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Can you imagine a place where God’s character is the law? Can you imagine the perfection… perfect love, nothing out of place, selfishness is so unheard of that every action is motivated by selfless concern for another, perfect holiness, a sin free place. A place where God’s spirit is the atmosphere.
This place of course fits the definition of heaven perfectly. Jesus calls it “the kingdom of heaven.”
Why is repentance key to the kingdom of heaven? Jesus said to “repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.”
Deuteronomy 11:18-21 – The sum of Jesus teaching is how men here on earth can come join the kingdom of heaven even though we are here on earth.
There is an unseverable link between the kingdom in heaven and the kingdom of heaven here on the earth. We can be a part of this “outpost,” or “embassy” of the kingdom of heaven.
The church transcends earthly government. Throughout history there has been a clash between the government of the world and the church.
Only one kingdom will remain in the end. God’s kingdom will not fail, he will “get it done.” It is going forward and it won’t stop… regardless of if it appears that we are moving backwards in our society today.
Luke 17:20 – Scripture gives us a picture of the kingdom of heaven. Wherever we find a man or woman with a submitted and yielded heart, there we also find the kingdom of God. A person under the lordship of Jesus and the law of heaven is all that is needed for the kingdom of God to be “there.”
Revelation – The most beautiful beautiful thing about the kingdom of heaven is the King!
Colossians 1:16-19 – When Jesus came to the earth, he came as the essence of the kingdom of heaven. When we do church life and decide things and make choices, the highest importance, the approval that we seek, the focus, is the king. When Jesus came he could have done so in a very different manner. He could have came with a great display of force… but he didn’t. Jesus is a unique king.
Zechariah 9:9, John 15:1-26
Jesus shows us the picture of a grape vineyard and how it is like the kingdom of God. Jesus shows us that there are two ways to respond to the kingdom of God.
Mathew 5 gives us a good picture of just how “upside down” the kingdom of God really is. This kingdom is so different than any kingdom we’ve ever seen.
Christ kingdom is a kingdom of bowed hearts. Hearts under the lordship of Jesus Christ. Kingdom people want to please the king and kingdom people want to be like the king.
Mathew 25:1-46 – When God and man look at something they always see different things. Man sees the outside. God sees the inside. There are a lot of similarities in this story. All virgins. All waiting. All hoping to celebrate with the bridegroom. All had lamps. All trimmed their lamps. The difference showed up when the bridegroom came… some had oil… some did not.
If we are living in a way that isn’t real. If we are not living as a subject of his laws… when we come to the end there will be complete transparency – the only thing left and all that matters is what is let, the things that God sees.