Well, if you haven't been with us the last couple weeks, last couple weeks, last couple nights, um, we've been in revival for weeks. Uh so if you haven't been with us the last couple nights, we've been on a journey of really discovering what does it mean to be the people of God in this hour. And tonight I want to I want to share a message on what it means to be a people of the kingdom come. And I just want to give a heads up that that out of all the sermons I've preached, and out of the rest of the sermons I will preach this week, this will probably be one of the more heady, nerdy type of messages. All right. So I'm just giving a little bit of a warning that there'll be times where I'll be sharing things that might sound a little bit theological. I might use some terminology, but I'll do my best to explain what that means. Uh and at times you'll be like, okay, Tim, like we've been with you the last couple services, but where are we going with this? And I just want to encourage you. I know it's hot, I know the humidity is kicking in, but stay with me. All right? Stay with me because I believe we're going to land somewhere that is going to be profound for every single one of our lives. And I just have this weird inclination within me as a minister of the gospel that I actually believe the church is much smarter than sometimes we as leaders give them credit for. That we actually are much more intelligent sometimes than pastor leaders try to pretend that they are or aren't. And so I want you to say this. We're going to confess some things right here tonight, all right? And I don't want you just to repeat it as rhetoric, but I want you to say it like you mean it. And I believe it's going to help us in this journey, all right? So you ready? Everyone say, I am smart. I am intelligent. I am a good learner. And I have the mind of Christ. Come on, say it again. I am smart. I am intelligent. I am a good learner, and I have the mind of Christ. All right, now, real quickly, turn to your neighbor and say, I've got the mind of Christ, but how about you? All right. We can do cheesy things like that, all right? I've got the mind of Christ, but how about you? I want to start off with this question here tonight. Do you ever feel like you just don't quite fit in neatly anywhere? Anybody ever wrestled with that before? Like you just don't quite fit in anywhere. If I'm honest before you here this evening, there have been many times in my life as a leader, as a pastor, as a minister, where I have wrestled with that question, where I don't quite feel that I fit in cleanly into many places, whether it's my theology, uh, whether it's my leadership, uh, whether it's my political ideology, sometimes in some people groups. I think as a young kid, me moving around a lot between uh Canada and the US, and back to Canada and back to the US. I was always wrestling with where do I belong? What is home to me? Where do I where do I fit? There's times where I'll be talking with people and there'll be things that they're saying, and I'll be like, yes, amen, that sounds great. And then there'll be other things that I'm just like, you know, I'm not so quite sure that I'm I'm actually there with you on that. And I've had many people over the years that have said, Tim, you're like one of the hardest people to figure out. Like we can't label you. We can't box you in. You don't quite fit in neatly anywhere. Many years ago in my prayer time, as I was wrestling with that, I just felt like the Holy Spirit speak to me and say, Tim, receive that and accept it as a good thing. Because at the end of the day, you're my son and you belong to my kingdom. And no matter where you are in this world or who you are amongst, that is where you belong. In 2021, when my family and I moved from the US to Canada, you can imagine that we had to wrestle with that thought and that question of where is home to us? This is a new country and it's in a weird time, and we're struggling through identity things about where do we belong. And so many of our dinner conversations around the table with my girls, I have three lovely girls, we would we would talk about home and what makes home special. What do we miss about Indiana? And over and over again, the thing that kept coming up was that the thing we didn't miss had rare very little to do with actual geographical region, but it often had more to do with people, with community, with identity, with purpose, with belonging. Tonight, as we get into this message, and I know we'll be a little bit heady at times, I want to encourage you that what I want us to see is that ultimately every single one of us who put our faith, hope, and trust in Jesus as Lord will always somewhat feel like exiles or aliens in this world. Like we just don't quite fit in neatly. We'll always have a little bit of a nuance through our life that is different than the systems and the ideologies of the world. And I hope that as we get to the end of this evening, that every one of us will walk out with an assurance of, you know what? That's okay. That's a good thing. Because at the end of the day, I'm a son and I'm a daughter in the kingdom, rule, and reign of Jesus. And that is where my ultimate allegiance must lie. Mark chapter 1, Jesus is getting ready to embark on his earthly ministry. And it was common for rabbis in the first century context before they embarked on the ministry to go out and