, “The older will serve the younger.” ¹³ Just as it is written: “Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated.”

Isaac, regarded as the true son of Abraham, had twin sons and if there was going to be one son who was chosen to be part of God’s people and the other excluded, then of course the first born would be the one, right?  NO.  That’s what you would expect, but God ironically says, nope.  I choose Jacob.  Esau was born first, but I choose Jacob.  Hey Jacob, wanna wrestle?  Sure, I can go all night.  Yeah you can, but you’re no match for my finger to the hip socket.  How you like me now?  You are Israel!

You Israelites are good with that, right?  Isaac’s sons were both descendents of Abraham, but you’re okay with Jacob I loved, Esau I hated.  So Esau and his descendants the Edomites (though the descendents of Abraham) are not a part of God’s elect.  You Israelites are good with that, right? 

You have always been okay with God’s election.  You have always been okay with God choosing to exclude people even though by flesh and blood they were descendants of Abraham.  You’ve always been okay with grace not race until now.  But here, in Jesus, God is doing the very same thing.

¹⁴ What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!

We tend to read that word unjust as unfair.  The word translated unjust carries with it the idea of God’s righteousness based on covenant faithfulness. To make his argument, Paul is appealing to their own history.  He is essentially saying, nobody ever argued that God is unjust for choosing Isaac and not Ishmael, though Ishmael was a child of Abraham.  Nobody ever argued that God was unjust for choosing Jacob and not Esau though Esau was a descendent of Abraham.  All along, you were okay with God excluding flesh & blood descendents of Abraham and defining His people as He chose to.  What He is doing in Christ is no different.  Just because one is a son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob doesn’t mean he is a true son of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Not all who descended from Israel are Israel.  Only those in Christ are a part of the true Israel.

God is just.  He has been faithful to his covenant and he still is.  Being a child of Abraham by flesh and blood didn’t secure citizenship in the covenant community for Ishmaelites or Edomites and it won’t secure citizenship in the new covenant community either.  Citizenship in the Kingdom is based on grace, not race.

Paul’s argument here is no different than the message of John the Baptist.  Long before Paul ever came on the scene John said in Matt 3:9ff ⁹ And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. ¹⁰ The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. You can’t play the I am a child of Abraham card.  It didn’t work for Ishmael or Esau, it’s not gonna work for you!  Citizenship in the Kingdom is based on grace, not race.

He continues to appeal to their own history (Ex 33:19).

¹⁵ For he says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”

¹⁶ It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. ¹⁷ For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”  ¹⁸ Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

God has the right, as God, to define who belongs to Him as He chooses.  Do you Jews have a problem with God doing what He did with Pharaoh?  NO!  He can choose to harden Pharaoh in order to display his work of salvation in a mass exodus of Israel out of slavery.  He can also choose to harden the majority of ethnic Israel in order to display his work of salvation in a spiritual exodus of the righteous remnant out of spiritual slavery. 

Even after all the miracles displayed by Moses, Pharaoh with a hard heart would not submit to God’s decree.  And now even after all the miracles displayed by the new Moses, Jesus, the majority of the Jews with a hardened heart would not submit to God’s decree.

Same story but the names have been changed.  You Jews were okay with that hardening in the first Exodus; what about now, in the spiritual Exodus, the antitype?  Is that okay that the God of the universe raises up people for his purposes in salvation history?  After all, He is God and He has the right to harden whom he wants to harden (ie – unbelieving Jews) and he can have mercy on whom He wants to show mercy (ie – believers).  Citizenship in the kingdom is based on grace, not race.

¹⁹ One of you will say to me: “Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?” ²⁰ But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’”

Here, Paul draws from the OT, pulling from Isaiah. (elements from Is 29:16 & Is 45)

Isaiah 45:9-12  ⁹ “Woe to him who quarrels with his Maker, to him who is but a potsherd among the potsherds on the ground. Does the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you making?’ Does your work say, ‘He has no hands’? ¹⁰ Woe to him who says to his father, ‘What have you begotten?’ or to his mother,
 ‘What have you brought to birth?’ ¹¹ “This is what the Lord says—the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: Concerning things to come, do you question me about my children, or give me orders about the work of my hands?  ¹² It is I who made the earth and created mankind upon it. My own hands stretched out the heavens; I marshaled their starry hosts.

