KINGDOM COMING (1): THE BIG PICTURE

(Luke 17:20-21)
Date: July 24, 2016
Intro Before getting bogged down in the Vietnam War, LBJs dream was to
create the Great Society. He devoted massive amounts of money to cure
social ills. Bob Hope informed LBJ of the consequences. He said, When we
get the Great Society therell be no more pain, no tension, no headaches, no
stomach acid and no tired blood. It may be good for the country, but its
gonna take all the fun out of commercials! Commercials aside, wed love to
see that world. And its coming. Not from any president, but from God.
Trouble is we want it now! Jesus message was, Repent, for the kingdom of
God is at hand. Great message. But 1st century Jews wanted it now, too! And
after three years of preaching, no one was seeing any kingdom. So, Luke
introduces this section with a cryptic statement: 20 Being asked by the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them. Given
the antagonism of the Pharisees, this question reeked with sarcasm: Hey,
Jesus. Youve been talking kingdom for almost 3 years. So where is it? Put
up or shut up! It was another challenge from a hostile peanut gallery. But
Jesus used the opportunity to provide some clarification for both the Pharisees
(v. 20) as well as His own disciples (v. 22). There was confusion all around.
Now, to aid our own understanding, I want to start with the big picture.
Kingdom implies rulership. And there are two senses in which God rules. The
second is the one we normally think of when we hear kingdom of God or
kingdom of heaven. But that kingdom is embraced by a bigger picture.
I.

Universal Kingdom of God

. Its Breadth The universal kingdom speaks of the fact that God was, is and
always will be in complete charge of everything. Despite appearances, Hes
never lost control, never been perplexed, never been anxious or undecided.
This is the rock-solid foundation of Reality! Ground Zero -- God rules! Thats
why the most basic instruction in the Bible is, The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom (Prov 1:7). It doesnt get any more basic than that.
Verses abound: Psa 24: 1) The earth is the LORDs and the fullness thereof, the
world and those who dwell therein. All His. Psa 47: 2) For the LORD, the
Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth. Isa 40: 22) It is he
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who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;
who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to
dwell in; 23) who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as
emptiness. Complete control. Isa 46 9) for I am God, and there is no other; I
am God, and there is none like me, 10) declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose, I Chron 29 11): David prays, Yours is
the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. 12) Both riches
and honor come from you, and you rule over all. Psa 10: 16) The LORD is king
forever and ever; the nations perish from his land. Psa 103 19) The LORD has
established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Got the
picture? Youll never understand God if you dont get this. Gods rulership is
absolute; steadfast and sure. This is the bedrock of the Christian faith. God
was, is and always will be in complete control. BUT it sure doesnt look that
way much of the time, right? Why?

. Its Breach Because theres been a breach in Gods rulership. Why? Because
God created. And he created beings who could love. True love requires the
ability to choose or not choose, right? So Gods highest created beings
angels and men were created with ability to choose. That meant that from
the beginning there was the possibility of rebellion. And eventually it came
first in the angelic realm with the defection of Satan and later in the realm
of men with the fall of Adam and Eve. That raises a couple of questions.
Could not God have dealt with the rebellion by immediately destroying the
rebels? Of course. That is well within the abilities of an omnipotent God. Yet
He did not do that which raises a second question.
Was God taken by surprise when this happened? Absolutely not. He knew. We
know this because He already had a rescue plan in mind before the
foundation of the world according to I Pet 1:19-21. God knew full well the
brokenness that would result from the breach of His rulership and He created
the universe anyway. He allows the forces of rebellion to play themselves out
against His far greater wisdom and sovereignty, to achieve the glory that will
come to Him by those who will use their gift of choice to choose for Him in
the midst of the brokenness. To love and obey God in the midst of broken
surroundings is one of the most glorious acts of worship in the universe.
But with the breach, intimacy with God, like Adam and Eve had pre-fall, is no
longer possible. If broken people are to have a relationship with a holy God,
mediation is required. We have lost forever the possibility of coming to the
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Father without help. Someone to represent us to God and God to us to

bridge the gulf we cannot bridge. He is holy; we are sinful, broken. And so,
beneath the overarching umbrella of the Universal kingdom of God which we
cannot enter in our broken state, there must be another kingdom a
mediatorial kingdom where entrance is bought and paid for by a worthy
sacrifice who can bring us back into fellowship with a God that we have
deserted. Thats the kingdom that is most often referenced in the Bible the
kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven. Thats the kingdom the Pharisees were
asking about.
II.

