Kingdom Culture
About this series:
Throughout 2023 all our teaching series will be looking at The Kingdom Of God. The essential goal is to help people understand the Bible’s teaching on the kingdom of God and raise confidence in God’s plans for his kingdom’s expansion / multiplication.
Our first series on the kingdom starts with an introduction to the king and his kingdom and then develops that biblical theme from the establishing of God's kingdom in creation to his choosing of a special people who would be set apart for him, how God's kingdom clashes with that of the world and the choices we therefore have to make, how we're to be a blessing while we live in the world but not of it, the promise of a coming anointed king bringing to reality the rule of God in / through the life of his people, the coming of the kingdom in a new way in Jesus as promised in the OT, what Jesus expected life in the kingdom of God to look like, what Jesus taught about the kingdom in parables, how the church relates to the kingdom and the future kingdom.
Preaching about The Kingdom Of God is a great way to address life as a church community - this is how life together under God’s reign should look like. And to address our lives in the world - demonstrating to those in our sphere of influence the reality of God and what life looks like when God is your king.
About this talk:
Scripture: Matthew 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount)
Having recorded that Jesus was travelling throughout Galilee, “proclaiming the good news of the kingdom,” Matthew then proceeds to give the most famous explanation of life in that kingdom, of the culture Jesus is establishing in his kingdom, of the demands God makes on those who are living under his reign.
‘The Sermon on the Mount is the most complete delineation anywhere in the New Testament of the Christian counter-culture’ (John Stott). In it Jesus turns upside down who it is that God considers to be blessed and turns inside out both Jewish and pagan ideas of how to relate to God and to people.
The good life, as defined by the majority of Jews in Jesus’ day, was seen as the prosperous life, the life honoured by the rest of one’s community, the life kept ‘pure’ by remaining separate from the unclean, the outcast and the Gentile. One’s positive outward circumstances were believed to be evidence of God’s blessing and it was clear to all that God’s blessing had been withdrawn from those whose circumstances were negative. In fact, such negative situations were often seen as evidence of God’s judgement. All of which Jesus challenges as he calls blessed those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, are meek and are persecuted because they follow him.
And Jesus brings fresh teaching, with authority that amazed the crowds (Matthew 7:28-29), about what it means to live righteously. In his kingdom it is heart attitude that matters, not just outward actions; in his kingdom purity is an internal matter, not an external one; and spiritual actions that God accepts are those done with him in mind, not those done to gain reputation among people. Above all, in the kingdom of God he demands to be at the centre of people’s lives, with anyone not trusting him completely and not putting his words into action being branded as foolish and destined for eternal ruin (Matthew 7:26).
The culture of the kingdom of God is defined by the fact that God reigns; and Jesus embodies uniquely and completely. So as we think about what this looks like in practice we always come back to the questions: what did Jesus say and what would Jesus do?
Application ideas:
Can you give some current examples of how the culture of God’s kingdom is different from the culture of other human kingdoms (bearing different national / racial cultures in mind)?
Which parts of the Sermon on the Mount are most challenging / shocking.
Mahatma Gandhi: ‘They (the Beatitudes) contain a message that would save the world. What a pity that Christians have been listening to the message for two thousand years, but they (the Christians) are like stones lying in the water for centuries, never soaking up a single drop.’ Can you help us to soak some of it up?
Audio only
