Jan 29, 2023
Words To Live By: Kingdom
Mark 1:14-15
1. Jesus came to make available the Kingdom of God
“Jesus then came into Galilee announcing the good news from God. ‘All the preliminaries have been taken care of and the rule of God is now accessible to everyone. Review your plans for living and base your life on this remarkable new opportunity.’”
-Dallas Willard
The Kingdom of God is the realm within which what God wants done gets done.
2. Repentance is the doorway into the Kingdom
3. Believing is our response to the Gospel
To believe something means you experience conviction towards it that produces trust in you that causes you to submit yourself to it and live in the joy of it.
4. The Gospel is what we are to believe in
The gospel is the story of the work of the triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) to completely restore broken image-bearers in the context of the community of faith through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit, to union with God and communion with others for the good of the world.
Characteristics of this robust Gospel…
a) The robust gospel is a story.
b) The robust gospel deals with big problems.
c) A robust gospel includes the whole life of Jesus.
“If our only problem is individual guilt, the solution can be reduced to Good Friday. But as we acknowledge our problem in its true biblical proportions, we need more than Good Friday: we need Christmas as Incarnation, Good Friday as Substitution and Easter as New Creation, and Pentecost as Empowerment. The robust gospel incorporates us into the life of Jesus Christ, into his death with us, for us, and instead of us, into the Resurrection that justifies and creates new life, and the Pentecostal Spirit that empowers us to live together, as image-bearers of God, in such a way that we glow with the glory of the blessed God.”
-Scott McKnight
d) A robust gospel emerges from and leads others to the Church.
Mental worship…
What has changed most in how you think since you came to faith?
Has your mind changed about sin since you repented? If so, how?
When is the last time you set the Kingdom down?
How often have you heard people preach, teach or talk about the Kingdom of God?
What thoughts go through your head when you think about being a part of something as consequentially good as the Kingdom of God?Show less