Transcription
Father, we do just come before you tonight. We just want to come and honor you, God. And Father, I just thank you for this day. I thank you for all that you've poured in and all that you've taught us and all that you've revealed to us, God, through your word by your Spirit, God.
And Father, I just thank you that you, your truths, God, are like are like a kaleidoscope, God. That, Father, as we enter in and as we press in to know you, God, you, you, there are such beauty in all that you do, God. In every turning, in every aspect of who you are, God, there is such beauty. And so, Lord, tonight we just come and we say, "Come and have your way. Come and fill us, Father. Let this be not just knowledge, God, but let it be transformation, God. Let the words that come forth, God, be transforming to our hearts and to our minds, God."
And Father, we say, "Come and have your way. Show us and reveal yourself to us, God. Show us who you are." We want to know you, God. That's our hearts' cry, God. We want to know you, Father. We want to know you in greater depths and greater measures. And we're asking you to come, Father, for your glory, for your name, for your renowned, God. We ask that you would come in power and by your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.
Well, first of all, I'd like to, uh, welcome you to the introduction class to freedom and kingdom living. And, um, I just want to say that we are called to live in freedom. First Peter tells us that we're to live as free men and women. And Psalm 119 says, "I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts." God desires for us to learn to walk in freedom through His word, through His teachings, through what He has spoken, and through what He has, uh, revealed and shown us about Himself in the word.
Galatians 5:1 says this: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be yoked again to a yoke of slavery." That tells us that there is, once we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior in our lives, that there, there is the temptation for us to go back to that slavery. The entire gospel is all about Jesus bringing liberty, freedom, and restoration, newness, and redemption.
John 8:31-32 says this: "If you hold to my teachings, you are my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." That scripture talks about holding, holding on to the word, to the truth of God, that is to take possession of, ownership, and to keep, to keep holding on. When we do that, when we hold on to God's word, then we will know. And that word "know" is, is literally one to be one with, to be, um, it's, it's a sexual term, actually, to become one with the word of God. God desires that we would, um, be in that kind of relationship with Him. When we know the truth that way, that intimately and that close, we will walk in freedom.
I don't know about you. I don't know what journey you're on. I don't know what place of life and what phase of life you're on. But I do know this: each one of us are on a journey for more and more of Jesus Christ and what He has promised and offered us through the cross. We don't have to be fearful about this journey. God knows the way, and He's a good Father, and He's not mad or frustrated at our weakness, at our lack, at our brokenness. But what He desires is that we journey with Him in this place for the freedom that Christ offers us.
Here's what I do know: there is woundedness and brokenness in each one of us that needs heal, that needs to be healed. Every one of us have strongholds, beliefs that are not of God that need to be torn down and replaced with the kingdom of God truths. Every one of us have flesh that needs to be crucified. How do I know? Because the word of God tells us that this process needs to be taken place daily. Daily, we're to deny ourselves, pick up our cross, and follow Jesus.
Galatians 5:22-24 says, "Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." And in Luke, He tells us, "Daily we're to deny ourselves." We can trust God. He knows what to reveal, and He knows the best timing to do it. All He desires from us is a yielded willingness and a partnership as He begins to speak truth to us that removes darkness from our lives. See, He doesn't need our help in identifying our own brokenness, our bondage, our sin, our lack, our humanity. So there's no more striving. We don't have to strive. God's not anxious or frustrated about the weaknesses we have.
Sometimes we get so used to the pain, bondage, and dysfunction, we start to think it's normal. But I'm here to tell you, it is not normal for our child of God to be walking in the brokenness and in the weaknesses that we sometimes just put up with. We are children of God, and we are citizens of another kingdom. Philippians 3:20 tells us, "Our spirits, bodies, and souls long for freedom." God desires for us to live on earth as it is in heaven. He wants the rule of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords to live in our lives today, this day, right here, right now.
When Jesus was here on earth ministering and teaching, the message He spoke of was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," or "the kingdom of heaven is near." So what is the kingdom of God? It is any place the King has rule. The word "kingdom" literally means rule or governance. So I have a question: Are there areas in our life where the King of Kings, Jesus, is shut out and not allowed to rule or govern? See, if the King is governing, how can fear, stress, bondage, offense, or judgment? Because those things are not found in the kingdom of God. Freedom is yielding areas of our hearts and lives to the ruling presence of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
True freedom is complete, unhindered, unbroken relationship with Father God, King Jesus, and Holy Spirit. You might say, "I have a great relationship with Jesus. I love Him. He's my Savior. He's my, He's my friend." Great. But what about Father God? What about Holy Spirit? See, they're three in one, and you cannot live the abundant life of the kingdom of God without a personal relationship, an encounter with all three, all three of the Godhead.
A kingdom person has learned and continues to learn to live their lives under the Lordship of God, God's rulership, His management over all of our life. The goal of the kingdom person is to implement the rule of God, not create their own rules along the way of life. God's kingdom has laws, rules, ways, language, culture, and principles and wisdom that is superior to the ways of this world, this culture that we live in.
