Harmony Christian Church
Harmony Christian Church
Week 3 - Two Kingdoms Collide
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What does our rebellion against God result in and why? Tune in to Kent’s sermon to understand the biblical theology behind it and the idea that humanity is in slavery to the fear of death and under the power of Satan, and how Jesus came to break that power and set us free!  IT’S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ).


OPENING ILLUSTRATION:

You know there was a study that was done to see if kids are more influenced by nature or nuture – meaning, are we more a product of our environments or our inherited traits.  They found that nature won out.  Kids who had been adopted were more similar to their birth families in nature than the families who had raised them.  That’s why my kids are all so good looking!  Ha!

Actually it’s why all my kids knees are going to be shot by the age of 19…  My kids are just lucky to have Jenni for a mom – her good WAY outweighs my genes, thank Jesus.

We all are a product of what we have inherited.

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This is not just true physically, but spiritually as well.

You don’t have to teach your kid to disobey you, do you?

None of you had to teach your child to be selfish, right?

None of you had to teach your child to say “no” to you

As a matter of fact, it’s not till your kids are older that people start to teach them how to be more sophisticated with sin, right?

This is what most of you experienced in College… 

Rebellion is a part of the human condition.

ILLUSTRATION:

It’s so built in that some parents will use it to get what they want. We say things like,  “You better not eat that vegetable…”  That’s how my parents got me to do all kinds of things – they leveraged my sinful rebellious nature to get me to obey them.  What they didn’t know what they were actually encouraging rebellion in me…  We call it reverse psychology… It’s part of the reason we never used it with our kids…

It’s not reverse psychology though, it’s feeding the beast inside of us.

Rebellion is part of our spiritual inheritance…

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Can I walk you through some biblical Theology to set up an idea for today?

The Bible is clear that mankind’s rebellion against God resulted in death entering the world.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death

Probably, if you grew up going to church you’ve heard that before.  But did you know there is another theological idea tied to this?

At the core of Adam & Eve’s rebellion against God was the core idea of “we will attempt to live life on our own terms” – remember the tree they ate from was the knowledge of Good & Evil?

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The problem was and is: when Adam & Eve and all mankind become aware of what is good and what is evil – and still choose to do evil – all become subject to the judgment of those choices.

ILLUSTRATION:

In other words when I was a kid and knew that stealing was wrong, but I chose to steal anyway because it was easier than saving my money up and buying the thing I wanted.  There was a necessary consequence for that action.

You may be thinking, but does sinful rebellion really deserve Death?

Here’s why it results in death…

Our rebellion is ultimately us placing our trust in the words of the accuser (Satan) over the creator (God).

For Adam and Eve it’s hyper clear – God said don’t do this, they did it.  The sin was in them giving authority to Satan that was only God’s… and they became subject to right and wrong, good and evil…

When talking about the work Jesus did on the cross, this is what the author of Hebrews says about it and why Jesus came in the flesh like a human…

Hebrews 2:14-15

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.

This idea that humanity is in slavery to the fear of death and under the power of the devil, Satan, or the Evil one, is throughout the New Testament…

I’m going to post later today several passages that show this, but can I just point to one place from Jesus’ life that illustrates this fact?

When Jesus is in the desert before starting his ministry, Satan comes and tempts Him.  Do you remember what the 3rd temptation was that Satan put in front of Jesus?  

Matthew 4:8-10

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”

Why didn’t Jesus say, “It’s not yours to give?”

He didn’t say it, and it was a real temptation, because 

Satan IS the god of this world.  

Satan had the authority to give Jesus the loyalty of mankind because all mankind has been put under the spell of believing our rebellion is our own idea.

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…and if Jesus would rebel Himself, He could have avoided the cross and gained position, but lost authority.

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So, why am I telling you all this?

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You will miss the power of today’s parable if you don’t understand the predicament of our world…

Mt 13:44-46

44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

These are not hard to understand parables…

The Kingdom of Heaven – God’s Kingdom is like treasure

-whether you find it or go searching for it, once you’ve experienced it, you’d give anything and everything to get it and have it be yours!

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CLOSING ILLUSTRATION:

I want to tell you a story and try and tie all this sermon into a bow if possible…

In 1987 a young couple had a baby who was only 19 days old that came down with a very high fever.  The parents took the baby to the NYC hospital to be treated.  What they didn’t know was a woman would dress up as a nurse at that hospital and kidnap this baby – Carlina White.  Police, FBI got involved, but no one ever found Carlina.  Carlina kept feeling like there was something off as she grew up – she didn’t resemble her “mother” at all.  Her mother eventually told her that her biological parents died in a fire – but things didn’t add up.  Carlina.  Started searching through missing children’s case and all of the sudden came on a picture of herself as a baby.  Can you imagine, learning your entire life was a fraud.  What do you do with that?

You can either stay where you are, or you can move towards the life you were always meant to have.  

That’s what Carlina did – she moved into the life she was meant to have.  Her “mother” was eventually tried and put away for the kidnapping.  Carlina was reunited with her birth family and be reunited with them.

Let me ask you a question – you are either moving towards the life Jesus offers in the Kingdom or you are moving back towards your life ruled by Satan, rebellion, and the fear of Death.

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Which is it for you?

and can I ask you a harder question?

What in your life shows which Kingdom you’re running towards?

Listen to me, the reason the Kingdom is like a treasure, is because it’s freeing – it’s hope, it’s Joy, it’s the consequences of sin being taken upon Jesus so you can be free – it’s you putting your authority and trust back in Jesus and literally being moved from a kidnapping victim to coming back home to God.   It’s crazy to me how many Christians were like, “yup, that’s really my dad,” and then walked right back into the house of the kidnapper – living under the rule of sin.

Paul will say this this way in Romans 6 right before Romans 6:23 that I read earlier

Romans 6:19-13

Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The gift of God is eternal life and to live for it.  What will you do?

If you don’t know how to do this, let me tell you, it’s simple

  • You die to yourself – die to your old way of doing life
  • You live by faith – you choose to moment by moment include God in your life
  • You learn the heart of Jesus – start reading the New Testament today and ask God, “what does your heart beat for?”

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