The greatest revolution ever known to man was started by an obscure carpenter, blue
collar, with a group of ragtag men in an obscure village in a part of the world that hardly
anybody knows about.
But he started a kingdom of God revolution, his name was Jesus.
Jesus came preaching the kingdom over a hundred times in his ministry.
He spoke about the kingdom of God, he told us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven.
His first sermon was repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come.
When he began to teach about the kingdom, he gave us one of the greatest sermons that
the world has ever known.
Whether secular, atheistic, agnostic, or even Christian, all agree that one of the greatest
sermons ever given was the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and that sermon
was on the ethics and the morality of the kingdom of God.
So Jesus came bringing a kingdom of God revolution, and I can tell you guys that I have never
in my life been so impacted by any one concept, besides Jesus himself, than the kingdom of
God, and even as a missionary in Japan for many years, I think it was my second or third
year in Japan that I discovered the concepts of the kingdom of God.
Two books that really impacted me was the Gospel of the Kingdom by a guy named George
Elton Ladd, popular expositions on the kingdom of God, this had a huge impact, and then probably
the greatest book on the kingdom that has impacted me the deepest was the Unshakable
Kingdom and the Unchanging Person by E. Stanley Johns.
So what is the kingdom?
What is the kingdom of God?
Very important to define it here, and I would just say that it's difficult for us to understand
because we come out of a democracy, and in a democracy we think in terms of independence,
we think of self-rule, we think of states under nations, but in the kingdom, a kingdom
concept, which would be in medieval times, even up to present, you know, nations like
Great Britain and others like that, the idea of a kingdom is that there is a king, and
the king rules over all, and that there is a land or a province or a people that a kingdom
or a king rules over, and that's what he calls his kingdom.
So you have two parts, you have a king, and then you have the people of the kingdom, the
people under the king.
And so the kingdom of God as Jesus came was the reign and rule of Christ, the reign and
rule of the Messiah, the reign and rule of Jesus.
And wherever Jesus went when he preached the kingdom, the people of that time would
have understood that to mean that God has come, that the king, not knowing yet that
he was Messiah, probably until after the resurrection, but this man, this rabbi named Jesus was preaching
of a new world order.
And the kingdom of God really caught my heart so many years ago because I realized this
is the total answer to man's total need.
The famous agnostic, some would say he was an atheist, H.G.
Wells, the famous writer and historian, when he discovered the kingdom of God and the concept
of the kingdom of God said this, quote,
Why here is the most radical proposal ever presented to the mind of man, the proposal
to replace the present world order with God's order, the kingdom of God.
I mean H.G.
Wells had a better understanding of the kingdom of God than a lot of pastors do.
Now when Jesus came, he began his ministry by succinctly and directly and cogently giving
the mission of which he had come.
This is the mission of Christ and this is a great definition of the kingdom of God.
This is what Jesus said in Luke 4, 18 and 19.
The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel of
the poor.
He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery
of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable
year of the Lord.
Healing, liberty, bringing sight, setting free, those are all the concepts of the kingdom
of God.
As a matter of fact, the constitution and the early documents from the pilgrims and
the Puritans when they came to America were built on this idea of a coming kingdom.
As a matter of fact, the pilgrims and the Puritans talked about America being a new
Israel, like a new Jerusalem.
They would bring the gospel to the whole world because they had a concept of the Kingdom
of God.
This idea that the greatness of God, the healing power of God, the miraculous works of God
were going to take over the world.
And so a Kingdom of God revolution is a work of the Spirit in which God wants to invade
a person's life and transform them from the inside out.
That cascading to others becomes even a community.
That's the power of a Kingdom of God revolution.
And so as I look at a Kingdom of God revolution, I look at it from the perspective of culture
too.
Not just individuals, but how do we impact the culture?
Can you imagine a city?
Can you imagine a community where every life is valued?
Whether born or unborn, whether mentally or physically challenged, whether one is born
out of wedlock, whether one is struggling with some disease, that all of life is celebrated.
