Building Gods Kingdom

Building God’s Kingdom

6/30/07

Last week- talked about being …

Kingdom minded people and

having a Kingdom heart, for the

purpose of building God’s Kingdom.

We started out in Ezra 1 … continue w/that theme.

Ez 1:1-3, 5

Prophesied- Cyrus would reign as king 150 years before he lived and he would rebuild the temple.

Isa 44:28 "It is I who says of Cyrus, ’He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’

And he declares of Jerusalem, ’ She will be built,’ And of the temple, ’ Your foundation will be laid.’" NASU

Cyrus- not unique- God created man for a purpose.

Cyrus was one man, called into a relationship w/God, to further the eternal purposes of God in the earth.

He was called- out of generations of men/women that come/go through history, to build God’s Kingdom.

I believe God has called each of His people to be Kingdom Builders in their generation.

Ez 2.1

Slides of … Ez 2:2-58

God names families- responded to- stirring of God.

Ez 2:59-60

These men could not prove they were Jews or priests because their names were not recorded in the book.

Aside: To this day the Jews have tracked the lineage of the tribe of Aaron to know who the priests are.

Discovered- DNA signature- verifies a direct patrilineal descent to Aaron.

There are those today who call themselves Christians, whose names may not be in the book life.

Rev 20:12, 15

12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.

15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. NASU

Jesus gives us some more insight into this …

Mtt 7:21-27

Often we are told that being a Christian is …

asking Jesus into our hearts,

having our sins forgiven,

reading the Bible, learning to pray,

attending a Bible believing church,

sharing our faith with others.

True Christianity consist of much more than this.

Mtt 3:2 " Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." NASU

What was Jesus was saying?

I am here therefore my Kingdom is here.

Christians are called to participate in God’s plan to re-establish His reign throughout the earth.

Mk 11:15-17

The issue here is not just prayer, but establishing God’s order in God’s house.

You are the house of God today …

1 Cor 6:19-20

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?

20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. NASU

Have we allowed God to establish His order in our house?

Do we understand what happens when we become a Christian? (from article by Don Williams)

1. We are delivered from Satan’s Kingdom

1 Jn 5:19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

The whole world- under the rule of Satan- hates God.

Who is Satan? Satan- powerful angelic being who rebelled against God’s rule. (Eze 28:14-15)

Satan rebelled to establish his own kingdom.

Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. NASU

Those w/o Christ are under the power of the evil one and are part of his kingdom.

Eph 2:2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. NLT

God sent Jesus Christ to deliver us from Satan’s kingdom, from his rule in our lives.

2. We are delivered from God’s Wrath

God is a just God and a just ruler over His Kingdom.

He judges our moral failures- He calls them sin.

Today we do not believe in moral absolutes.

Everything is relative and I become my own god.

If there is a God He is a therapist who wants to build our self-esteem, not a God who judges our sin.

All mankind has sinned/fallen short of God’s standard

Because God is perfect and just we stand condemned.

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, NASU

Rom 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NASU