Back in the syllabus, God made it clear that He was the potter and Israel was the clay and the potter has the right to do with the clay what he pleases.  The clay never says to the potter, what are you making?  Notice in that passage in Isaiah God says do you question me about my children?  Remember that was the debate in Paul’s day.  Who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil?  Who is real Israel?  Who is FISRAEL?  Do you oh Jew, question God about who He wants to make his children?  He made the heavens and the earth.  He is creator.  His creation is defined by Him.  He is the potter, Israel is the clay and the clay has no right to say to the potter why have you made me this way?

Look at what Paul says next:

²¹ Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

God can take some of the clay, flesh and blood Israel, and make some of Israel for noble purposes (to be citizens in the Kingdom) and he can make some of Israel for common use (to be regarded as everyday normal people just as the gentiles of old).  Some Israel gets to be special as the elect; some Israel does not but will just be regarded as all other common people.

²² What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? ²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory

The potter can do what he wants with the pottery.  If he wants to put some of His clay pots on display as glorious works of craftsmanship, he can.  If he wants to smash other clay pots into pieces, he can.  As the potter, as God, He has that right.

In the first century, God, the potter, had Israel, the clay, in his hands.  He fashioned some of that clay to become vessels of mercy: here take your inheritance, the Kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.  He fashioned some of that clay to become vessels of wrath prepared for destruction: those who did not believe, but trusted in their own righteousness by means of the law were destroyed at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD in display of God’s wrath.

This should remind you of Daniel 2 where the iron and the clay attempted to mix, but in the end, the iron smashed the clay.  God the potter, had the right to do this and His integrity was not at stake.  He was covenantally faithful.  He was just, he was righteous.  It is not as though God’s word had failed.  He said Israel would receive the kingdom and they did.  But not all Israel are Israel.  The question was who is real Israel and the answer is those in Christ, the righteous, who live by faith.  They are the Israel who are the citizens of the Kingdom.

I paused mid-sentence for commentary, so before we pick up in v24, let’s take a step back and read it with v23:

²³ What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— ²⁴ even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? ²⁵ As he says in Hosea:

“I will call them ‘my people’ who are not my people; and I will call her ‘my loved one’ who is not my loved one,” ²⁶ and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

This is amazing news for you and I!  The kingdom belongs to Israel.  So only believing flesh & blood Israelites would have the privilege of citizenship in the Kingdom, right?  NO.   even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles.  So not only is real Israel defined by those flesh and blood Israelites who believe in Jesus, it also includes believing Gentiles. 

Listen to the words of Douglass Moo in his commentary on Romans 9:25-26

Moo: Paul quotes two verses from Hosea. To buttress his claim that Gentiles are now among those being ‘called’ as ‘objects of his mercy.’  Note, however, that Hosea is not predicting the conversion of Gentiles but the return of the “lost” ten northern tribes to the people of Israel.  Paul reflects here a hermeneutical axiom that he assumes throughout his interpretation of the Old Testament: Predictions about a renewed Israel can be fulfilled in God’s new “Israel,” the church.

That confirms what we said in our study of the prophets, namely Ezekiel 37 in the reunification of the northern and southern kingdoms.  This is not manifest literally and geographically, but spiritually in the church.  And it includes believing Gentiles!

²⁷ Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:“Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea, only the remnant will be saved. ²⁸ For the Lord will carry out his sentence on earth with speed and finality.” ²⁹ It is just as Isaiah said previously: “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us descendants, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.”

³⁰ What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith;

Who are citizens of the kingdom?  The righteous who live by faith.

³¹ but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. ³² Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the “stumbling stone.” ³³ As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”

That stone is Jesus and the Jews who rejected him stumbled and fell, while those who trusted in him received citizenship in the Kingdom.

