The Kingdom of God - God's Kingdom Program

Sermon Notes: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mat 6:33 ESV) There were four facets of the Kingdom program revealed in the Hebrew scriptures. 1. The Eternal Universal Kingdom – God is eternally sovereign over the entire universe. There is no time or place where God is not sovereign. References: I Chronicles 29:11-12, Psalms 10:16, 29:10, 74:12, 90:1-6, 93:1-5, 103:19-22, 145:1-21, 148:6, Proverbs 21:1, Jeremiah 10:10, Lamentations 5:19, Daniel 4:17, 6:27, 2. The Spiritual Kingdom – This consist of all believers (and only believers) of all time. References: Genesis 15:6, I Samuel 16:7, I Kings 8:39-43, Psalms 7:9, Jeremiah 17:10, 32:19, and Habbukuk 2:4. 3. The Theocratic Kingdom – This refers to God’s rule by theocracy over Israel. Firstly via Mediators (Judges) from Moses to Samuel and secondly by Monarchs of the house of David. References: OT History from Exodus 19 to II Chron 36. As the theocratic monarchy went into decline spiritually the prophets began to announce a future better form of God’s Kingdom program. 4. The Messianic / Millennial Kingdom – Messianic because this Kingdom will be ruled by Messiah himself, reigning from Jerusalem from the throne of David over Israel and the world. Millennial because this Kingdom period will last for 1000 years. This also relates to the Davidic covenant. References: II Samuel. 7:11b-16; 1 Chron. 17:10b-14) Psalms 2 and 72, Isaiah 9:6-7, 11:1-16, Jeremiah 23:5-6, 32:14-17, Ezekiel 34:23, 37:24, Hosea 3:4-5, Micah 4:6-8, 5:2, and Malachi 3:1-4. This was the Kingdom that John the Baptist & Jesus declared to be at hand (Matt 3:2, 4:17). So why is there no Messianic Kingdom? The Rejection of the King and the offer of Kingdom He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. (Joh 1:11 ESV) When the unbelieving leaders of Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah in King, he withdrew his offer of the Messianic Kingdom to that generation. He will instead offer it to the future generation of Israel of the tribulation (time of Jacob's trouble) who will accept it, and so will bring the Mystery Kingdom period to an end. Until then the Messianic Kingdom is on hold. 5. The Mystery Kingdom - This is a mystery because it was unseen by the OT prophets. It was only revealed by Jesus in the NT after he was rejected. The Parables give the outworking of this time period, of what happens here on earth while the King is absent in Heaven. This is best described by the term Christendom, as it refers to anyone who makes a claim of loyalty to Jesus whether this is from the true sowing of the gospel (wheat) or false counter sowing (tares). References: Matt 13:17, 35 Col 1:25-27 Eph 3:1-10