Lesson Four B:  God's Redemptive Movement

4b.1  At the center of Jesus' preaching and teaching stood the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven.   He spoke more of the Kingdom of Heaven than of Himself.  It was the subject of all His parables.  Yet He never bothered to define it.  He was speaking to Jews who should have known what He meant.  He assumed they did. But we do not.  If we listen to the content of our sermons preached day after day, year after year from our pulpits, we cannot easily escape the impression that we have only a blurred vision or the Kingdom of Heaven or have even lost sight of it altogether.  Yet it was Jesus' vision.  

4b.2  In His parables Jesus stated that the Kingdom of Heaven was like this or like that.  And He gave us many word pictures describing it.  Yet a description remains elusive.  This is because "no eye has seen nor ear heard what God has prepared for them that love Him."   How can heaven itself be described or defined?  And yet Jesus was talking about heaven on earth -- the Kingdom of Heaven.  And He said it had arrived.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (here now)." We must get an idea of what He was talking about.

4b.3  The idea of a Kingdom of Heaven came from the Old Testament.  It meant the rulership of God over His people, Israel.  Where He rules, His power, provision, protection, peace, joy, love, wisdom and might also rule.  His presence takes care of that.  It is heaven on earth.  God had promised the people of Israel that much...

...that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like the days of the heavens above the earth.  Deuteronomy 11:21

4b.4  What would heaven on earth be like?  God would be the ruler.  It would be a government of grace and everything that grace has in it... the forgiveness of sins, acceptance with God, being made worthy, complete peace with God, reconciliation with God, and His presence with us -- resulting in  reconciliation between people, peace in households, working together without conflict, happiness etc.

4b.5  But the "Kingdom of Heaven" is not just the rulership of God over His people.  The Kingdom of Heaven has purpose.  It purposes to extend God's rule to others also.  The kingdom of heaven has always been God's redemptive movement.  If we lose sight of this purpose we lose sight of Jesus' vision.

4b.6 "The Kingdom of Heaven" was Jesus' name for His (God's) redemptive movement. It was to be an ever expanding group of believers powered by God's Holy Spirit and His love. It was a realized kingdom; not future but now - not distant but here - to be experienced through relationship with Christ.  Repentance and faith in Christ, both gifts of God's grace, give us entrance into this kingdom and access to all that is in heaven.  

4b.7 Since it is God's redemptive movement, it is a movement of His grace; forgiving, cleansing, and healing people -- restoring them to fellowship with God, and to fellowship with each other.

4b.8 Since the Kingdom of Heaven - God's Redemptive Movement - is a movement, it is made up of people:  Individuals who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Yet since this movement is made up of many individuals it is a group thing; a family thing; a Body of Christ thing.  The Kingdom of Heaven is at once vertical and then immediately horizontal.  Otherwise it is not the real thing.  We are meant to pray together, worship together, learn together, love each other -  and reach the lost together.  (The best evangelism is corporate evangelism, when a whole church is mobilized to bring salvation to a community.)  Thus it was in the beginning of Jesus' redemptive movement, and ever so it must remain.  Amen!

4b.9 The Kingdom of Heaven is centrifugal. As we align ourselves with God's redemptive purposes we will find ourselves being spun outwards - away from our comfort zones, across social, economic, religious, and educational lines - to reach others. Jesus made it plain.  The Kingdom of Heaven is for the maimed, the crippled, the poor, the blind, the outcast, the wounded, the stranger, and the foreigner.

4b.10 Believers, empowered by the Holy Spirit to accomplish God's redemptive purposes, must be ready to move with God.

"The Kingdom of Heaven is breaking forth, and everybody is breaking forth with it."   Matthew 11:12 paraphrased

Discussion: How can you help establish the Kingdom of Heaven in your home, in your school, in your community, and in your own life?

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