The Reign Of God

Daniel Kim

The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted 7 years ago

Mark 1:14–20

0 ratings

· 13 views

Notes

Transcript

Handout

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Introduction

After the 40 days of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus came back to Galilee, his hometown. There he heard a really sad and tragic news. He heard that his beloved cousin John the Baptist was arrested by King Herald, who was the puppet king of Judea.

When he heard this tragic news, he knew that it was God’s call for him to began his public ministry. So he goes out to Galilee region and starts to preaching with these words.

English Standard Version Chapter 1

14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The first sermon of Jesus holds a significant importance in understanding Jesus and his ministry because after all this is his first message to the world.

His first sermon manifests the purpose of his coming.

So, we’ll spend time to understand the message.

The Kingdom of God

What is it?

What we can learn from the four gospels, especially Mark, is that the KOG is not associated with geographical area over which a king reigns. But it describes an activity: God’s reign over his people and his world.

In other words, the KOG is not intended to be found in a geographical location, but wherever God is present and exercising his authority and reign.

Example: even though your family may not have a Cross or Jesus Flag on the roof, it’s still a kingdom of God if you and your parents are being led by God’s Word and His Spirit.

Why is the coming of God’s kingdom good news?

Since the OT days, the Israelites have long waited for God to come to them in person one day and rule.

God promised them that he sent a King to rule over them.

And now, Jesus is saying that the glorious day of God’s ruling and reign had finally come because He came into the world.

This was a good news because the King who deliver us from the reign of sin and evil.

[FCF] This world fell under the power of sin since the time of Adam, and therefore, we all live in brokenness and pain.

Now that the king of peace and had come people could rejoice.

Illustration: Steve Jobs.

I’m sure you all heard about Steve Jobs. We all remember him as someone who led Apple from the beginning until he passed away. But that’s not true. There were years when he was away from Apple because he got fired from the company for taking too many risky decisions.

That’s when he came out from Apple and started a Computer Animation company called Pixar. Pixar experienced a dramatic growth while Apple was going down in sales so rapidly. Apple simply couldn’t lead the industry anymore without Job’s leadership. The company was losing profit from all sides and it was shrinking unimaginably.

So in order to save the company, they rehired Steve Job again in 1997. He came in and got rid of all programs and department that seemed unnecessary for his vision. Then he brought things back in order and started leading the company with his innovative leadership. And the rest is history as we know. Apple became one of the top cellphone and computer companies in the world.

One man’s leadership saved a dying company into a glorious success, likewise our salvation depends on the King. When he comes into our broken lives we come to experience restoration and healing.

The Demands of The Kingdom

Then how can we live in the KOG? How can experience the reign of God in our lives?

We see that Jesus requires two things from us to live in the KOG:

Repentance and Faith

English Standard Version Chapter 1

15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

What does it mean to repentant?

Repentance is to turn away from your sinful lifestyle, and in the light of God’s presence live in a way that will please Him.

Repent! turn away from your sinful lifestyle, and in the light of my presence live in a way that will please God. Abandon your old self-centered manner of life, and live the new life of a royal subject.

Definition of sin:

We are committing sin when we are pretending to be God.

When we say, “I am the ruler of my life and I will live for my own glory and fame,” we are pretending to be God.

Only God can say that he is the ruler and receive glory.

So when you say, “I will no longer live for myself, but live for my God and King” then you are repenting.

It needs to happen not only mentally, but also emotionally and spiritually.

Ready to give up your old lifestyle that purely sought for your own glory alone?

You need to deeply realize from the bottom of your heart that you’ve rebellious against the king.

When I came to realize this for the first time, I cried like a baby. Because I realized that all these years, God’s been so good to me but only thing I’ve done was to defy him.

What does it mean to believe?

Jesus doesn’t say we should just regret for our sins, but believe in Him.

Here believe means to trust and follow.

Illustration: Let’s think about the story of Prodigal Son.

You know how he repented his sins and came to the father’s house, right?

But can you really say that he repented if he continue to live like a prodigal after coming back to the father’s house?

Trust and follow

His repentance would be true , only if he trust in his father and follow his ways.