Sermon Cloud

The King, his Kingdom and...his People!
Introduction

In a scene from The Life of Brian, members of the Judean Liberation Army are planning to capture Pilate's wife. As they plot, they remind themselves of the reasons for this act of treason, asking what have the Romans ever given us?
The list grows longer and longer until the finale: "All right. But apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health... What have the Romans ever done for us?"
"Brought peace?"

As impressive as that list is of what the Romans had given them, the Judean Liberation Army left out something out: the word Gospel!
Mark uses it in his opening verse.
It was the term used to refer to a significant announcement that had an impact on the entire Roman world, such as the rise to power of a new emperor.
An inscription has been found dating back before 1st century saying - "The beginning of the gospel of Cesar Augustus", and it describes his birth, life, victories and achievements.
The word ‘gospel' is news about a world-changing, history-making, life-defining event. It was an announcement of an historical event that introduced a new situation for the world.
By using this one simple word, Mark is saying something of supreme significance has happened that brings in a whole new order for the entire world.
What is it?

According to Mark, the good news is not simply news about an event, but the arrival of a person. As far as Mark is concerned, in Jesus something has happened that is world-changing, history-making and life-defining.
What he is about to write is not just good news that concerns someone called Jesus: he is the good news!
Mark is about Jesus. In its simplest terms, this book is simply a book about Jesus.
And it's not only about something that has happened in the past, but the arrival of someone that has profound implications for the future.

The first verse functions as a sort of heading to the entire book. It's Mark's way of saying: everything you read in the following pages is good news, or gospel.
And it's all about Jesus.

The King and his Kingdom
In order to why Mark sees Jesus as so world-changing, history-making and life-defining, we need to read on in his introduction (the technical term is prologue!).
o (1) The Lord...vv. 2-3
The first thing Mark does is quote from the Old Testament, and he merges a couple of quotes from Isaiah and Malachi.
According to Mark, they were both speaking about, and drawing attention to the same person. The point Mark is making is that John the Baptist was a forerunner, a herald who is sent on ahead to announce the arrival of some visiting dignity.
And whose arrival does he announce? Who are his preparations for?
The Lord (v.3); God to the rest of us!
John comes to prepare the way and announce the arrival of God himself. And who does it turn out to be? Jesus!
The one who would come to liberate the captives and lead the people of God through the wilderness and back into the Promised Land turns out to be Jesus.

o (2) The Spirit baptiser...vv.4-8
John the Baptist acknowledges the importance of his role, but is eager to turn the people who come to him towards another. He does it by raising the stakes: "What I do in baptising you with water is important, but I'm preparing for, and announcing the arrival of someone who will baptise you in the Holy Spirit".
To appreciate the significance of this, we need to turn to the OT once more: "I will pour out water on the thirsty and steams on the dry ground. I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring. And my blessing on your descendants." (Is 44 v.3)
Who is the one making this promise? The Lord! God himself. And John points us to Jesus, and says it is Jesus who will keep those promises.
A new era has dawned; the day of God's blessing has arrived; now is the time when God keeps his promises!

o (3) The Son of God...vv.9-11
Jesus is baptised. Not as an act of repentance for the forgiveness of sins but as an act of identification and obedience.
He was getting in among the people, the sinners, and saying I'm with you. I'm right here among you.
The baptism of Jesus points to the cross as the supreme event in which Jesus identified with sinners.
By being baptised, Jesus was accepting that mission. As a response, the heaven's open, the Spirit descends and a voice speaks: You are my Son!
Once again, Mark is echoing the OT, where God chooses Israel as his Special People. God had great plans for them, and he called the nation his ‘Son' (Ex. 4 v.22; Hos. 11 v.1).
But it is here in the Jordan, that we find the One who would take all of those dreams, all of those promises, all of those great big expansive hopes and ambitions for the world and turn them into reality.

o (4) The Faithful Son of God...vv.12-13
This is driven home by this next incident. Just as Israel was in the wilderness, that is where Jesus was ‘sent'.
The wilderness time for Israel was a time of failure and judgement. As a nation they refused to trust God, and rebelled against him and suffered the consequences.
The wilderness time for Jesus was an opportunity to prove God, and demonstrate his faithfulness to his Father.
In other words, Israel the son was unfaithful.
Jesus the true was faithful.
How do we know? You'll have to read the rest of the book!

