GOT YOUR PASSPORT STAMPED?

So, what is this kingdom that we have been talking so much about in Sunday School?

First of all, the kingdom of heaven (mentioned 32 times in Matthew) is an invisible, spiritual kingdom. This was a stumbling block to the Jews. They fully expected God to set up an earthly kingdom with a king who would overthrow the powerful Roman government. Instead, Jesus Christ came in humility, bringing heaven to earth as Emmanuel (God With Us). We can stumble over the same temptation to search for the trappings of power and miss the humility of servanthood. Even in the church we can be tempted to crown ourselves with honor and jockey for positions of authority and visibility, all the while forgetting that we are called to humility and a Cross. In the words of Oswald Chambers: Beware of posing as a profound person; God became a baby.

In the book of Matthew, the kingdom of heaven is seen as:

1) the Church, or the entire sphere of Christian profession during this age. The gospel was entrusted to a few and quickly spread throughout the known world. Although the Church continues to grow and expand, it is opposed by evil forces and is infiltrated by the “tares” or “fake Christians” referred to in Matthew 13. Nevertheless, Jesus is Lord over the Church and God reigns with authority, sovereignty and majesty.

1Chronicles 29:11

Yours, LORD, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the splendor and the majesty, for everything in the heavens and on earth belongs to You. Yours, LORD, is the kingdom, and You are exalted as head over all.

Isaiah 9:6

For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

2) the final kingdom to be set up after the return of Christ, when the kingdom of God will be established from one end of the earth to another and will be both visible and glorious.

Daniel 2:44

In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, and this kingdom will not be left to another people. It will crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, but will itself endure forever.

Daniel 7:14

He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.

In the kingdom of heaven are mysteries, defined as previously hidden truth now divinely revealed. Those mysteries are revealed to US!

Some of these mysteries are:

• Israel’s blindness during this age

Romans 11:25

So that you will not be conceited, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery: a partial hardening has come to Israel until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

• The rapture of the church

1Co 15:51-52

Listen! I am telling you a mystery: We will not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed.

1Th 4:14-17

Since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, in the same way God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep through Jesus. (15) For we say this to you by a revelation from the Lord: We who are still alive at the Lord's coming will certainly have no advantage over those who have fallen asleep. (16) For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the archangel's voice, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. (17) Then we who are still alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord.

• All believers being one body

Eph 3:1-11

For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus on behalf of you Gentiles-- (2) you have heard, haven't you, about the administration of God's grace that He gave to me for you? (3) The mystery was made known to me by revelation, as I have briefly written above. (4) By reading this you are able to understand my insight about the mystery of the Messiah. (5) This was not made known to people in other generations as it is now revealed to His holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit: (6) the Gentiles are co-heirs, members of the same body, and partners of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel. (7) I was made a servant of this gospel by the gift of God's grace that was given to me by the working of His power. (8) This grace was given to me--the least of all the saints!--to proclaim to the Gentiles the incalculable riches of the Messiah, (9) and to shed light for all about the administration of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things. (10) This is so that God's multi-faceted wisdom may now be made known through the church to the rulers and authorities in the heavens. (11) This is according to the purpose of the ages, which He made in the Messiah, Jesus our Lord,

• The church as the bride of Christ

Eph 5:28-32

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. (29) For no one ever hates his own flesh, but provides and cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, (30) since we are members of His body. (31) For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. (32) This mystery is profound, but I am talking about Christ and the church.

• Christ alive in me!

Colossians 1:26-27

the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. (27) God wanted to make known to those among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

• Jesus is God in flesh.

Colossians 2:2-7

I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding, and have the knowledge of God's mystery--Christ. (3) In Him all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. (4) I am saying this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. (5) For I may be absent in body, but I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the strength of your faith in Christ. (6) Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, (7) rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Hebrews 1:3 He is the radiance of His glory, the exact expression of His nature, and He sustains all things by His powerful word. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.

When my daughter Lia and I traveled to Amsterdam, Paris and London last summer, we were intrigued by the wonderful cultures of the cities. We tried our best to blend in. We hid behind newspapers while snapping photos of each other on the subway in London, we choked down strange-tasting cheese without a grimace in Amsterdam, and Lia even purchased a scarf in Paris and tied it fashionably around her neck. However, despite our most splendid efforts, we couldn’t pull off our disguise. We were Americans. Southerners at that. We were only visitors, and it was obvious.

Here on earth, our citizenship should be just as apparent. As believers whose hearts beat with Royal blood, we do not belong here. Our feet are on this soil, but our hearts belong to God. The incomprehensible riches of our inheritance are in heaven, and in comparison the things of this world are not worthy of our affections. Christ Jesus lives in us, and the Spirit of God empowers us to think like Him and walk like Him. So, we should be sticking out like proverbial sore thumbs. Blending in is not an option.

What if we could really take in the amazing mystery of it all? Like Sturgeon says, even though Heaven is deemed “a far-off country,” in a moment we speak to the King and He is near, and when we depart this earth, we are in heaven “before the clock ticks twice.” That is the awesome mystery of “Christ in us.” Heaven on earth.

As born-again believers through faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, we are citizens of a kingdom that is incomparable in strength, in power, in might, and in sovereignty. We hear much about the strength of world powers today, but the fact is that the nations on earth are, according to Isaiah, like mere dust on the scales of God. In His economy, all the nations of the earth lumped together don’t weigh enough to even tip His scales! He can flick them off with his finger like I do a bothersome piece of lint on my sweater. The vastness of the entire universe, more than one billion galaxies (the nearest to us being 30 million light years away) would fit between the thumb and forefinger of the Most High God. Earthly strength is make-believe. He is reality.

Isa 40:12-15 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has gathered the dust of the earth in a measure or weighed the mountains in a balance and the hills in scales? (13) Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or who gave Him His counsel? (14) Who did He consult with? Who gave Him understanding and taught Him the paths of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? (15) Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are considered as a speck of dust on the scales; He lifts up the islands like fine dust.

How can we hesitate to serve and honor the Creator of the Universe, our Maker and the King of kings? We are in the world, but we need not be of the world. Colossians 3:1-3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life has been hidden with Christ in God.

Seek Him. He is everything that matters.

The following references were used:John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible; Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary; the Spurgeon Archive.