You and I have been accustomed to a very worldly manner of living. This is why Jesus' message was, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." That word "repent" is the word *metanoeo*. It means to think differently, to reconsider. *Noeo* is to exercise the mind, to observe, to comprehend, to consider, or perceive, to understand. It means you looked at the world one way, but you must have an overall transformation of the way you take in what's going on around you. It's a new filter, if you will.
See, He gave us an example in Nicodemus. In, in Nicodemus, in John 3:3, Nicodemus has an opportunity to sit down and commune with Jesus face to face. And he looks at Jesus and he says, "Jesus, how must, how can I enter the kingdom of God?" And Jesus looks at Nicodemus and He says to him, "Nicodemus, you must be born again." And Nicodemus, thinking with his worldly mindset, looks at Jesus and says, "How can I climb back into my mother's womb?" But that wasn't the kingdom mindset that God wanted Nicodemus to think from, to see from, to perceive from. What He was saying to Nicodemus was, "There's another kingdom, Nicodemus, and you're going to have to think differently than what you've ever thought before."
The same thing we see happen in Luke 24, where His disciples are walking along the road and they're discussing the events of the day. And Jesus comes up and He walks alongside of them and He says, "Hey guys, what are you talking about?" And they begin to unfold, "Are you from another country or something? You don't know what's going on?" And Jesus is right there in their midst, and they don't even see Him. They don't even recognize, they don't even understand that that their Savior, the Messiah, the One they were looking for, the One that they're talking about, is right there with them.
God has a kingdom perspective for our everyday lives that is utterly different than what we tend to perceive. As children of God and citizens now of another kingdom, God gives us the invitation to submit our will to His will, deciding that His rule trumps, His rule trumps our rule, His ways trump our ways. He has the last word. That's Lordship. That's Kingship.
So why did God tell Adam in Genesis 2:16-17 that he could eat of every tree except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And I think one of the reasons He told him that was because every day, Adam and Eve passed by that tree. They were reminded that they were created and not the Creator. That there was a King, and it wasn't Adam or Eve. God had given Adam lots of freedom. Every other tree, every other tree, except God did not want Adam to think that with all his freedom, liberty, and independence, that he could live independent from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. God doesn't want you and I to live independent from the God, from the King of this kingdom.
So freedom only comes when we're submitted to the Lordship and authority of the King of Kings. How many of us have found out that when we choose to do our own thing, make our own rules, our own way in life, we may have gotten to eat the fruit, just like Adam and Eve, but we lost our freedom, just like they did. We may get to eat the forbidden fruit, but we lose the blessing and the benefit that comes from being kingdom, king, from being kingdom people.
So let's talk about the two kingdoms for a moment. See, before you and I knew Jesus Christ, before you and I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives, we were literally from another kingdom. We were from the kingdom of darkness. Scripture says that we thought like the Father, our old Father, that we lived like He, Him, and that we were in bondage and in slavery to all that He, He had planned, all that He thought, all that He was in charge of.
And in this kingdom of darkness, there is a way, a culture, an atmosphere of, of living. And in this kingdom of darkness, there are things like slavery. This kingdom is full of lies and independence. It's full of accusation and condemnation, bitterness and anger, judgment, offense, fear, selfishness, separation and isolation, bondage and darkness. There's, we're full of despair and sadness. There's chaos and hopelessness, cruelty and torment and punishment. There's fear, there's perversion, there's sin and unrighteousness, insecurity, lack, striving, curses. There's a Master in that kingdom, and His whole goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. And in this kingdom, what, what we, what we live out, what we sow to, multiplies, and it's just this cycle that, that gets played out over and over and over again.
It's the same way in the kingdom of God. God has a way. He is, He is a good King, and He has a, a good way of, of living and, and leading us. And in His kingdom, He is about adoption. He is about truth. Dependence. He loves dependence. But in our old nature and in our old way, we look at dependence as something that is, is, it's a bad thing. But in the kingdom of God, dependence is a beautiful thing. He says, "We will not enter the kingdom of God without childlike faith." Well, a child is very dependent.
There's conviction and repentance in God's kingdom. Forgiveness and mercy, grace and love. There's relationship and unity and connectedness. There's freedom and light and joy, peace and, and calm. There's hope and kindness. There's belonging and acceptance, holiness and purity, righteousness. There's security in the kingdom of God. There's rest and blessing, rewards. There's Lordship. There's one, there's but one King in the kingdom of God. There's unity and faith, discipline. And in God's kingdom, He also multiplies, and what we sow to, we reap.
See, when you and I were lost, when we were in bondage to the kingdom of darkness, God's word said that He sent His Son to come and, and die on a cross for us. And in doing so, He transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. In other words, what He, what He's saying is, "You were once a slave, but you're no longer slaves." Now we have the power of choice through the blood of Jesus and through what His sacrifice was for us on the cross.
