This month many celebrate Advent, the Sunday’s leading up to the celebration of Jesus arrival as a baby, one wrapped in swaddling cloths of course. I am personally quite convinced that Jesus was born in the fall, however, given that there is a broad practice of celebrating the birth of Jesus on December 25 I am looking at what the arrival of our King means in reference to the broader kingdom of God. We begin with an overview of the kingdom, look at what Jesus’ birth inaugurated and conclude with what He accomplished through His crucifixion and resurrection.
When Jesus was born in the earth as a helpless baby the kingdom of God was presented to earth in a new way because the King had become one of us. Yet to have all authority Jesus had to live, be crucified and then resurrected (this will be addressed later). We begin defining and briefly explaining the kingdom of God.
The etymology of kingdom is uncertain but at the most basic level, a kingdom is anywhere that falls under the king’s domain or dominion. We see in scripture that ‘The kingdom of God’ and the ‘kingdom of heaven’ are two ways of referring to the same thing.
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and thekingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14-15 (NKJV)
The kingdom of God operates through delegated authority with Yahweh the divine king as the ultimate source of all authority, an authority that He can delegate to others. We see this in Genesis.
26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)
Adam and Eve were given dominion over the earth and the creatures on it. Yet they corrupted their delegated dominion through sin (Genesis 3) and their sin affected all of creation (Romans 8:20-21), which brings us back to Advent. Jesus came to save us from sin and restore what was lost. We have this angelic prophetic message given to Joseph regarding Jesus birth.
21 And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21 (NKJV)
We later have this statement regarding our salvation and restoration in Revelation.
9 And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll, And to open its seals; For You were slain, And have redeemed us to God by Your blood Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, Revelation 5:9 (NKJV)
In Greek the word redeemed refers to purchasing something, in this case us! Next week we will delve into why Jesus needed to redeem us and how it relates to the delegation of authority in the kingdom of God.
Webster 1828: 1. To purchase back; to ransom; to liberate or rescue from captivity or bondage, or from any obligation or liability to suffer or to be forfeited, by paying an equivalent; as, to redeem prisoners or captured goods; to redeem a pledge.
We sold ourselves for “a mess of pottage” and He redeemed (bought us back). That is such a powerful metaphor. We see ourselves as lumps of coal; He sees diamonds
Amen Wouter. We need His perspective on ourselves and the lost.