o (5) The Usher...vv.14
Jesus is the one who brings in the kingdom of God.
Because of who he is, with his coming, the rule of God breaks into this world order in a new, radical and dynamic way. In effect, Jesus is saying: "I'm here, so God is ruling; a new age is dawning; a new era is beginning; a whole new order is erupting onto the scene. Brace yourself as God's glorious reign cascades over you and takes your breath away."
Compare and contrast v.1 & v.15.
What does Mark say the gospel is about: Jesus Christ, the Son of God (v.1).
What does Jesus say the gospel is? The kingdom of God is at hand (v.14).
Those two statements of the gospel are not contradictory; they are, in fact, explanatory of each other.
It is precisely because Jesus is here that the kingdom of God has arrived!
The kingdom is near because the king has arrived. Just how ‘near' and how significant is shown in the remainder of Mark.
With the coming of the Messiah King, a new age had dawned. In all of these, he reveals the nature of the Kingdom of God. Wherever God's rule is exercised actively in Christ and obeyed willingly resulting in life and blessing there is the in-breaking Kingdom.
That is the gospel word we are called to speak - it is the gospel of the kingdom. It is a gospel word about King Jesus:
• Commanding sinners to submit to his kingly and kindly rule
• Warning rebels to turn from their rebellion and live under his rule
• Inviting the broken to reject their idols to worship him, the true King
The rest of Mark's account of the life and times of Jesus the Messiah shows what happens when King Jesus reigns:
• Spiritual oppression is broken
• Sickness is banished
• Sin is forgiven
• The outcasts are included
• The broken are healed
• The earth is no longer cursed
• The hungry are fed
• The dead are given life
• The disfigured are made beautiful
• The proud are humbled
• The poor have wealth beyond their dreams
That's why it's called gospel, because that, my friends, is good news indeed!

But it cannot stop there, for the simple reason that Mark does not stop there.
God's King came, saw and conquered, but he did it like no other King.
His kingly throne turned out to not look much like a throne at all!
If Jesus was going to be God's Universal King, and the gospel was going to be good news for everyone everywhere, something extraordinary had to happen.
And it did. Jesus the King mounted his throne when he was crucified: hung on a cross like a discarded carcass; naked, bruised, battered and bloodied.
That was his ultimate victory. That's where the reign of God ultimately invaded this present order. That's where sin and alienation, rebellion and brokenness were truly put in their place, and the enemies of God truly defeated.

The gospel is about Jesus God's King, dying on a cross in the place of rebels, bearing their shame and punishment, satisfying God's righteous anger in order to defeat sin, death and the devil and to rescue us for himself, to bring us under his life-giving rule.
Did he do it? According to the resurrection he did!
The King of Life rises from the tomb to demonstrate beyond reasonable doubt that he has achieved his goal: the kingdom of God has come and is coming in all its world-changing, history-making, life-defining fullness.
In a sense, this is the kingdom now come, the life of the age to come has broken into this present age. It is not simply at hand: it is here, right here, right-now; and here to stay, because through the death of the King, this resurrection life is the possession of all those to who God in his sovereign grace grants it.

Implications for the Radstock Network?
Radstock is a network of churches connected for global mission.
It is this gospel that is the very heart of mission. In fact, it is this gospel that defines mission.
That is why we must ensure that we keep it at the centre of all we do and are.
It is this gospel that sets the parameters for our networks, establishes the shape of the networks and provides the dynamic and impetus for the networks.
Pressures will come for us to move away from this gospel. Not abandon it all together; just not keep it as the defining centre point!
The temptation will come to work with churches that are not defined by this gospel, and it will be a difficult temptation to resist.
The differences will look so small, and almost incidental.
But the issue is trajectory. The point of departure may seem only ever so slightly off-centre, but over a period of time it grows increasingly significant and serious.
Keeping this gospel as our base line or anchor point will ensure the development of strong and effective networks that contribute to the extension of God's kingdom rather than ours!

