Genesis 22:9-18
9 When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
12 “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”
13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”
15 The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, 18 and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba.
Hebrews 11:8-11
8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
11 By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
Matthew 5:17-20
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. 19 Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Christmas, Good Friday, Easter are all holy days because they mark the major moments of the coming of the Kingdom of God amongst us –
God’s coming to us as a baby in a manger;
Christ’s death on the cross to redeem us from the consequence of our sin;
His resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday morning to proclaim the victory over death.
These are amazing, mind-boggling events which proclaim God’s deep concern for those who are made in His image.
On the other hand, Ascension and Pentecost are not even public holidays anymore, though they used to be. They were removed from the holiday calendar because Christians no longer seemed to be too interested in what they represented – the ascension of Jesus to heaven to take His place on the throne,
- the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to empower the followers of Jesus to become citizens of God’s Kingdom.
In a sense, the loss of Ascension Day and Pentecost as holy days is symptomatic of our life as followers of Christ. Just the other day someone said to me that the Church lost the plot when we decided to be “worshippers of Christ” rather than “followers of Christ” – focused on sacrifice rather than obedience. Whether that is true or not, we HAVE tended to make our faith something which we add on to an already busy life, rather than allowing it to be the life we live.
To follow Christ is to embark on an adventure. It is to journey into the realm of infinite possibility. It allows us to find ourselves in that place – the Kingdom of God – which we have always known about and always longed for. We know what it is, but we can’t always adequately define it.
We know that we need to take that leap of faith into it, but we are hesitant to do that because it all seems so unbelievable. And we are a little scared as well. And so we shuffle along in the queue hoping that when we get to the front, we will find what we are expecting.
Oh, that we would rather be like Abraham, who “when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going…….. - For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.”
My journey with Jesus began 32 years ago in a course for new Christians called “The Edge of Adventure” and these past three decades have really been the experience of that adventure.
I have journeyed with God to that place of infinite possibility – it’s not a geographic destination, but a spiritual journey.
I have come to understand that God can “do immeasurably more than we can ever ask of imagine”,
I have realized that His concern and love for me and my situation is far deeper than I can ever know, and
I have found myself being subtlety changed from who I am to who God wants me to be.
This is the experience of the Kingdom of God; and I am not alone in discovering this … many of you have also found yourselves on the “edge of adventure”.
Perhaps some of you are only discovering now that you have, in fact, been on this adventure for some time, even though you thought that your were merely shuffling along in the queue. And perhaps some of you will realize today, and over the next few weeks that this is what you have always longed for.
Jesus came to give meaning to our world and to our life. Dealing with sin was a necessary and essential part of it – without the redemption of the Cross, without the righteousness of Christ our lives are caught up in darkness.
Without Christ our life has no meaning which really matters, we just trudge on from day to day, hoping that the little achievements will somehow translate into something significant.
The truth is that when this life ends, those achievements are nothing. What we have gained will go to others, what we have achieved will mostly just be remembered in the tranquil cemeteries where our tombstones lie. Our families might keep the photographs and memories for a generation or two, and then it’s all over.
The point that really matters is whether when we open our eyes in death (or resurrection to be more precise!) will we find ourselves in the place where we always knew ourselves to be headed.
Or will it be a great surprise, when we suddenly find ourselves at the front of the queue, to discover that being in the queue could have been so much more than just shuffling along.
This is a long introduction to a series which I want to share with you over the next several weeks. It’s about knowing the Kingdom of God and how to live in it.
Jesus said that He had come to proclaim that Kingdom, He said that it was right at hand, He said that it was in our heart.
Now I am not sure that we fully understand this Kingdom of God. I am pretty certain that most followers of Jesus do not really know how to live their lives as citizens of this Kingdom. You see, it is very difficult for us, to translate the life which we live in this world with all its demands, temptations, false directions and so on, into the Kingdom life.
As I was pondering this over the past couple of weeks and I decided to go to Matthew’s gospel.
Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah, the King of the Jews. Much of the way in which he tells us the story of the life of Jesus is Kingdom oriented. The Sermon on the Mount is, in a sense, the Law of the Kingdom; the parables focus on telling us what the Kingdom of God is like – it is the Gospel of the Kingdom.
