Children Of The Kingdom Series

Children of the Kingdom

Series: Discovering the Kingdom of God – Message #2

Pastor Chuck Hill - Trinity Fellowship Church

Sunday, October 15, 2006

What is the Kingdom of God?

Last week we discovered that the Kingdom of God is…

…the working of God here on earth even as it is in Heaven. Not limited to a place, the Kingdom of God is everywhere God is ruling and reigning – everywhere God’s people live and serve Him!

And here is the power of this truth…the Bible tells us that God is not just with us, but through His Spirit, He lives within us and where he is – so is His Kingdom!

Folks, God has redeemed us – He has recreated our hearts and our minds for the purpose…the sole purpose of being His representatives here on Earth. In fact, it is His purpose for us to establish His Kingdom agenda right here where we are just as it has always been established in Heaven.

So what does this mean to you and me?

What does being a Kingdom representative mean to you and me? Well, Bible says in Matthew 18:2-3…

“Jesus called a small child over to him and put the child among them. Then He said, ‘I assure you, unless you turn from your sins and become as little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven!’”

Matthew 18:2-3 (NLT)

Jesus tells us that we must become as Children if we are to enter into the Kingdom. Why? Why would Jesus describe the process of being a part of the Kingdom by saying we have to be like little children? Well, to find the answer to this question, I asked my 8 year old theologian son…and he gave me some great insight on this. He said that he thought the reason was because children are cooler than adults. He also said, children just like to laugh and have fun and God liked that. I of course summarized that statement in the “Joy”. Noticing this, he added…”Kids are joyful, peaceful, loving…” And then I realized he was just giving me what he thought would impress me – the fruit of the Spirit.

But maybe he has something there. Children naturally love to have fun…and wouldn’t it just make sense for God to want those who claim to be apart of His family to be full of Joy. Because, the Kingdom of God should be a Kingdom of celebration.

That reminds me of the penciled drawing that I saw of Jesus. Maybe some of you have seen this. It is called the laughing Jesus. And it is great. It has Jesus surrounded by children and his head is thrown back in laughter. I think that is a great picture of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Well this week I ran across some prayers prayed by children…listen to the honesty in some of these. They will make you laugh!

• Dear God,

Thank you for the baby brother…but what I asked for was a puppy. I never asked for anything before. Honest, you can look it up.

- Joyce

• Dear God,

I like the story about Noah the best of all of them. You really made up some good ones. Oh yeah, I like the walking on water too!

- Glenn

• Dear God,

My Grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go?

- Love, Dennis

• Dear God,

Did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident?

- Norma

• Dear God,

In Bible times, did they really talk that fancy?

- Jennifer

• Dear God,

My brother told me about how you are born...but it just doesn’t sound right. What do you say?

- Marsha

• Dear God,

I am doing the best I can. Really!!!

- Frank

• Dear God,

I didn’t think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday night. That was really cool!

- Thomas

Jesus said that if we want to be apart of His Kingdom…then we must repent and become like little children. And if we do – if we repent and turn from our selfish ways, our sin…then in that moment, literally become connected to that great Kingdom. Not of this world…but of the Kingdom of God.

Pastor Jack Hayford once wrote concerning this passage…

“With these words, Jesus confronts the tendency of humanity to associate authority with an exercise of dominance over others. The dominion or authority in Kingdom life that God wants to reinstate within us is for victorious, fruitful living and for the overthrow of hellish powers, not for gaining control of others or for serving our own interests. His call to childlike humility and a servant-like heart establishes the spirit and style by which the authority of the believer is to be exercised as an agent of God’s Kingdom power.”