Mediated Kingdom of God

. Prophesied The mediated kingdom of God is prophesied in many, many

ways throughout the OT starting in Gen 3 at the time of the Fall. All the
elements are there. Direct access to God is cut off, exemplified by Adam and
Eve being cast from Eden. However, God immediately promises a redeemer
a seed of the woman who will eventually win victory over Satan a mediator
to restore access. Payment for sin as the cost of access is symbolized by God
removing mans attempt to cover himself with fig leaves and replacing them
with the skins of a bloody animal sacrifice. The principle of access to God
mediated by a sacrificial payment for sin is established.
This theme continues with the patriarchs who always approach God on the
basis of sacrifice. The system is formalized with the release from Egyptian
captivity, the giving of the Law, and the establishment of the sacrificial system
of the tabernacle/temple all depicting access mediated by a blood sacrifice.
Moses is a model mediator representing God to people and people to God.
Other prophets serve the same function. But it is always clear that the
ineffective animal sacrifices are pointing forward to some ultimate sacrifice
and all personal mediators prefigure some ultimate mediator an anointed
One a Messiah who will bring God to the people and the people to God.
The idea of kingship is added in Gen 49:10 where Jacob in blessing his
children near the time of his death predicts, 10 The scepter shall not depart
from Judah, nor the rulers staff from between his feet. So a king is coming
thru the line of Judah. This promise reaches its apex in David who extends the
kingdom and receives his own covenant in II Sam 7 (& Psa 89) promising a
greater Son who will rule on his throne forever. Even when the people go into
captivity in Babylon because of persistent idolatry, Daniel 9 prophesies a Son
of Man who will have everlasting dominion. Thus a kingdom ruled by a
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Mediator-King is depicted in a thousand ways in both word and deed

throughout the OT. The hopes of 1st century Jews after 600 years of foreign
domination rested on this Messiah who would throw out the hated Romans
and establish His kingdom. But their expectations were misguided.

. Partitioned Jesus response addresses that problem. And His answer

indicates the kingdom has two compartments. The crowd has caught on that
this journey to Jerusalem is no ordinary pilgrimage. The expectations of the
apostles are riding high that Jesus is going to set up a political kingdom then
and there. Others share that hope. After all, He has been preaching, The
kingdom of God is at hand. Surely this will be the time. The Pharisees dont
believe in Jesus at all, but they know Hes been preaching kingdom and they
know the expectations, so their question is intended to get Jesus on record,
Yes, its happening now. Were on our way.
What they get is something completely unexpected. Mid v. 20: The kingdom
of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, Look,
here it is! or There! This comment would have been surprising to the
Pharisees and unnerving to the disciples. Both groups expected clear signs to
precede the kingdom. But thats because they focused only on what they
wanted and built false expectations. They grossly oversimplified.
What they should have understood is that the kingdom of God is multidimensional. It has a physical component very like their expectations.
Multiple prophecies attest to that. But it also has a spiritual component that
they were overlooking entirely. For example, Jeremiah had spoken of a new
covenant in 31: 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I
will write it on their hearts. . . . mid 34 For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will
remember their sin no more. That forgiveness required the ultimate
sacrifice and so in addition to the coming King of II Sam 7 and Dan 7,
Isaiah 53 spoke of a suffering Messiah: Surely he has borne our griefs and
carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and
afflicted. 5) But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our
iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his
wounds we are healed. 6) All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned
every oneto his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us
all. This spiritual dimension of the kingdom escaped their notice, tho Jesus
had been telling them all along. They couldnt put it together.
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His message had not simply been, The kingdom of heaven is at hand, but
Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That implied a spiritual
commitment prior to a political rulership. So Jesus reminds them here, The
kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they
say, Look, here it is! or There! The kingdom starts with cleansed hearts
resulting from a genuine repentance. You cant be part of the political
kingdom if youre not part of the spiritual kingdom. The kingdom starts in
the heart. It isnt coming in ways that can be observed. Why? Because it
builds from the inside out! And the forgiveness required must be paid for.
Thats what this trip to Jerusalem is all about.
Does that mean no political kingdom? No. Immediately after telling the whole
crowd, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed
Jesus turns to His disciples and says, 24 For as the lightning flashes and lights
up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day.
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But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. It
sounds like a contradiction, doesnt it? The kingdom cant be seen the
kingdom will be like flashing lightning that no one can miss! Sounds
contradictory. But not when you see the kingdom is multi-dimensional, both
spiritual and physical. And the spiritual dimension has already started! Thats
why Jesus says to Pilate in Jn 18:36, My kingdom is not of this world. It is
other-worldly. Its spiritual. It starts with heaven taking residence in hearts.
The rest will come just later! All the kingdom promises of the OT will be
fulfilled just not all at the same time! The kingdom is already but not yet.
The spiritual dimension has been underway since Jesus made final payment
for sin. The physical dimension awaits the moment the Father says, Enough.
Its time. The first dimension was ushered in by the first coming of Christ;
the second dimension will be ushered in at His second coming in power and
glory. Cant wait, can you? But you will never understand the kingdom until
you get the two dimensions. And you cannot be part of the physical unless you
are part of the spiritual. Repentance is the key. Thats what Jesus had been
saying all along, and it is what He is still saying today.

