Kingdom Culture
Time, Talent, Treasure
Todd Blansit
February 12, 2023
Romans 14.17-18
17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18 because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval.
The rule of Jesus on earth and in heaven.
The blessing and advantages that flow from living under Christ’s rule.
The Church is who lives in the Kingdom.
Just how important was the understanding of the Kingdom of God? John the Baptist used it often as he called “repent, for the kingdom of God is near” (Matthew 3:2). Jesus Christ himself not only said, “the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe” (Matthew 4:17), but he also used it when teaching his disciples how to pray “your kingdom come” (Matthew 6:10), in the Beatitudes “theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3 and 10). At the Last Supper, “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God” (Mark 14:25).
Matthew 6.31-34
31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Jesus taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). This is praying for a day when God will bring heaven to earth and bring His rule on this planet. God still has a plan for Earth. He will rule and reign here, and as believers, we will rule and reign with Him. So that is in the future.
When we pray and seek the Kingdom of God, we are also praying for the rule and reign of the Kingdom of God in our lives.
This is when Jesus is in charge.
Luke 17.20-21
20 Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, 21 nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”
The Kingdom is first and foremost a statement about God. God is King, and He is coming as King to set right what our sin made wrong.
Psalm 24
1 The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it,
the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it on the seas
and established it on the waters.
3 Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
Who may stand in his holy place?
4 The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not trust in an idol
or swear by a false god. a
5 They will receive blessing from the Lord
and vindication from God their Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him,
who seek your face, God of Jacob. b c
7 Lift up your heads, you gates;
be lifted up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
the Lord mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, you gates;
lift them up, you ancient doors,
that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord Almighty—
he is the King of glory.
Colossians 1.15-20
15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
The Kingdom of God is something to be received.
Mark 10.13-16
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.
God’s reign is a saving reign. The Kingdom of God provides a beautiful understanding of salvation, including not only what we are saved from, but also what we are saved for
We are saved from death and for life.
We are saved from shame and for glory.
We are saved from slavery and for freedom.
We are saved from sin and for following our Savior.
We are saved from the kingdom of darkness and for the Kingdom of Light.
To be saved into God’s Kingdom is to embrace God’s comprehensive rule over every aspect of life. This is a far cry from merely asking Jesus into my heart.
It means a new life, a new identity, and a new Kingdom.
One of the ways we live in the Kingdom is how we treat each other.
John 13.13-35
31 When he was gone, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will glorify the Son in himself, and will glorify him at once.
33 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Accepting our own brokenness is a huge key to loving people well, we will all fail, but we will always fail if we try to do it on our own.
1 John 4.7-10
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
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