I'm going to start by asking you to remember one of the themes we brought up very early on in this series, the theme of the kingdom rule. When God created the world, he set Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and told Adam to oversee it. Genesis 2.15 says it was to dress and keep it, or to tend and guard it, is what that means. Prior to that, in Genesis 1.26, God said humanity was to have dominion over the fish, and fowl, and cattle, and the earth, and everything on it. Dominion is a word that means to rule and reign. And then similar terms continued to be used. For example, in Genesis 128, God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth, and subdue it, to subjugate it, to put it under authority. So the job of Adam and Eve and their descendants was to live under the authority of God and to extend that divine authority to the ends of creation. Of course, what we've seen is that Adam and Eve failed. They were to administrate the authority of God over all the earth, but they rebelled. The result is a world that is in chaos. There's sin and all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases. A world far different from when it was created. Now when we think about kingdom in the New Testament, we're tempted to just look back at the kingdom of Israel in the Old Testament and think in those terms. And it's not that we're wrong to do that. The ultimate fulfillment of God's kingdom is going to have a son of David who's sitting on the throne of David and ruling as king. But if we keep looking back beyond that kingdom of Israel, all the way to the garden, we'll have a better understanding of the kingdom as it was originally created. The kingdom is humanity living under the authority of God and extending that rule over all creation. Now, unfortunately, the nation of Israel in the day of Jesus was just as short-sighted as we are. It's hard to blame them in some ways. They're living under Roman rule. They desperately wanted liberty from Rome and a kingdom of God that was going to free them from oppression. Generally speaking, They thought that could only happen in two ways. The first way was if they expanded the kingdom of God by convincing Gentiles to become Jews. Now, we don't usually think of that one, but we see in Matthew 23, 15, Jesus said the scribes and the Pharisees would go far over sea and land to make one proselyte, one Gentile, commit to becoming Jewish. But that didn't expand God's kingdom, and certainly it wasn't good for that Gentile, as Jesus said in the process, you make him twice the child of hell as yourselves. The second way they thought to expand the kingdom was through force. They awaited a mighty military messiah, the coming son of David who would overthrow the rule of Rome and establish the kingdom of Israel forever. So, it's into that mindset that Jesus begins his ministries. They're awaiting a mighty king to raise an army and overthrow Rome. Jesus begins a ministry where he is doing something very different. Now, in one way, he was behaving very much as a king. He starts walking around everywhere like he owns the place. He does, by the way. He confronts social and religious hypocrisy. He walks up to people and commands them, you follow me. And they do it. And he does these things that way, not because he's uninterested in the idea of establishing the kingdom of God. Because when Jesus comes, the kingdom of God is what he talked about more than anything else. It was the very heartbeat of his message. It was just different. than the way people expected. Look at Matthew 4.23. Jesus went about Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. So the good news, the gospel of the kingdom of God was the theme of Jesus' teaching and preaching. Now, one thing that does tell us is that his concept of the kingdom was going to require some explanation. They wouldn't understand it because it was different than they expected. And so it required some teaching and preaching. But in the process, he also proved that he has the authority and ability to install this kingdom. by reversing the very curses that were brought on by humanity's rebellion. He's, according to that verse, forgiving sin and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of diseases. So this kingdom is about setting the whole world right again. And so it doesn't start with the message, hey, you need to go get your sword. It begins with the message, you need to have a change of heart. John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus with his message in Matthew 3.2, he went about saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And when Jesus began teaching, his message was, Matthew 4.17, from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent, literally, it means change your mind. You need to have a change of mind about sin. And immediately following Matthew 4 is the Sermon on the Mount in chapters 5 through 7. Jesus gets into the areas of sin in everyone's heart. He confronts our anger and our lust and our hypocrisy and our self-righteousness. Making it clear a radical change has to take place. You have to repent and trust Jesus. You need to experience a new birth. in order to enter the kingdom. He even tells the Pharisee Nicodemus, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This is so different from what was expected. It was hard for people to understand, and thus Jesus continued teaching and preaching about the kingdom. And so it's