. Personalized Now, Jesus makes one more powerful statement. 21 the

kingdom of God is in the midst of you. Jesus knew that the Pharisees were
always looking for signs. So here Hes telling them,You guys are looking
right past it. Your refusal to see the spiritual dimension of the kingdom has
caused you to miss it all. You want a sign? Heres a sign for you the King
is here! Im right here in the midst of you. The King is here. Hows that for
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a sign? Jesus has personalized the kingdom. In looking at Him, they were
eyeball-to-eyeball with the kingdom they desperately wanted.
In essence in this comment Jesus was saying, The seed of the woman in Gen
3:15? Thats me. The Lamb that God would provide in Gen 22? Thats me.
The Lion of the tribe of Judah from Gen 49? Thats me. That ultimate
Passover lamb of Exod 12:27? Thats me. The perfect fulfillment of Moses
Law? Thats me. The scapegoat of the Day of Atonement? Thats me. The
greater prophet than Moses of Deut 18? Thats me. Davids greater Son?
Thats me. The Son of Man of Daniel 9? Thats me. The suffering Messiah
of Psa 22 and Isa 53? Thats me. The greater than Solomon? Thats me.
The new temple? Thats me. The Son of God of Psalm 2 who will rule and
reign forever? Thats me. The kingdom is here, Folks, because the King is
here and you missed it all because I didnt fit your mold.
The had grossly oversimplified. They couldnt grasp the Lion was also the
Lamb. The King would also be the sacrifice; that the reigning Messiah
would also be the suffering Messiah; that the Son of Man would also be the
Son of God that He would be prophet, priest and King in one person. The
apostles got it later. John said of His prophetic ministry, 18 No one has ever
seen God; the only God, who is at the Fathers side, he has made him known
(John 1:18). His whole life had been the ultimate revelation of God and they
had rejected it. Of His priestly ministry Heb 9:26 says, he has appeared once
for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And
Heb 7:25 tells us: Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those
who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession
for them. Thats what He was on His way to Jerusalem to do to make final
payment for sin so He could save to the uttermost those who would draw near
to Him. Have you been saved to the uttermost? The Pharisees never were
because they only wanted a King. They were not interested in Jesus as prophet
and priest. Thus they missed the whole thing.
Conc So this passage is teaching us that the mediatorial kingdom of God is
already but not yet. Already He has made atonement for sin once-for-all.
Already we can enter the kingdom by repentance. More will come but you
have to enter now. Are you in? The only way is thru Him. He is the only
mediator. As the God-man, He is the one and only mediator to provide the
access we have lost. Paul says in I Tim 2:5, For there is one God, and there
is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. Thats why
Jesus says in Jn 17:3, And this is eternal life, that they know you the only
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true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Theres only one way to
access the Father only one entrance to the kingdom to have Jesus Christ.
Do you have Him? It was all about Jesus then. Its all about Jesus now.
Dr. David Seamands tells of a Muslim who became a Christian in Africa.
"Some of his friends asked him, Why have you become a Christian? He
answered, Well, its like this. Suppose you were going down the road and
suddenly the road forked in two directions, and you didnt know which way
to go. And there at the fork in the road were two men, one dead and one
alive--which one would you ask which way to go?" Jesus is one living
mediator between God and man. Which way are you going? Lets pray.