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The Hope of the Kingdom of God Part 1, The Kingdom is not Yet Sunday, February
21
. . .
The OT and Judaism looked forward to a single day-the Day of the Lord-when God would act to establish His reign
on the earth.
With the coming of Jesus, the time line changes. The time between the resurrection and the parousia [paa roo see'
uh] is a time of the overlapping of the two ages. Believers live "between the times." The old age goes
on, but the powers of the new age have erupted into the old age and invaded the old age in the person of Jesus
Christ.
God's will is done in heaven; His Kingdom brings
it to earth. In the Age to Come, heaven descends to earth and lifts historical existence to a new level of redeemed
life (Revelation 21.2, 3). Those who "attain
to that age" cannot die any more. They are sons of the resurrection. (Luke 20.35, 36) The will of God is to
conquer evil and to bring His people finally into the blessed immortality of the eternal life of the Age to Come.
Life as we know it will be different. The family will be those who have done the will of God, hearing and doing
what Jesus says. Believing in Jesus. Believing Jesus.
In the OT God was acting in kingly power, but in some real sense God's Kingdom came into history in the Incarnation
of Jesus Christ, in Jesus, His person and mission.
The faith of believers expresses its hope in terms
of the KOG. This biblical hope is not like the
dreams of Greek poets or those of philosophers who hope and dream of some utopia. This hope is rooted in the OT
and grounded in the confidence that there is one eternal, living God who has revealed Himself to humans and who
has a purpose for the human race which He has chosen to accomplish through the fulfillment of His Covenant promises.
The hope of the KOG is an essential element in the revealed will and the redemptive work of the living God.... |
Live Recordings
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Go to mcmtffr.org or
marycraig.podbean.com to listen to all of the recorded teaching from MCM.
Salvation in a Sentence
- By grace (Ephesians 2.8, 9; Titus 3.5; Romans 6.23)
- you see your true condition; (Romans 3.23; Proverbs 14.12)
- understand the nature of God (1 John 1:1-5; 1 John 4.8-10; Isaiah 6.3; Exodus 34.7; Psalm 89.23)
- and who Jesus is and what He did; (John 1.1,14; John 3.16; Isaiah 53; Acts 2.36; Romans .8-11)
- perceive the need to repent of sin, believe in Jesus and His word that
He died to pay the penalty for your sin and rose from the dead; (1 Corinthians 15.3, 4; John 5.39,40)
- receive Him as Savior, Lord, and Master, (John 1.12; Luke 16.13; Acts 4.12; 1 John 5.11-13)
- to follow Him in full trust, reliance, and confidence (Luke 12.31, 32)
- and receive the free gift of eternal life (John 6.47; John 17.3; 1 John 5.10-13).
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