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Discovering God 6 — Kingdom rule

Isaiah 9: 6, 7

Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 19 Sep, 2004

TWO WEEKS ago, I talked about God’s response to the sin problem. I said that God scorns our puny rebellion, that he warns us against rebellion, and that he judges when we do not repent.

  But I don’t want us to think that God is essentially reactive towards our sin. God has a plan. He doesn’t just react, he is proactive.
  In Ephesians 1, Paul says that

...[God] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

  God wants to bring everything in heaven and on earth back together again under one head, which is Jesus the Christ.
  That word, Christ, has a very clear and definite meaning. In Hebrew, the word is meshiach; the Greek translation is christos. In fact, the translation of both words is literally, “The one who has been anointed with oil.”
  But it has an even more dramatic implications in the Hebrew than in the Greek. In Hebrew history, the kings whom God appointed, kings like Saul and David and Solomon, were always anointed with oil to indicate their appointment from God.
  So the Hebrews were always looking for a special king who would be the best king ever and who would be the one specially sent in the authority of God himself.
  It was exactly what God promised to them through the prophets.
  As we read in Isaiah,

ISA 9:6 For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given,
    and the government will be on his shoulders.
  And he will be called
    Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

  ISA 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace
    there will be no end.
  He will reign on David’s throne
    and over his kingdom,
  establishing and upholding it
    with justice and righteousness
    from that time on and forever.
  The zeal of the LORD Almighty
    will accomplish this.

  This is the king promised by God, the one who reigns on David’s throne forever, the one who comes in the full authority of God himself.
  Isaiah was writing 700 years before Jesus was born.
  Or you can read Micah, writing around the same time,

MIC 5:2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
  out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
  whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.“

  Once again, there is the hope of a supreme ruler whose origins are from God himself.
  God planned it from the beginning, and his plan was to draw everything together, to fix it all up and to bring it all back under his control.
  That’s why we read in Luke’s Gospel about Simeon

He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

  Or there’s Anna, the prophetess, who met Mary, Joseph and Jesus, and of whom we read,

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

  Both those expressions, “Waiting for the consolation of Israel” and “Looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem” really mean much the same.
  Both these people were waiting for the inception of God’s Kingdom. Both these people were waiting for God to bring about an end to the evils of this world. They wanted him to begin a perfect rule over everything on earth through his Messiah–king.

  Until we understand the concept of God’s kingdom, we will only dimly grasp what the Gospel is about.

  I have to say that Christian churches have not always fully understood the Kingdom of God, and that is why we have not always fully understood the implications of the Gospel.

  Yes, when we believe in Jesus, we do have eternal life. But what is this eternal life? In the Jewish way of thinking, it is God’s–Kingdom–life, the kind of life that belongs to the eternal kingdom of God.
  Yes, when we believe in Jesus, we are saved, but what is it to be saved? It is to be brought out of this present, fallen Age and to belong for ever more to the Age to Come, to the Kingdom Age. As Paul says,
God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and has transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin.
  Yes, when we believe in Jesus, we are born again, but what does it mean to be born again?
  It means that  we have entered that New Creation, that new World of the Kingdom, in as definite and positive a way as though we had been physically born there. As Paul writes,

If anyone is in Christ there is a new creation, the old things have passed away and everything is becoming new.

  What all this means then is that, throughout history as God brought Israel out of Egypt and into the Promised Land, as God raised up prophets, priests and kings, as the people now obeyed God and now rebelled against him, in all of those changes through time, God was letting the people learn about his rule. Through all the ups and downs of their history, Israel was not only being prepared for God to begin re–establishing his own kingly rule among them, but they were also learning what that kingly rule would be like, and what it would not be like.

  Today we shall be sharing in the Marrickville Festival as part of the Church Unity Action Group and in our own right.

  As we do so, let’s remember that Jesus came to re–establish God‘s rule. He came to re–establish it in Israel, and in Australia. He came to re–establish it in Jerusalem and in Antioch and in Sydney and in Marrickville. He came to re–establish God‘s rule in your heart and in mine and in every heart in our town.
  As you smile at someone, you are there as Christ’s Representative. As you perhaps hand someone a leaflet or encourage someone to take the Jesus Video, you are there as his ambassador. As you share your story of how Jesus met with you, you are there for the Kingdom rule of God.
  Do it boldly. Do it confidently. Do it with a whispered prayer for wisdom.

  And may God bless us all as we do. AMEN!