Sightings of the Kingdom (Luke 1-17)

[Josh]

Sightings of the Kingdom
Part I (Luke 1-17)

One of the central components of the Gospels is a description of what the Kingdom of God looks like. In the truest sense of the word, Christ’s Church is the Kingdom of God. Often God’s people fail to be the Kingdom of God. Still, God loves His Church and continues to give us the strength to live the Kingdom of God in reality. Perhaps you have had some sightings of the Kingdom of God? You know when you you’re seeing it—and you know when you are living it—when it looks something like this:

1.The citizens of the Kingdom are not just people of your own race, class, social standing, gender, marital status, age, or any other demographic: they are everyone who decides to follow Jesus (Luke 4:23-27, 7:1-10)

2.The citizens of the Kingdom are sinners being transformed into Christ’s likeness, not the self-righteous (Luke 5:27-31)

3.The citizens of the Kingdom are concerned for the psychological, physical, and spiritual needs of everyone around them (Luke 4:31-44, 5:12-26, 7:11-17, Luke 10:25-37, etc)

4.The citizens of the Kingdom are able to forgive and be forgiven (Luke 7:36-50, 11:4)

5.The citizens of the Kingdom see blessing in the midst of poverty, hunger, sorrow, opposition, and rejection (Luke 6:20-23)

6.The citizens of the Kingdom are wary of riches, comfort, and praise (Luke 6:24-26, 12:13-21)

7.The citizens of the Kingdom love their enemies (Luke 6:27-36)

8.The citizens of the Kingdom are not hypocrites and do not pass hypocritical judgment on others (Luke 6:37-42, 11:39-52)

9.The citizens of the Kingdom not only hear the word, they obey it (Luke 8:1-15, 11:28, 13:6-9)

10.The citizens of the Kingdom place their allegiance to Christ higher than any other human duty, social custom, bond, responsibility, or desire (Luke 8:21, 9:59-62, 13:10-17, 14:25-27)

11.The citizens of the Kingdom willfully exercise faith in uncertain circumstances (Luke 8:22-25, 9:10-17, 9:57-58, Luke 12:6-7, 12:22-34)

12.The citizens of the Kingdom are willing to face their spiritual enemies in battle (Luke 9:1-2, 10:17)

13.The citizens of the Kingdom strategically and fearlessly spread the word about Jesus (Luke 9:1-9, Luke 10-16, Luke 12:8-12)

14.The citizens of the Kingdom lose their lives to find them; they take up their cross daily (Luke 9:23-27)

15.The citizens of the Kingdom are like children who don’t care who is the greatest (Luke 9:48)

16.The citizens of the Kingdom put relationship with Jesus over duties and responsibilities (Luke 10:41-42)

17.The citizens of the Kingdom are persistent in prayer (Luke 11:1-13)

18.The citizens are the Kingdom are ready for Christ to show up (Luke 12:35-48)

19.The citizens of the Kingdom know that God’s biggest works almost always start small and seemingly foolish (Luke 13:18-21)

20.The citizens of the Kingdom don’t show favoritism (Luke 14:7-14)

21.The citizens of the Kingdom know that following Jesus will be costly (Luke 14:28-35)

22.The citizens of the Kingdom will go out of their way for even one lost person and always rejoice when they are found (Luke 15:1-32)

23.The citizens of the Kingdom see their wealth as merely a means to build the Kingdom (Luke 16:1-15)

Questions:

Which of these snapshots of the Kingdom brings you the most joy?

Which of these do you find the most challenging?


More to come as we continue in our study of the book of Luke…

[christopher]

Thanks for that list. I'm saving that one.

[Josh]

Andy and I were talking tonight about our discussion on this last Sunday.

It kind of boiled down to a realization that to be a disciple of Jesus means that this isn't in your mind a list of options that you can choose which ones you want to invest in or how much. Being a disciple means surrendering your right to pick and choose and letting Jesus dictate to us what being a follower in His image is.

Also, even our failing attempts toward these ideals are better than running away from them. Andy brought up how in all our actions we are either choosing intimacy or isolation. Intimacy with Christ and others or isolation from God and everything good around us. The original sin was a temptation toward isolation- setting up on our own with our own rules and a stubborn self-reliance. The Gospel of the Kingdom, on the other hand, is a road-map toward intimacy with God the Father through His son and intimacy with others as well.