Whom Should I Obey? Part # 2. The Promise of a New King and New Kingdom

 

2. The promise of a new king and a new kingdom 

Dallas Willard in Hearing God draws, what I believe to be a fantastic thought.  

John 3:3-8 (NKJV) 3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”

5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

What Jesus does here is powerful. He clearly delineates a new kind of kingdom—a spiritual kingdom.  We have seen that the Old Testament is the story of a lost kingdom—the New Testament is the story of a found kingdom—but more—a new kind of kingdom.  It is a spiritual kingdom.  To be a part of this kingdom you need to be born from above.  Willard writes that it is an additional birth—one after your natural birth.  You are spiritually born from above into a spiritual kingdom.  

Once you are born from above the ‘kingdom’ principles from the Old Testament apply—but in a spiritual sense.

Remember last blog:

God required

• A people:  this group was known as the Hebrew people, now known as the Jewish people.
• A land:  This was the ‘promised land’ and became known as the land of Israel.
• A king:  Well, this was God himself.

God still requires

• A people:  this group is known as believers, confessors, Christians, disciples of Christ
• A land:  This is the promised land of eternity.  Eternity/ heaven is the ‘land’ these spiritual people inherit
• A king:  This is Jesus…who rules and reigns within the hearts, minds, and souls of his people.

As this people follow their king—their lives change.  They don’t follow a law-code, they follow a person—the person of the Spirit who reveals Jesus.  But in that revealing there is formation.  Willard writes: “The literal truth is that Christ through his word removes the old routines in the heart and mind—the old routines of thought, feeling, action, imagination, conceptualization, belief, inference—and in their place he puts something else;  his thoughts, his attitudes, his beliefs, his ways of seeing things and interpreting things, his words.”

This king sets up his throne within the heart of his followers.  So, what appears to have happened is as follows:

1. The kingdom of God Old Testament—as noted—was a theocratic kingdom with God as king.
2. The people rejected God—by their actions—they lost the theocratic kingdom.
3. There is then the prophetic voice that comes forth in the prophets that says:  ‘Don’t give up!  The Kingdom is at hand!’  
1. 1 Peter 1:10-12 (NLT) This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward. They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.
2. Peter is preaching in the temple: Acts 3:22-24 (NLT)  Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your own people. Listen carefully to everything he tells you.’ Then Moses said, ‘Anyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from God’s people.’  “Starting with Samuel, every prophet spoke about what is happening today.
4. The temple in Jerusalem is replaced by the temple of people’s hearts:  So I am a kingdom person.  I am a habitation for God himself.  I live according to kingdom ways.

George Warnock writes:  “ John 14:23 (NLT) Jesus replied, ‘All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.’  This is the promise to those who keep His words, and love Him.  The eternal longing in the heart of God for a Home will finally be realized in the hearts of His people—the only Home that God has ever desired, the only Temple that God ever longed for.”

What does all this mean?

I live life according to, or focused on, or driven by—the invisible.  I live in a culture that is focused on, or driven by the visible.  Eternity for me then is the explosion of the invisible into the visible.  And, to be able to behold that, will require a bodily transformation —just to survive the glory of it all!  

The more foundational my invisible focus, the more glorious my journey into the eternal visible.  So think not for one moment poor Peter.  No no no!  Fortunate Peter!  The foundation of my focus on the invisible makes the temporal visible and actually quite nice—it keeps all the temporal visible things in perspective.  For in my present state I am fortunate enough to be connected with the invisible.  The invisible keeps reaching out to touch me, talk to me, and be with me.  All of which are a foretaste of the day when the invisible becomes visible and this mortal Peter will put on immortality.  So I have a constant companion in my visible life—the Invisible God.  He is always with me—loving, directing, communicating to me.  So I have the best of the best.  Invisible focus now—that keeps the visible things in proper perspective.  Plus, I have the surety of the invisible becoming visible—then, with a brand new body be able to enjoy the Eternal Visible for all eternity! 

Oh, by the way.  I believe the opposite is true.  What I mean by that is this:  if you live in the visible, for the visible, and focused on the visible, you will spend eternity in the invisible.  You will exist alone in total nothingness, seeing, experiencing nothing except aloneness, and emptiness.  All your visible will be invisible.  Everything that seemed good, fun, pleasant, satisfying will be gone—vanished…and you will live eternally in the realm of nothingness.—except of course, regret for a foolish life when you focused on the visible and not the invisible.