The Kingdom Is Here, The Kingdom Is Yet To Come Series

The Secret Message of Jesus

The Kingdom is Here; the Kingdom is Yet to Come.

Matthew 6:10

What was Jesus’ Message? – talk to you neighbour

What did you come up with?

Matthew 4:17

From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

Matthew 4:23

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

Matthew 9:35

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Matthew 10:5&7

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “…As you go, preach this message: ’The kingdom of heaven is near.’”

Luke 9:2

and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Luke 9:10-11

Then he took (the apostles) with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing.

If you do a word search on preach, teach, message… in the Gospels you will find that most of the times that Jesus message is described, the message is that the Kingdom of heaven is near, or it is called the message of the Kingdom of Heaven, or the God News of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Most Christians, when asked what was Jesus’ message, if they are able to answer at all, answer by talking about how God loves us deeply and how we need forgiveness from God and how God forgives us by his grace and through our faith in Jesus’ death on the cross; which pays for the offence of our sin. This is a good and true answer, except that it is a message about Jesus. If we were to boil down Jesus’ message to a couple words, it is this: The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”

Last week we started in this series called “The Secret Message of Jesus” and I told you that the Secret message, is not something that has been hidden by some great conspiracy, It is hidden only because we have often failed to see it.

The Secret Message is the Kingdom of Heaven.

Last week I spent a bit of time trying to define the Kingdom of God. It is not defined by geography like earthly kingdoms, but it is defined by who is King – who is in charge. The Kingdom of God is the realm of God. The Kingdom of God is what the world would look like if God had his way.

Last week I read you a description of the Kingdom of Heaven in its fullness from Isaiah 65. This week, I’ll reads it to you from Revelation 21 & 22

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with people, and he will live 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."

He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." …

…I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever. Rev 21:1-5, 22-27, 22:1-5