The King and his People?
So this is the gospel. This is the message we are called to proclaim. But it's a daunting task isn't it?
How are we going to get this gospel out? How will people know it's true?
By the Holy Spirit of course, convicting of sin, righteousness and judgement. But that's not all! The King is still reigning, and there is still living proof of his active and present reign that gives credibility to the message, and even authenticates it.
Look at vv.16-20.
What is the first thing that Jesus does? He calls people to follow him.
He does the same thing in 2 v.14. And then in 3 vv.13-20 he engages in a truly revolutionary act: he appoints 12 men to be the core of a whole new community.
The 12 tribes of Israel defined the people of God in the Old Testament.
Jesus was giving notice that he was now defining the People of God, not on the basis of their ancestry, but on the basis of his call.
Jesus is deliberately acting like the King that he is and populating his kingdom!
Its position in the narrative gives it a great significance.
Why is it the first thing to follow the declaration and call of Jesus concerning the arrival of the kingdom of God?
It is in that community that his rule is intimately exercised and willingly obeyed.
This community is meant to be the kingdom of God with flesh on it!

You can't help but notice that as I read out what the reign of King Jesus looked like, it is strikingly not like life now.
That is because the gospel word is primarily a word about the future.
This is the kingdom that will come. Jesus gave us a glimpse: an intoxicating, tantalising, mouth watering, appetising glimpse!
But he left his community behind as an outpost of that kingdom.
So if people want to know what it means for Jesus to rule, then look at the church!
See people loving each other, forgiving one another, sharing their lives and resources so there are no needy persons.
In a sense, the church is a glimpse of Eden restored: a place of plenty, blessing and life. A place of refuge, joy and grace.
Church is that to which we can point to and say "This is it"!
The church is not the gospel, but it is that created by the gospel. It's the fruit of the gospel and so that which shows how good news the good news really is.

Imagine I had a tree in my back garden, and I wanted to show you this tree. "It's an apple tree", I say, "the best apple tree in the world!"
As we stand in my garden you can see for yourself that it is a pretty fine tree. The shape is exquisite, the foliage lush, the bark texture extraordinary. But all of those are in a sense incidental. I've claimed this is the best apple tree in the world, and how can I prove that claim?
By you tasting the apples! You know it's a good tree by the apples it produces!
So it is with the gospel.
We know the arrival of the kingdom was good news because of what the rule of the king produced.
We know it continues to be good news by the communities he creates that live life to the full and model his rule.

John Stott in his commentary on Ephesians 3 has makes this helpful comment: "The ‘mystery' (of which Paul writes) was not an abstraction. It was taking shape before people's eyes. And in this new phenomenon, this new multi-racial humanity, the wisdom of God was being displayed. Indeed the coming into existence of the church as a community of saved and reconciled people, is at one and the same time a public demonstration of God's power, grace and wisdom: first of his mighty resurrection power (1 v.19 - 2 v.6), next of his immeasurable grace and kindness (2 v.7), and now of his manifold wisdom (3 v.10)".
This is a plea for us to conduct our ministries and live our lives in the context of the People of God. Church is neither accidental nor incidental.
In an individualistic culture like ours it is easy to be individualistic; to act like Lone Rangers. To simply get on with the task. But the truth of the People of God should temper that for the glory of God: God's ultimate purpose focuses in on his Son and his People.
Important to be convinced of this because you may have listened to the description of church and thought: Yeah mate! In your experience, the reality may not quite match up to the rhetoric!
Part of our task is to model for others and encourage in others a love for and commitment to the church of Christ.
Love the Gospel, the Word of God, brothers and sisters. And love what the Gospel has produced, the Church of God!

Implications for the Radstock Network?
The implications are fairly straightforward aren't they?
Local churches such as those represented here are not incidental to the gospel -either its nature or its function. They are the fruit of the gospel and the means by which the gospel advances. The local church is God's mission strategy.
That's why we are multiple networks of churches, reaching out across racial, social and economic divides to demonstrate the reconciling nature of the rule of King Jesus.
Our networks undermine the individualism to which we are prone; even the corporate individualism of local churches thinking they can do it alone.
In our working together, in true partnership, we give evidence that the gospel is true and powerful.
In our commitment to one another we make the gospel intriguing and attractive.
What is this weekend about: The King, his Kingdom, and yes, ...his People!