make announcements of who they were, what they were about, and ultimately what they were going to do. And we pick it up in Mark's gospel, verses 14 through 15. It says, Now, after John, being John the Baptist, was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is really far off. The kingdom of God is over yonder. The kingdom of God is one day when we die and get to heaven. What a glorious day that will be. I think Jesus, that was the essential message that he talked about. You know, outside of John's gospel, Jesus only talks about love twice. And so he talks about it, but it's not the essential message. He actually talks about money more than he talks about love. But when you study this, you will see over and over again the essential message that Jesus talked about and announced, like the entirety of all four Gospels, is really about the arrival of the kingdom, rule, and reign of God. It was the prominent message that he announced. Now, in this verse we just read a moment ago, when it says, the time is fulfilled, you must understand that for the Jewish people of that day, this statement wasn't just connected to a chronological marker, but rather it was what's called an eschatological declaration. And that word eschatological, it just simply means this final things. Speaks of end times, it speaks of completion. And so when he says the time is fulfilled, it signaled a decisive moment in a much larger story. Jesus is saying, what you hope for in the end is being fulfilled in my arrival here and now. Next slide. Now, when it comes to Jewish eschatology, this idea of end times or final things, they often saw things with two ages. There was what's called this age or the present age, which signified the devil's rule and reign. But then there was this hope and this expectation about the age to come, which signified God's rule and reign. You see, they understood that they had been rebellious against God. They had broken covenant over and over again. They knew that they had sinned and fallen short and they had rebelled against their creator. And so they lived in a time that ever since Adam and Eve, Satan was really ruling and reigning in the earth because Adam and Eve actually surrendered the keys of authority and dominion over to the serpent in the garden. And so they understood that their suffering and their hardship was often connected to this rebellion. But there was hope that there's a day coming when Yahweh will break in decisively into time, space, and history, and he will do something so profound that will put an end to the spirit of this age and will usher in the age to come, God's rule and reign. Now, the Christians in the early church, they picked up on that same framework. And as they studied the gospels, especially the early church fathers, what they saw is that when Jesus talked over and over again about the kingdom, he wasn't talking about just one day, but he was always speaking of it as a present reality. And so what they realized is that wait a second, that eschatological hope, hope of final things, has actually already begun with the arrival of Jesus in his life, in his death, in his resurrection, in his defeat over the power of death. And so now we live between the time of the times where the spirit of this age still remains, but the spirit of the age to come has already begun because of that first advent or arrival of Jesus. And so we are now hoping for that second coming when Jesus will come again and he will complete what he begun in his first arrival. So the kingdom is here, but it's not fully. But we're looking forward once again to that day when he comes again and what he begun will be fully realized. Are you with me so far? And so we live in that tension of the already and not yet. And the kingdom of God is present, but it's still something that we are hoping for. And so when Jesus proclaims that the kingdom of God, God's rule and reign, God's rescue has arrived, this wasn't just advice. This wasn't just moralistic teaching. This wasn't just instruction, but actually it was news. It was good news, and I truly believe that we as Christians never grow beyond the place of needing to hear the good news of the gospel. It doesn't matter whether Christianity is brand new to you or you're here because a friend invited you and you don't know much about Christianity, or whether you have been a Christian for many decades, hear me tonight. We never mature or grow beyond the place of needing to hear the good news of the gospel. Every one of us, pastors included, need to hear it over and over and over again. There's good news that Jesus has done something on behalf of Yahweh in which the world is now a different place. And we think about news, you have to ask the question what qualifies something as being news? Who remembers the days when you used to receive a newspaper on your front porch or in your mailbox? Anybody still receive the newspaper on their front? Okay, some of you, okay. Now we get it on our tablets and devices or we check it on our social media sources. When you think about news and what qualifies something as being news, number one, there is an announcement about something that has happened. Secondly, there is usually a backstory to the event, meaning there's a larger context. Thirdly, there is a revealing of what now lies ahead in the future, meaning there is expectation and hope. And then fourthly, what this now