A JOURNEY INTO THREE REVELATORY EXPERIENCES OF CHRIST

Here are some notes I wrote a little while ago that stirred in my own heart. It has to do with the Christian journey and I find it both inspiring and challenging. I hope it makes sense to you.




The Kingdom of God

A STARTING DEFINITION

Most discussions about the kingdom of God are carried on by theorists. That is why most recently there has been an emerging expression of Christian faith that has to do with the outworking of a revelation of the kingdom of God.

The terminology
We first need to draw some inescapable conclusions that relate to the terms themselves. The first is that we are talking about a area of rule. There are many places to go to read about the Greek word. No matter how it comes out, we are talking about some sphere where there is a ruler. In Australia we have a government that rules on behalf of the people (by the people, for the people etc.) This is so far from most of the experiences of the first century Mediterranean world assumed by the language of the New Testament. Most of the world at that time (with the exception of some experiments in Athens and an occasional Senate uprising in Rome) assumed a single ruler with absolute power. That power was mostly exercised through military might and delegated to a series of underlings who represented the supreme ruler. The realm ( “___dom” where the suffix is a shortened version of “dominion”) was determined according to the geographical sphere where that person’s will was done. A kingdom is a space or series of spaces where a king gets what he wants.

The second part uses two words: “God” and “heaven.” It is usually assumed that Matthew uses the second alternative for reasons that have to do with Jewish issues about using the name of God. It was a carry over from the Old Testament. While there are been some arguments over the years that the two terms refer to two different notions, I am not very convinced by them. This course will assume Matthew’s decision to use a different term to refer to the same thing.


Three Consecutive Experiences of Revelation Matthew 16


In Matthew 16, Jesus refers to three revelatory experiences that will be part of the intended Christian experience. He identified the first as having happened to Peter but alerted all the disciples to the fact that if this revelation happened there would be two further revelations and these would produce a ministry that was irresistable

13 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” 14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. 21 From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 22 Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? 27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”



One: Personal Governmental Change - Follower of Jesus Christ

The first revelation was that of Jesus Christ. The ability of a person to give expression to the belief Peter made can only come from a revelatory encounter with the Father. - “flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven.” (v.17) This revelation totally changed Peter’s life. He used to be a fisherman and he was not following Jesus. This revelation, to be genuine must involve a radical change. Realizing that Jesus is the Messiah assumes a commitment to be a follower. The reason I have included all of the verses from Matthew 16:13-28 is because the qualities of a follower of Jesus are clearly identified. And they are the only things that ear mark a person as a follower: they are people who have set aside personal self fulfillment and have devoted their lives to lose themselves in pursuit of what will eternally benefit everything except themselves (“…deny yourself…”); they are people who have come to terms with issues of self preservation and comfort and are prepared to live a life characterized by the cross of Christ. On that basis they have set aside personal ambition and live to follow, serve and represent their new Master, Jesus Christ.



Two: Social Governmental Change - Part of the Body of Christ

The second revelation had to do with our relationship with other people. It had to do with a new strategic invention Jesus was creating. It was to be known as “church.” Jesus doesn’t set out a long an detailed definition so that we know who’s structure is right and who’s is wrong. As often happens the entity is defined by who is part of it and what it does. It is clearly made up of people who are following Jesus, and they are related together in such a way that they destroy every gate of hell in front of them. Aren’t we a crazy bunch. We will kill each other over some theological issue related to something we think about the church but the gates of hell remain blithely unchallenged. The emergence of “church” from followers of Jesus living or working in the same location can only happen by the work of Jesus. He clearly states that it is HIS church. Only HE can build it. WHEN HE BUILDS IT gates of hell are smashed. How quaint of us to build church around a particular theology (Baptist, Pentecostal) or around a form of government (Presbyterian, Congregational) or an individual leader (Lutheran, Wesleyan) or indeed around a particular ethnic group (Anglican, Dutch Reformed) when Jesus said we should build it around a ministry, that of smashing the gates of hell and plundering the darkness in our communities and nations. Christian history will declare that when any expression of church relegates its identity to theology, structure, personality or ethnicity heaven sighs and God raises up yet another bunch of nobodies and points them to the task. But it is clear that Jesus has no “Plan B.” “Plan A” is his church. When we become followers of Jesus we qualify for another revelation. That revelation is that we should be strategically related to a certain bunch of other followers so that we can ‘gate crash’ hell’s parties.



Three: Community Transformation - The will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven

Jesus said that this new group of people who were brought together to represent the purposes and power of God would qualify for yet a third revelation. Jesus said it in these words, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom. Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. And he warned them not to tell anyone he was the Christ…” (v. 19,20ff.) Here is our current subject. If we are going to talk about the kingdom of heaven, we have to talk about it as something that is associated with church and if we are going to talk about church we can only talk about a collective of people who are radical followers of Jesus in some given sphere. Jesus intends another transfer from heaven to earth. This is supernatural, not natural. Jesus will give something. There are many things that Jesus says he will give. Each of them refers to a supernatural transfer: forgiveness, peace, rest, Holy Spirit, authority, the kingdom, abundant life, eternal life, All of them are things that come from heaven and create change in the lives of people on the earth. The same is true for the people who make up “church.” Jesus says he will give them keys. When they use those keys, the kingdom of God will come. The sphere of this operation is an extremely inclusive one. The word used is “on earth.” The change is supposed to come to the earth, which belongs to God. It is not change in the church but change in the earth. This means that the coming of the kingdom of God assumes change in the earth or the community.


THE KINGDOM PRAYER


9 “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 Forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’
Matthew 6


As Jesus was teaching about prayer and citing a model kind of prayer to be prayed he provided a profoundly simple definition of what the kingdom of God was about. The words are those in italics and represent the petition of a follower of Jesus regarding the kingdom of God. They form a parallelism. Jesus is using this Hebraic form of poetry to give emphasis If you look at the whole prayer you can identify the following features:

There are two statements about God: God is a spiritual being (in heaven)
God’s is to be reverenced

Two statements about the kingdom of God it is meant to increase
It is God’s will being done

There is a single statement about provision asking for daily provision

There are two statements about forgiveness we need God to forgive us
We need to forgive others

There are two statements about hardships Don’t lead us into hardship
Deliver us from the evil one


Heaven is described as the place where God’s purpose is totally embraced. The kingdom of God comes to the earth when God fulfills HIS PURPOSE in the face of every other alternative (i.e. your will, my will, our will, the devil’s will). In other words, the kingdom of God is heaven happening on earth. It is the future happening in the present.