hard for us to understand, too. We want to nail down some simple-to-grasp, easy-to-explain concept of the kingdom, but frankly, Jesus does not give that to us. Instead, the simplest description may be what a theologian named George Latt popularized by describing the kingdom as Already and not yet. So that is it's already genuinely here, but it is not yet fully come Trust me. I I understand how strange that sounds You know today I'm expecting a delivery from Amazon it's just a part for our oven but If my wife asks me, is it here, and I say, yes, it has arrived, but it's not here yet, she would think there's something desperately wrong with me. That's just not the way we tend to think. But if we pay attention to this unfolding story of Scripture, God's grand plan of redemption, as so many themes are slowly disclosed through Scripture, why would it surprise us to see the idea of a slowly developing kingdom? Maybe it's going to help us to think of the kingdom in these three aspects. First, the kingdom is present wherever the king is present. Jesus is king and ruler of all. So when he enters the world and begins his ministry, and we see him asserting his ownership and authority over everything, both the message of Jesus and John were true. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is right here. Secondly, all true believers are part of the kingdom. Now, don't mistake that with universal church theology. The kingdom is different than the church. But when we're saved, Philippians 3.20 says we're given citizenship in heaven, and Colossians 1.13 says we're translated into the kingdom of God's dear son. Jesus even spoke of this in present tense when he said in the Beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. That's present tense. The third aspect of the kingdom is that the fullest sense of the kingdom is yet future. In the model prayer, Jesus tells us to pray for this future fullness by asking, Thy kingdom come. And then, I think, explaining what that means. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Revelation 11, 15 tells us when this full kingdom happens, there's going to be great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ. and he shall reign forever and ever. So it's a real kingdom. Jesus is the one true king. Every believer is a citizen of that kingdom, living in this world still as strangers and pilgrims, ambassadors, awaiting the day King Jesus returns in glory to set all the world right. Now, as we noted in Genesis, he's going to set humanity back to living under the authority of God and extending that rule over all creation. So to correct the errors in thinking and to teach people about his kingdom, Jesus taught in many parables, a great number of parables Jesus taught, were explanations of the kingdom. He compared the kingdom to wheat and tares, or we could say believers and unbelievers, or citizens and rebels. Those wheat and tares, they grew together until the time of harvest. He said it was like a priceless pearl to be treasured above all other possessions. It's like buried treasure unseen by many but worth giving up everything in your life to obtain it. He described it as yeast in bread dough that's permeating and expanding and growing slowly. Also compared it to a small mustard seed growing into a big tree, expanding and getting bigger, but not yet at everything that it would become. All of those who are born again, who repent of their sins and trust Jesus as their Savior, they're part of this kingdom. They've heard the truth of the gospel, the good news, of the kingdom and devote themselves as followers and loyal subjects of King Jesus and citizens of the heavenly kingdom to come. Listen as Jesus explained this to Roman governor Pontius Pilate. The religious leaders had told Pilate that Jesus claimed to be king instead of Caesar, but that was foolish. Jesus didn't come to claim the kingdom of Rome. He came for much more than that. So listen as Jesus explains it in John 18. Verses 36 and 37. Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest I am a king. That is, you're saying right, I am king. Thou sayest I am king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Everyone that is of the truth hears my voice. Jesus doesn't deny his kingship. He simply says his kingdom is a kingdom of truth, a kingdom that is from heaven. It is not like the Roman Empire or even the Jewish expectations. It's not a kingdom that expands through use of force. His servants don't fight. His servants follow his example of bearing witness to the truth. And so we're awaiting a day when King Jesus returns to earth and establishes the ultimate fulfillment of that kingdom. Just as He taught us to pray, Thy kingdom come, we wait for it. But we're also citizens and servants of that kingdom already. Do you know the truth? Do you know to whom dominion and rule over the world truly belongs? As we await for His coming, Jesus told His church in Matthew 28, All power is given to me in heaven and in earth. All authority and ability is His because He truly is King Jesus. And how is that authority and ability to be used among His servants? Go and make disciples of all nations, baptize them, teach them everything that I've commanded you. Preach the gospel so that the slowly growing, ever-expanding kingdom continues to develop, bringing lost humanity to the truth. so that they live under the authority of God and extend the gospel of the kingdom over all creation.