“You just had to be there…”
Missing the context of the conversation
That is what this series has been about…
Chapter 1:
The Story You Live In Matters
Chapter 2:
God’s purpose will always win in the end
Chapter 3:
God is a God of Covenants, and He keeps them
Chapter 4:
Grace + Justice = Salvation
Chapter 5:
God wants to be Close
Today, we finish by talking about:
KINGS AND KINGDOMS
The Lion King
Something about this story connects
This story works because of 2 dynamics:
We understand the BLESSING of a GOOD KING
We understand the CURSE of a WICKED KING
This “story” is written on our hearts because
We are CREATED to follow a KING
We understand what a tyrant is
- This is what most “kings” become
The world needed a compassionate, righteous King, one who loved His people so much He was willing to lay down His life for them
To understand this idea of Kings and Kingdoms, we must first put together all the pieces
- The CONTEXT
How we got here:
Adam and Eve
- Traded kingdoms by trusting a lie
Babel
- tried to be mighty in their own eyes
Abraham’s Promise
- A king will come from his line
Israel wants their own king
- “To be just like the other nations…“
- Saul was a good indicator of what’s to come
Terrible Kings
Enslavement to foreign kings
- Exile
But God gives a promise in exile…
Zechariah 9:9
Rejoice greatly, Daughter Zion! Shout in triumph, Daughter Jerusalem! Look, your King is coming to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
Generations pass, and this prophecy seems to be DOA
Beginning of Jesus’ ministry
Claiming…
Matthew 4
17 From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
Jesus did NOT come saying…
- I’m here to die for your sins…
- I’m here to teach you to love one another…
- I’m here for the weak and the outcast…
These things are ONLY true because He is the KING of heaven
Triumphal Entry
John 12
12 The next day, when the large crowd that had come to the festival heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 they took palm branches and went out to meet him. They kept shouting: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord —the King of Israel!”
14 Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written: 15 Do not be afraid, Daughter Zion. Look, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt.
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first. However, when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
The KING of the world came riding on a donkey
- Vulnerable
- Like a lamb being led to slaughter
Palm Sunday is a reminder that:
1: Those shouting Hosanna, we soon shouted “CRUCIFY HIM”
2: Christ is King because he went to the cross
- Did what a righteous king should do
- Bear the weight of those he leads
We worship Him not because he is a TYRANT, but because he is the King our hearts long for
- The life-giving king
Jesus is king of the world…
But you must choose for him to be KING OF YOUR HEART
Colossians 3:15
15 And let the peace of Christ, to which you were also called in one body, rule your hearts. And be thankful.
What are you allowing to rule your hearts?
What often stands in the way of Christ being King of your heart?
Pride
- God opposes the prideful (James 5:6)
Material wants and possessions
- Not bad things, but make terrible kings
Struggles and hardships
- It can make your world small or your back strong
Lack of faith and trust in God
- Run from the source of life
God’s kingdom brings PEACE in your heart and life
Jesus the King will ride in again one day to fully defeat Evil and death
Revelation 19
11 Then I saw heaven opened, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a fiery flame, and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. 14 The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses, wearing pure white linen. 15 A sharp sword came from his mouth, so that he might strike the nations with it. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will also trample the winepress of the fierce anger of God, the Almighty. 16 And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh: King of Kings and Lord of Lords.