Introduction: Are you a part of the Kingdom of God? If you are
reading these lessons, the answer is probably, “Yes.” When I see
things going wrong in the world, or I get upset about national
politics, I have to remind myself that I am first a citizen of the
Kingdom of God. How can we know the Kingdom of God is real? How does
our study of the law fit into our belief in the Kingdom of God? As we
finish our series on the law, let’s dive into our Bibles and study
what it means to be citizens of the Kingdom of God!
- The Kingdom of God – Is It True?
- Read 1 Corinthians 15:1-2. What two options do we have
with regard to the gospel? (On one hand, we can believe it
and to take a stand for it. On the other hand, we can be
casual about it and have acted in vain.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-7. What is the most important
truth of the gospel? What is of “first importance?” (That
Jesus died for our sins, just as the Bible predicted, he
was buried and he rose from the dead. This was witnessed
by many.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:12-13. Some do not believe in the
resurrection of the dead. What is the logical consequence
of that view? (It refutes the “most important truth” that
Jesus died for our sins and was resurrected from the
dead.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:14. There are lots of good things
about the gospel. Why is faith and preaching the gospel
“useless” without the resurrection? - Our entire series has been about the law. I’ve been
repeating that the law is given to us by a loving God
so that we will not bump our head on the natural
laws. How can that be useless? (If Jesus died
permanently, then the law killed Him. If it killed
Jesus, it will kill every one of us. Thus, even the
idea that the law helps us would not ultimately be
correct because the law would kill us.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:15-16. What other problem exists
with our message if Jesus was not raised from the dead?
(We are liars!) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:17-19. Whenever I’m tempted to walk
out of the will of God and into a life of sin, my first
thought is “How can I live without God?” In all of the
battles of life, in all of the challenges of life, having
God with me has been essential. How can Paul say that
“hope in Christ” for this life alone is pitiful? (I think
his point is that it would be like me trusting the tooth
fairy all of these years. It might seem to help, but it
really is pitiful because I have a false hope.) - Read Matthew 4:8-10. What is the temptation here?
- What does this teach us about Jesus’ belief in the
Kingdom of God? (If Jesus failed, then He would lose
everything. Jesus had confidence that He would
succeed. He did not need Satan to give him the
kingdoms of the earth, for He would recover the earth
for the Kingdom of God.) - The Kingdom of God – The Truth
- Read 1 Corinthians 15:20-22. What is the truth about
Jesus’ resurrection? (That He was resurrected, and thus we
can have confidence in our resurrection.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:6-8. Consider for a moment Paul’s
statements about the futility of the gospel if Jesus was
not raised from the dead. Paul says that the risen Jesus
appeared to him. How trustworthy are Paul’s statements?
(This shows that Paul has no motive to lie about the risen
Jesus. He says he saw Jesus. He has no doubt about what he
saw. Lying about it would show he had a pitiful life. Who
wants to lead a pitiful life?) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:23-25. What kind of timing do we see
with regard to our resurrection? (Jesus rose first. Next
come those called “first fruits” and then we are
resurrected just before “the end.”) - What advantage do we have as citizens of the Kingdom
of God? (Our Kingdom is in the hands of God. Earthly
kingdoms are destroyed.) - Read 1 Corinthians 15:26. What else is finally destroyed?
(Death! Our “last enemy” is destroyed.) - Why is that important when we think about the law?
( Romans 7:10-11 tells us that the Ten Commandments
bring us death. If death is destroyed, this means
that the final conflict over sin is over. God has
given us eternal life!) - The Kingdom of God – The Future
- Read Revelation 21:1-3. What is the future of the Kingdom
of God? (It will be located on the earth made new.) - Since this is the “Kingdom of God,” where will God
be? (He will dwell with us on earth!) - Read Revelation 21:4. What fundamental difference will
there be in this Kingdom? (There are no tears, death,
mourning, or pain.) - What does that teach us about God’s attitude towards
these things when they happen in our life now? (God
is against them. God will destroy them.) - Read Revelation 21:5. Is God’s promise trustworthy? (God
tells John that He does not want John to get this wrong.
He says, “Write this down” because I want people to be
sure they can have confidence that this what I said.) - Read Revelation 21:6-7. One of the ancient quests is for
the fountain of youth. Jesus tells us that He will have us
drink “from the spring of the water of life.” What other
exciting promise does God make? (We will be His children.
He will be our Father.) - Read Revelation 21:8. This is a very interesting list. We
might nod our heads approvingly about leaving the vile,
the murders, and liars out of the Kingdom of God because
we want a safe, trustworthy place to live forever. But,
how does this fit the idea of grace? - Are murders, liars and the vile unable to rely on the
perfect life and death of Jesus? We just studied that
this was the most important principle of the Kingdom
of God! - The other sinners, the sexually immoral, magicians,
and idolaters seem even less threatening. How do you
explain this? (Notice how this list starts: “the
cowardly, the unbelieving.” The first text we
studied was 1 Corinthians 15:1 which mentioned those
who had received the gospel and taken a stand for it.
Believing God, trusting Him, is foundational. If you
do not believe or trust, then your life spins into
trusting others (magicians, idolaters), and putting
self first (liars, sexually immoral, vile, and
murders). Our life reflects whether we believe and
have taken a stand for God.) - Read Revelation 21:15-16. The New Jerusalem is a cube
which is 1,400 miles on a side. This is approximately the
distance between Washington, D.C. and Denver, Colorado. It
is 1,659 miles from Jerusalem to Moscow. Just imagine the
footprint of the New Jerusalem, when each wall is 1,400
miles long! Imagine a city that is 1,400 miles high! What
kind of condominium do you think you will have in that
city? (Large!) - Read Revelation 22:1-3. What does the main street of the
New Jerusalem look like? (It has a river running down the
middle. A tree with a trunk on both sides of the river
runs along the river’s banks.) - What is the purpose of the river and the fruit of the
tree? (To give us life and keep us healthy.) - Can you imagine what kinds of shops and restaurants
line main street? Can you imagine eating at a
sidewalk cafe there? No worry about calories! - Read Revelation 22:6-7. Friend, do you believe? Do you
want to be there? The essence of the gospel is believing
that Jesus makes eternal life possible for us. The essence
of the gospel is trusting God. That means we believe in
His unmerited grace, and we trust that His law is His
loving guide for our life. Will you, right now, place your
faith, trust and hope in Jesus and join the Kingdom of
God? - Next week: We begin a new series entitled the Teachings of
Jesus.