And as I read this Gospel again, I saw a pattern emerging. Jesus goes up a mountain (like Moses on Sinai) and presents the New Law of the Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. He shows us how this new Law is to work in this world.
He defines a New People who are called forth to follow Him.
He sends them out on a New Mission with a new purpose.
He reveals Himself as the King.
And He shares seven parables which unlock the secrets of this Kingdom.
As we begin this series I trust that you will journey with me over the next few Sundays as we explore this Kingdom which Jesus came to proclaim and to which He calls us to enter as full citizens, fully blessed by His righteousness which He has so graciously imputed to us as we follow Him in faith.
I want to make two other significant points this morning – the first is that this Kingdom can only be found by faith. Without faith you will find yourself stumbling over many things in this world and you will end up compromising your vision – you will not see this Kingdom clearly.
That is why I chose these two reading about Abraham. It was implicit faith and trust in God which took Abraham from his home on a journey to a new city. He, in fact, never found this city in this world – he remained a wanderer living in tents throughout his life, as did his son and grandson.
But faith did take him to that city in a spiritual sense, for it was by faith that he was able to become a father when he was past age and his wife was barren.
By faith he held on to the promise of God.
By faith he trusted God’s promise that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore; even though God has asked him to kill the only son through whom this could happen.
His faith took Abraham to the point where he would not even withhold his son from death because he trusted God’s promise. His trust in God was implicit and complete. He believed that all things were in God’s hands and he was prepared to follow Him, no matter the cost.
This faith enabled Abraham to see and know the Kingdom of God. And it is faith like this which will enable you to see and know that Kingdom as well.
I am challenging you today to put your whole trust into God’s hands – not in your abilities, your skills, your bank balance or anything else which you have relied upon thus far. Do this and you will see and know the Kingdom of God.
Second, you need to know something about the etiquette of this Kingdom. I say “etiquette” rather than rules or laws because living in the Kingdom vision takes us to the place where our behaviour and attitudes are not determined by rules but by the expectations of our host. We live to please the King.
When Jesus introduced the New Law of the Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount He began by saying that He had not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them.
When we talk of the etiquette of the Kingdom we are speaking about the natural application of the Law rather than blind steps to follow. We apply the law to our life because that law makes so much sense to us that it simply becomes our normal behaviour.
The Law itself is just so right and so perfect that Jesus says that not even the tiniest piece of it will ever disappear. But what is this Law – just another set of rules?
No, the Sermon on the Mount calls us, not so much to a New Law but to the application of the eternal principles of the Law.
The eternal principle of the Law is that in all things we must seek God’s will and that our whole life should be dedicated to obeying it. The Law is not simply a set of rules and regulations – it is the heart and etiquette of God.
The basic principle of the Law is a call to have respect and reverence for God – reverence for God and for His Name, reverence for God’s Day, respect for parents, life, property, personality, truth, the other person’s reputation and respect for oneself so that we are not simply mastered by our desires.
Jesus calls us to this place of reverence and respect and it cannot be achieved by merely obeying a multitude of petty rules and regulations – no, it is the principle which matters.
The Law says, “Do not murder” – the principle says, “Do not even be angry.” The Law says, “Do not commit adultery” –the principle says, “Do not look with lust at another”.
Do you see the difference?
To see and know the Kingdom of God is not an easy endeavour – something which we can just decide upon. No, it is a matter of faith and of behaviour.
Faith - Putting our full trust and hope in the King of kings – full trust, wholly, completely, without compromise or doubt. Knowing that in all things God desires good for those who follow Him with all, their heart and mind and spirit.
And then Behaviour. Modeling the living of our life on the eternal principles of the Kingdom – love and respect for God and for one another.
It is to do away with the obvious acts of the sinful nature – “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” The Bible makes it clear that people involved in such acts do not inherit – do not know – the Kingdom of God.
Instead we should live lives which are filled with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Again the Bible says that against such things there is no law.
Knowing the Kingdom of God begins with two simple steps – putting your whole trust in God; and letting your behaviour and attitudes be wholly influenced by the expectations of the King of kings and Lord of lords.
“Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not (even) enter the kingdom of heaven.”
Your practice is your behaviour – your righteousness comes by faith in believing.
