The Future Kingdom
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: 2 Timothy 4:18
One of the basic points about the kingdom of God is that it is both here and not yet here. God has always been the king, his kingdom is here; and he ruled through a particular people in Old Testament times, the people of Israel; and then Jesus comes saying the kingdom has now come, in a new way through him. But the kingdom is also future because not until Jesus returns and renews all things will we see everything enjoying and recognising his kingship; only then will all his enemies be banished forever.
So Jesus regularly spoke of the kingdom as being present, as having arrived (come near) in his actions:
Matthew 4:17: “From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’”
Luke 10:9: “Heal those there who are ill and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”
Luke 11:20: “if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”
And he just as regularly spoke of the kingdom as being future, as having not yet arrived:
Matthew 7: 21: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
Matthew 8:11: “I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”
Mark 14:25: “Truly I tell you, I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
When he speaks of the future kingdom, he is envisaging what Revelation tells us: “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling-place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death” or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away’ (Revelation 21:3-4). In this magnificent vision the reign of God is no longer challenged but is perfectly expressed by the total presence of God and the total absence of evil. This is the goal of salvation that Paul looks forward to: “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Until then we work and pray to bring as much of the future into the present as God will allow - “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” - until the day when the new earth is the new heaven, the dwelling place of God.
Application ideas:
How do you hold in balance the kingdom being both now and not yet?
If the full revelation of God’s reign in the future is our ultimate destiny, why do we so often remain firmly attached to this world? Can you help us to become less attached?
In what ways does the future kingdom most excite you?
Audio only