Again, citizenship in the kingdom is based on grace, not race.  The kingdom belongs to Israel.  But who is real Israel?  Those in Christ, the righteous who live by faith.

So we got the theological understanding of who are citizens of the kingdom.  But let’s look on a practical level.  Let’s recall what Jesus said about citizens of the kingdom and consider how we can embody those characteristics to be living consistent with what Jesus describes.

What are they like?  And therefore, what should we be like?

In Matt 5:20 Unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.  Based on the words of Jesus, citizens of the Kingdom should be more righteous than the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.  Granted, positionally, our righteous standing before God is secure in Jesus; it is fixed, based on grace.  God remembers our sins no more.  There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.  But far be it from us to take advantage of God’s grace and say, “Since our position with God won’t change and we won’t ever be judged for our sins let’s walk in sin, since it doesn’t really matter what we do.”  It does matter what we do.  Let me put this in practical terms.  We are the Body of Christ – the BODY.  If my right hand has the mentality that says, doesn’t matter what I do and it decides to grab the sharp end of a knife, slicing itself open, that’s going to affect other body parts.  It won’t be able to do everything it normally does.  My left hand will have to pick up the slack and will suffer for the right hand’s negligence.  It will affect what the rest of my body gets to do and doesn’t get to do. 

But beyond affecting other humans with our actions, the Scriptures teach through and through that God’s people should live righteously and that’s enough.  Therefore, practically speaking, let us think and live and act in righteousness.  As citizens of the Kingdom, let’s live out a righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the Law.  After all, that’s how Jesus described citizens of the Kingdom.  The religious leaders had only an outward righteousness.  They did things that made them appear righteous, but inwardly, in the heart not so much.  Let us live out a practical righteousness that streams from a pure heart with pure motives, a heart that loves God, and loves others.  The motivation for living a righteous life for citizens of the Kingdom is not, I better be good so I can stay in the Kingdom and so God doesn’t smite me.  For citizens of the Kingdom the motivation for living a righteous life is I love God.

Let’s recall some of the other things Jesus said about citizens of the Kingdom so that we can reflect and embody that in our lives.

In Matt 7:21 Not everyone who says to me lord lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father in heaven.  As we said a few weeks ago, the coming of the kingdom should be accompanied by the doing of God’s will.  Recall our Lord’s prayer: Our father in heaven.  Hallowed by your name.  Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Again, I exhort you, let us do the will of our father who is in heaven.  As Paul says to the Ephesians: find out what is pleasing to the Lord and have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness.  Let us do what is right and good and pleasing unto him since the citizens of the kingdom are those who do the will of our father in Heaven.

In Matt 18:3 Jesus said that only those who humble themselves like little children would enter the Kingdom.  Let us walk in the humility of a child completely dependent on his father.  Let’s not present ourselves as having it all together, as holier than thou.  Let’s be humble as citizens of the Kingdom.  Let’s not walk in arrogance or pride as if we secured our Kingdom citizenship by our own good works.

Citizenship in the kingdom is based on grace, not race.  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, not by works so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.  God’s people aren’t saved by doing good works.  God’s people are saved so that they may go and do good works.  As citizens of the heavenly Kingdom, let’s do the good works which God created us to do.

Since we have joined the believing Israelites as citizens in the Kingdom, we are among the clay that God made for noble purposes.  Let us live with noble purposes. www.ncfgeorgetown.com  preterist fellowship, preterist church Austin tx, Church in Georgetown, Texas. Reformed church Georgetown, Texas Preterist church Georgetown Texas. Pastor David Boone. Associate pastor Jesse Gutierrez, Sermon audio mp3 sermon download Full Preterism. Covenant Eschatology. New Covenant Fellowship Georgetown. Page House 10:00 am Loving God. Loving Others. Realized eschatology fulfilled eschatology  Preterist church Austin Texas.  Bible church Austin Texas Second coming of Jesus Christ churches in Austin area. Churches in Georgetown TX

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