In our condition before Christ, scripture says that we belong to this other ruler. He rules the kingdom of darkness, and you and I were part of the kingdom and that kingdom and its rule. As a matter of fact, we were slaves in that kingdom. John 8:44 says this: "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desires." John 3:19 says, "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light." And Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
We were hopeless and we were helpless. But God sent His Son to free us from that bondage. Romans 8:3 says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." Romans 8:6-7 says, "The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit of God is life and peace. The sinful mind is hostile to God." But Jesus, but Jesus, Jesus secured our freedom on the cross.
Ephesians 5:8 says, "For you were once darkness." See, it wasn't that we were just part of darkness. God says that before Jesus, before the cross, we were darkness. Everything about us was shrouded and engulfed and encompassed in this kingdom of darkness. We were that darkness. But now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
First Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light." And again, He says in scripture, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons." Full adoption.
And scripture in Psalm 130 says, "In Christ is full redemption." That's not a partial thing. We don't have to live a life of partial anything. God said, "I came to to take back all that the enemy has tried to steal, kill, and destroy. I came so that you could have full liberty and full redemption." He purchased us back and He freed us from all that distress, all that harm.
That word "redemption" means that we were once slaves to a former life, but Christ came to set these slaves and captives free. See, we're slaves because of what others have done, but we become captives when we choose out of our brokenness, out of our sinfulness, to sin and to separate ourselves. But God said, "Through the blood of Jesus, I have dealt with both. I came to set the slaves and the captives free."
How did He do that? He did it through His precious blood. First Peter says this: "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were purchased, but you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you by your forefathers, with the precious blood of Christ." Psalm 130 says, "Put your hope in the Lord, for with the Lord is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption."
We're not just slaves, servants, or subjects in this kingdom of God. We are sons and daughters. But we're not just entitled, spoiled children of God, demanding all that the King has for us. We have a responsibility and destiny as children of God to learn, as Jesus did, the kingdom business of our Father. We must learn to subject ourselves to the teaching of God, to carry out His plans, His purposes for advancing the kingdom. See, the very nature of a kingdom is to be advanced. A King that has a kingdom is always looking and always desiring to to gain more. And God wants us, in light of who we are as children of God, to advance His kingdom to a lost, dying, and dead world, to those that are walking in bondage and freedom that you and I have been set free from. He's asking us, as we go, to advance the kingdom.
There's a quote by Frederick Buechner. It's, he says this: "If we only had eyes to see and ears to hear and wits to understand, we would know that the kingdom of God, in the sense of holiness, goodness, beauty, is as close as breathing and is crying out to be born both within ourselves and within the world. We would know that the kingdom of God is what we all of us hunger for above all other things, even when we don't know its name or realize that it's what we're starving to death for. The kingdom of God is where our best dreams come from, our truest prayers. We glimpse it at the moments when we find ourselves being better than we are and wiser than we know. We catch sight of it when at some moment of crisis, a strength seems to come to us that is greater than our own strength. The kingdom of God is where we belong. It is home. And, and whether we realize it or not, I think we are all homesick for it."
The kingdom of God is a beautiful place, and God desires that we would live out, that we would, we would urge Him to come and bring His kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven. Would you pray with me?
Father, first of all, we just come and we declare, God, that if there is one, God, if there is one that has never placed their trust, that has never given their lives over to the King of this kingdom, God, we ask in the name of Jesus that they would acknowledge their need for Jesus. God, we ask that in this moment, God, that if we don't know You as personal Lord and Savior, that You would come and reveal Yourself.
Father, we declare that that some have received Jesus but have struggled to give up control and allow Him to rule as Lord. And we ask, God, for the grace. We ask for the grace this moment, God, to lay down control. Come, King Jesus, take Your rightful place as Lord and govern our lives.
And Father, right here right now, it is Your desire that we would see our circumstances, that we would see our experiences, God, through the lens of the kingdom of God. That You would give us the grace, God, that no matter what circumstance that we may be struggling with, that we would have a new perception, a new vision, a new, new way of seeing, God, not in the flesh, but by the Spirit of God who leads us into all truth. And we're asking, God, even now, would You search us and know us? Is there a circumstance in our life? Is there a relationship that You would have us see differently than what we've seen?
Father, we ask for the grace. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Father, for some of us, we may need to repent for trying to deal with things ourselves. We may need to repent for an independent spirit, an independence from allowing You to lead us and direct us and guide us. So if that's you, right where you're at, would you tell Jesus that, as best as you can, that it's your desire that His kingdom perspective rule?
Father, we come with grateful hearts and we say thank you. Thank you for Your grace, for Your love, for Your mercy. Thank you, God, for transforming us out of the kingdom of darkness, God, into the kingdom of light. Thank you that it's Your desire, God, that we would partner with You, that we would yield to You, God, and that You would lead us into freedom, into fullness of life, God. Father, we love You. We bless You and we honor You tonight. In Jesus' name, amen.