means for the present and live in between what happened and ultimately what will happen in the future. And so with this understanding of how the word gospel is an announcement about something that has happened and which now everything will be different, I actually believe that we begin to see why Jesus chose to use his word to say, believe in the gospel, believe in the good news. Something is happening and something is about to happen, and which now everything will be different. You heard me talk about this last night that often when emperors or kings would overthrow a region or a city or a nation, they would send in the evangelists. And the evangelists would come in and they would make the announcement, I have good news for you. There's a new king, there's a new ruler, there's a new lord. And when your old king or your old lord was maybe bad or poor and didn't treat you right, the new king is better than that old king. And so this is actually the language that Jesus begins to use to make his announcement about the gospel of the kingdom. So we have to ask ourselves the question then what is this good news all about? Well, number one, thanks for asking. The gospel is good news and not good advice. It amazes me how much preaching in the North American church is just moralistic good advice. Like the preaching of God's word is not a TED talk. It's not just meant to be inspirational, though we want it to be inspirational, motivational, but it's not meant just to be that. The gospel is good news, not good advice. This is what separates Christianity from all the other major religions of the world. When you think of Islam, when you think of Judaism, it's always you must do A, B, and C in order to arrive at X, Y, and Z. And so, in theological terms, often scholars will say when it comes to the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of Jesus, the indicative comes before the imperative. And all this means is you don't do something in order to receive something. No, by grace you've already received something. Now you do something. You don't do something in order to obtain, you've received. Salvation is a free gift from God. There is nothing that you or I can ever do to deserve the goodness and the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness of God. It is free, but because it is free, it should shape us and form us and purify us and cause us to live a life of obedience solely to Him. Once again, the gospel is not good advice, it is good news about what Jesus has done. Secondly, the gospel is good news about Jesus making all things new. You see, when you look in the Old Testament, and we're gonna go through a lot of it here in a moment, quickly, what no man, Abraham, family, Isaac, nation, Israel could accomplish. God came through Jesus and rescued the world from the mess not He created, we created. I remember years ago a college student saying, Pastor Tim, are you saying that all the war and the famine, the disease and the plagues and all the injustice is in the world becomes some stupid man and some stupid woman took a bite out of an apple one day? I love college students. That's a great question, by the way. And I said to that young man, I said, Do you not realize you and I are that stupid man and that stupid woman who every day make decisions to choose our way above God's way? He says, Do this, do this, do this, and you will live. And we say, Not for this moment. I'm gonna take a bite out of my proverbial apple and live however the heck I want to live. And then we expect God to give us grace and mercy, even though we continually choose rebellion against him. The gospel is that despite that, he is still committed to us and he wants to make all things new in our lives. Thirdly, the gospel is good news about the invitation to come home. And this is where I want to camp for just a moment here. When you look at scripture, the entirety of scripture from Genesis to Revelation, it's actually one big story. All 66 books are one story. It's called the meta-narrative of scripture. And in that scripture, that narrative, there are four major motifs that you see: creation, fall, redemption, and restoration. And so the testimony of scripture is that restoration that Jesus is committed to accomplishing in us is something that he does individually as well as corporately. And our salvation, which is connected to the good news of the gospel, is that he does something in our lives as individuals that transforms us from the inside out. But then as it happens on an individual level, it must always lead into a corporate and communal level. When we experience spiritual healing here individually, it must look like something and how I live out there. Can I get an amen here tonight? Our salvation is not just about us, but it's always about what God wants to do through us. New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says one can debate the merits of a religion, moral system, or philosophy, but a news event is discussed in a different way. Either the event happened or it didn't. And if it did happen, either it means what people say it means or it doesn't. Once again, the gospel, it is news about something that God has done through Jesus to make all things new. And what is the context of this? What is the backstory to this? When you study the scriptures, especially in the Old Testament, you'll see this theme over and over again of what's called