The team is safely back and it has been about a week since we have been home. Last weekend the team got together and went to church in Carmel and fellowshiped over dinner afterwards. We had a wonderful time talking about the trip, the struggles we have had over the week, and the things we miss most about your new home in Africa. I wanted to share with you an amazing discussion and study by our great team leader, Doug. He gave us and led us in this discussion before we headed to the airport on our way home.
Please, take the time, grab a bible and read and look up these passages! I promise it will forever change your opinion on God's purporse for this earth and for your life!! Love you all!!!
Kingdom Lost…Kingdom
Come
Jesus taught his followers to pray…”your kingdom come, your
will be done on earth as it is in heaven!” Matthew
6:9 Luke 11:2
Questions
What are the
characteristics of a “kingdom?” Where Does Jesus want this kingdom?
What are the characteristics of this kingdom?
Why did Jesus teach us this prayer?
Story of the Kingdom Lost
Isaiah 14:11 –17
Ezekiel 28: 11 -19
Luke 10:18
Revelation 12:4
Genesis 1:1b
Genesis 1:2 – 25
Genesis 1:26 – 31
Genesis 3:1 – 13 and 23, 24
Genesis 6:11 - 13
Matthew 21:1 – 5
John 1:1 - 14
Philippians 2:5 – 11
Acts 1:1 – 8
Isaiah 11
Matthew 25
Revelation 22
Kingdom Lost Kingdom Come
A long time ago in a place…I am not sure where…the universe
was in harmony and peace
The King of all things enjoyed the attention and worship of
His/Their created subjects.
And they enjoyed the benefit and pleasures of serving and
worshipping their Creator/King.
However, one of the Kings three most trusted and highest
ranking generals was in turmoil…conflict. A doubt about the King…a seed of
mistrust…a corrupted idea had begun to grow in this general’s thoughts.
Isaiah
14:11- 17 Ezekiel
28::11 – 19
This one who was the “Model of perfection” has now become the
model of rebellion against His King, the creator of the universe.
What
happened? What is his name??
The Creator/King is left with no alternative but to expel the
rebel from His presence. So Lucifer; now called Satan is cast out of heaven and
thrown down to…where? EARTH!!
Luke 10:18
And there were many who chose to follow him because of his
great lies against the Creator/King. They were also thrown down with him.
Revelation
12:4
Now because of this Rebellion the place to which the Master
Rebel had been banished and thrown down – this once beautiful planet called
Earth, which at one time had been filled with all kinds of life, is now plunged
into disorder and chaos and confusion and become void of life.
It has become the abode of the Rebel
Genesis 1:1b
But the Creator/King all things is also the Redeemer/Recreator
of all things as well. He plans to
re-establish His rule and reign in all the parts of the universe where it has
been challenged and lost to the rebellion. And He decides to start in the place
where the rebellion has its headquarters…EARTH
Genesis 1:2
– 25
At the heart of his Redemption plan is a new creation like no
creation ever before. One who was made in image of the Creator who would
re-establish the Creator/Kings presence and rule in the earth. This new created
being would be called mankind…man and woman. At last God’s kingdom, His rule
and influence and joy was being restored again.
Genesis 1:26
– 31
All was well for a time, until the day the Rebel devised a
plan to once again overthrow the Creator/King’s intentions. At a time when the
man and woman were vulnerable, The Rebel came to them and enticed them by
planting the same corrupted idea that had caused his own downfall into their
thoughts. The woman was the first to accept the idea and then the man followed,
leaving the King no alternative but to once again expel from His presence the
rebellious ones.
Genesis 3:1
– 13 and 23, 24
The effect of this second rebellion on the earth was
catastrophic and global. The Corruption of the Rebel permeated the entire
world.
Genesis 6:11 - 13
Of course the Creator/King was broken hearted but He was not
defeated. Even in the defeat of this first attempt to re-establish His rule and
influence, a plan was birthed to invade the Rebel’s dominion and overthrow his
rule. The very Creator/King Himself would enter the Rebel’s kingdom in a
disguise so ingenious that no one would recognize Him. He would enter as one of
those very one’s he had created.
Matthew 21:1
– 5 John 1:1 – 14 Philippians 2:5 – 11
He would do this so that he could teach them the Truth about
the Creator/King and about the original idea of His Kingdom before it had been
corrupted. He would live a life that demonstrated the ideals of this kingdom
and he would confront the forces that preserved and promoted the rebellion.
And, if necessary He would die so that all those who believed in him would
understand the importance of following His ways.
And this is exactly what happened. He died…He gave his life
so that all mankind could escape the ideas and powers of the rebellion and have
the power of the Kingdom to live a life on the earth that would represent the
Creator/King accurately.
Before he died he reminded his followers of something that
had been intended and declared from the beginning. In the beginning God had
purposed mankind to be made in his image and reflection and to go into all the
earth and recreate and populate the earth with His image. Now Jesus commanded
his followers again to “Go into all the earth and make disciples (populate the
earth) by teaching the things he had taught them.
Matthew
28:16
After he died and was raised again to life he sent to them
the Spirit who had empowered him to live out God’s nature in the earth so they
too could live out the same nature and reflection of God’s image.
Acts 1:1 – 8
When He was on the earth, He taught his followers a very
important lesson; a prayer to help his followers remained focused on their
task. A prayer that would invite the Creator/King to live through them in the
same way and for the same reason He lived while He was on the earth. He taught
them to say, “Father in heaven, holy is your name. Let your kingdom come and
let your will be done, on this earth the same way it is in heaven.
Isaiah 11 Matthew 25 Revelation 22
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