Imagine schools where kids are just excited to learn.
Imagine going to your job and you're just pumped and fired up to make a difference,
to grow your territory, to grow what God's given you to do.
Imagine marriages where we work stuff out instead of running and getting divorces.
Imagine where life is celebrated, where there's joy in men and women's hearts, where kids
are valued, and where the Bible is honored.
That's a Kingdom of God revolution, and I believe that's why Jesus came.
He came to bring that.
In his first sermon, Jesus said, I'm reading from Matthew 4, 17,
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Interesting isn't it that the first word out of Jesus' mouth in his first sermon ever
given is the word repent, which in Greek is metanoia, and it's the idea of change.
It means to change your mind.
It means to change your heart.
It's the idea of dethroning you.
And if you want to know what the kingdom of self is, that's where you're living if you
don't have the kingdom of God.
So someone's on the throne of our hearts.
It's either me or it's Jesus.
It's either me or it's God, and so to repent, Jesus is saying that's the beginning.
That's where it all starts right there, folks, is who's going to be in control of your life?
Who's going to be on the throne of your life?
Are you willing to surrender to me?
Are you willing to surrender your pride, your arrogance, your selfishness, and your sin
to me so that I can transform you?
That's the key to a kingdom of God revolution.
That's where it all starts.
It all starts with repentance.
It starts with transformation and change.
And so when he speaks of repent, change, transformation, Jesus is saying, look, there's only room for
one on the throne.
There's one throne, and I'd like to take over your throne.
I would like you to give up that throne to me and let me demonstrate my power.
Now here's what's interesting about the kingdom of God, is that wherever the kingdom comes,
in the time of Christ, but all through history, there's a demonstration, not just a proclamation,
but a demonstration of the kingdom.
So in many of our churches today, there's proclamation of God's word, the Bible, which
is hugely important.
As a matter of fact, we need that more than ever, and we need to see that done even more
deeply than ever because of the kind of culture that we're dealing with and involved in Western
civilization right now.
But there's also a demonstration.
So let me read again from Matthew 4.
Look at the progression here.
Then for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Jesus said, and Jesus walking by the sea
of Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, Andrew his brother, casting a net into
the sea, for they were fishermen.
Then he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
They immediately left their nests and followed him.
And then it gives a list of the early disciples.
But then in verse 23, we read this.
Jesus went about all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel
of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
So Jesus did a couple things here that are part of a kingdom of God revolution.
First, he proclaimed it, repentance.
Second, he began to raise up disciples.
He began to call forth people that he was going to change.
And he said to them this,
Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.
So this following Jesus follows repentance.
It's not just about repenting.
I mean there's many religions in the world today that talk about
actualizing your spiritual self
through distancing yourself from who you are.
Buddhism is notorious for that.
Christ is different though in that he says repent,
change, be transformed, follow me.
So it's not just about finding nothingness
or finding this absolute nirvana
through getting rid of all of your desire,
but rather follow me, take your passions that you put on yourself
and then give your passion, give your heart to me
and let me transform you.
Then he says I'm going to bring healing.
I'm going to be radical transformation from the inside out.
And that's what Jesus does.
So become a kingdom of God revolutionary.
Because what's happening in your heart right now
is that's what you're longing for.
That's what you were born to do.
There's something deep down inside from the day you were born
that wanted to live far,
wanted to dream about something greater than yourself.
And the most happy, joyful people, quite frankly,
are people who have discovered the kingdom of God.
Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God
and his righteousness
and all these other things that you value will be added to you.
In other words, what Jesus is saying is everything that we long for,
which is love, it's meaning, it's forgiveness,
it's caring for others, it's about being even a hero.
The idea of being a hero is something deep within us
that wants to be a kingdom of God revolutionary.
So join the team.
Become a part of the greatest movement the world has ever known.
That's where you're the most satisfied.
That's where you'll be the most joyful.
And quite frankly, that's how you'll change the world around you.