exile and homecoming. This idea of going away and then coming back again. In Genesis 1, and by the way, we're going from Genesis all the way to Revelation tonight. So we'll be here until 11. Are you okay with that? I'm kidding. Not 11, just 10. All right, so in Genesis 1, when they are hanging out in the garden, God forms this garden and he creates humanity to live in it. The garden is what's referred to in Shalom under Jewish understanding as shalom. And shalom is connected to this idea of home. It's a place where heaven and earth are one, and perfect relationship exists between the creator Yahweh and his creation. God creates this world that was full of chaos, and he says, I will not have my creation full of chaos. He creates a garden which signifies his temple, and he places Adam and Eve in the middle of the garden. And he says, Enjoy this, experience this, love this, and steward this. Have dominion over this. But there's one thing that I ask of you. You can enjoy everything here, but there's one tree I don't want you to touch, and it's a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. What is God doing there? He's saying, when it comes to defining truth, I am God and you are not. I decide what is right and wrong, and you do not. And I know that stands so contradictory to modern Western culture, especially with the effects of secularism that continually tells us we defined our own truth. Truth is relative. You're a blank canvas. You can just paint yourself to be whoever you want to be in this life. That is not consistent with the gospel. And from the beginning, God says, Enjoy everything I have created and enjoy my presence, but I define what is right and wrong and not you. And so we know that eventually Adam and Eve are tempted by the serpent, and they begin to doubt what God has told them. And they believe the lie for one moment that they can be their own God and they can define their own right and wrong, and they can define truth for themselves. And this is what leads to ultimate rebellion. You see, when we look at the Genesis narrative, we see over and over again that God had intent and purpose for what he wanted to do and accomplish. In the earth. And humanity in their rebellion experienced something or they said, I want to be my own God. But the gospel in Genesis chapter 3 is that God doesn't run from sinners. This is good news, by the way, but rather he comes towards sinners. You see, when Adam and Eve sinned, what happens? Genesis 3 says that God came looking for them in the garden. He doesn't run away from sin. He doesn't run away from sinners. But the gospel that precedes Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, by the way, is that our God is one that sees people in their brokenness and He runs towards sinners. How many of you think that is good news for us? That is great news. I want to make sure that this child is okay so if we can get it, because I don't want them taking off on us, and there's water on the other side. So thank you. Alright? How many believe that is good news for us? God always comes looking for us. So when we look at the Old Testament scripture, stay with me, we're almost done. Sort of. Adam and Eve are exiled from the garden, but a promise is given to them of salvation that will come one day. Genesis 3.15. Abraham, God makes a covenant with him, but he tells him to leave his home in Genesis 15 and 17. Jacob flees his land for fear of his brother Esau, but eventually he returns and the relationship is reconciled, Genesis 33. Joseph is sold into slavery by his brothers and grows up in a foreign land by foreign rulers. His relationship with his family is eventually restored in Genesis 45 and 50. The children of Israel are made slaves shortly after Joseph's death, and they live in Egyptian exile and captivity for 400 plus years. Then God raises up a deliverer by the name of Moses. Come on. And we remember the kids' song. Moses, go to Pharaoh and tell them what? Pharaoh, Pharaoh, oh baby, let my people go home. Thank you for the ooh-a. That's an important part in our Sunday school formation. He raises up a deliverer. He said, My people have been in exile long enough, it's time for them to come home. It's time for them to come back to the place that they belong. And so Moses delivers them and helps to bring uh freedom and liberation to a suffering people. And we read about that in Exodus 3. Then Israel becomes a mighty nation and they have a great king by the name of David. David leads at the great king, all is looking well for Israel, and they find themselves in a place of great prosperity and favor. They find themselves no longer in exile, being ruled by pagan rulers. A great covenant is made with David by God that he would be the centerpiece of the story as far as God establishing his kingdom, rule, and reign. In fact, often in the New Testament scriptures, when it refers to the kingdom, it references the line of David. Because for the first century Jew, the time of David was a great time. It's a time when they had conquered their enemies. They were prosperous. And they longed for that again. But we know the story of David. As great as he was, he was still human. He was still flawed. He sins. He lives an immoral life. And the nation of Israel, because of that decision by their leader, becomes divided and eventually they become overthrown. The Assyrians and the Babylonians, this is part of history, come and overthrow them because of their rebellion, and they are taken away into captivity. In fact, one of the most um one of the most sobering psalms is Psalm 137, where it's a psalm of Babylonian captivity. It says, by the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion on the willows, there we hung up our lyres, for there our captives required of us songs and our tormentors' mirth, saying, Sing us one of the psalms of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land? And so as they are being led into captivity, and as they are in captivity, they are longing for this homecoming again. This is actually the time where the language of this age and the age to come begins to evolve and develop. So God raises up prophets. One of those prophets is the prophet Isaiah. About 700 years prior to the coming of Christ, he begins to declare about hope and expectation, and about that day when Yahweh breaks into time, space, and history to accomplish something on their behalf. Isaiah chapter 2, it says, It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all the nations shall flow to it, and many people shall come and say, Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways, that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, he shall judge between the nations and shall decide disputes for many peoples, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. So the prophet gives this declaration, and in this declaration there are four major hopes about this homecoming. Stay with me here. We're almost done. There's a hope of a king. That David was a good king, but he was not a perfect king because he was a human king. But when Yahweh comes on our behalf, there will be one who will rule with righteousness and justice. This is where the hope of Messiah comes in, Messiah comes in. There's a king coming, and he will rule perfectly. Then there'll be a restoration of the temple, but it just won't be an earthly temple. It'll be a spiritual temple, a place where heaven and earth become one. Thirdly, there will be a restoration of the Torah, the law, in which all will know the way of the kingdom. It won't just be a set of rules written on tablets, but the prophetic literature says that when Messiah comes, when Yahweh comes, when the age to come comes, the Spirit will come and the law will now be written on our hearts. And all will know the ways of this kingdom. And then fourthly, there's the promise of new creation. Once again, the shalom of God is fully restored. That's Old Testament survey 101 right there for you. Flash forward to the New Testament. Jesus, the Son of God, who left the throne room of heaven and came to earth, is the climactic point of the entire meta-narrative of Scripture. And when we look at the life of Jesus, we actually see the Old Testament theme of home and exile. You see, Jesus, he leaves his heavenly home. We call this the incarnation. It said in the Gospels that Jesus is actually born outside of his parents' home. It says that Jesus wanders with no place to lay his head. He's an outcast of society. He doesn't quite fit in. Everywhere he goes, people misunderstand him and they do not get what he's doing. Even his closest followers, after everything Jesus is teaching them, and they're arguing over position in the kingdom. Or they're trying to figure out the bread and the loaves. And Jesus is like, shut up about the bread and the loaves already. Move on. I have greater things for you. And then when we get to the crucifixion, it says that Jesus was crucified outside of the city gates. And here's what I want you to catch tonight: Jesus experiences the ultimate exile so that you and I might experience the ultimate homecoming. He fulfilled the whole Old Testament survey of exile and homecoming, the ultimate exile, so that us who are so undeserving of grace and love and mercy might be called his sons and daughters and come back to the place where we truly belong. He does this on our behalf. Some scholars have called this the beautiful exchange. Jesus got what he did not deserve so that you and I might get what we don't deserve. The truth is, every one of us in this room, pastors included, deserve exile, deserve judgment. But Jesus came. And he came on behalf of God to usher in the kingdom, rule, and reign of God and to bring an end to the spirit of this age and make a way for any person who puts their faith, hope, and trust in him as Lord to come on home and join his family and discover the place where you truly belong. See, many times, if we're honest, we're like the children of Israel wandering around in the desert. Jesus says, Let me show you the way home. Sometimes you and I, we're like we're like lost sheep. But he's the good shepherd. He says, Let me show you the way home. Maybe you're like me and you were a prodigal son in rebellion in my teenage years. And Jesus says, Come on back to the place where you belong and join my father's house. Or maybe you're like the other brother in the prodigal son, the self-righteous son, the religious son, who's doing so much activity in the father's house, yet not understanding the father's heart. Because your faith is more religious than it is experiential relationship. And the invitation is stop wandering, stop going away, stop running, stop looking to the things of the world to please you and satisfy you. Come on home. Come on back to the place where you trust.