While having faith in Christ alone ensures you’ll get to spend eternity with Him in heaven, there are far too many people who think they don’t have to live under His rule until they get there. Tony Evans says that the reality is He has a kingdom over which He rules: the world and all that dwells in it. In this lesson, learn how Jesus not only wants to be your Savior but also your Ruler.
dad i cannot believe where we’re
standing right now it’s not just in
israel but behind us is the sea of
galilee what it reminds me of is the
beauty and the grandeur of the fact that
the word became flesh when jesus invites
you on a journey you have no idea that
where he’s taking you to is something
that is beyond what you’re comprehending
at the time that you start out
he needed his friends often we discount
the strength of community in our journey
to jesus this is a church of the holy
sepulchre where we believe that
his greatest power was demonstrating the
power of sin and death i’ve never been
so excited to see nothing in all of my
life
i love it
that’s right the power of emptiness
right there
when the power of jesus helps you to
overcome what looks like is overcoming
you
god has a house
the name of his house is called his
kingdom
god’s kingdom is his rule
over his creation
this creation is called god’s
house
the earth is the lord’s the fullness
thereof and the world and all they that
dwell in it
he calls the creation his abode
god decided that he was going to run his
house a certain way
and the way he was going to run his
house was through
a creature he would create
who would run his house on his behalf
for him and that creature would be
called mankind
and so in
genesis chapter 1 the bible says that
god created adam
and he created eve and he says i’m going
to let them rule
in psalm chapter 8 verses 4 to 6 it says
god created man a little lower than the
angels and when he created man a little
lower than the angels he said i created
them so that they might rule
psalm 115 verse 16 says
the heaven belongs to god but the earth
belongs to man
so god created an earth-bound creature
man
whose job it was to run his house
god’s way
adam
fumbled the ball
because he turned the running of the
earth over to the devil
when he rebelled against the owner of
the house
god
when adam rebelled against the owner of
the house
and he turned the house over to the
devil
sin entered into the world bringing
chaos to humanity and corrupting god’s
creation
god wants his house back
but because of how god set it up that he
would only run his house
through a man through a human being
he did not cancel that approach
and so he says that i need another man
because the first adam
failed to run my house my way
this led to the unfolding of the old
testament
in anticipating a man
who would run god’s house god’s way
a king if you will
who would rule on earth from the
perspective of
heaven the whole old testament is the
anticipation
of this king
this king who would come through the
jews
who would sit on the throne of david
who would oversee israel
and from israel rule the world
and so the prophets anticipated this
king
abraham’s covenant anticipated this king
and david’s line anticipated this king
when jesus came john the baptist
took the center stage in matthew chapter
3 verse 2 and john the baptist says
repent for the kingdom of god is at hand
when jesus began preaching in matthew 4
17 he stepped onto the stage of history
and he says repent
for the kingdom of god is right in front
of you
when he sent out his disciples to preach
in matthew chapter 10
verse 7 he says
you go out and you proclaim
that the kingdom of god has arrived
because the king is here
so when we talk about jesus christ and
the name that we’re talking about today
you may know him as savior and that he
is
but today i want you to make sure you
understand him as king
because he is king he has a kingdom
a house over which he rules
it was this claim to his
kingdom
and as king that got him killed
in john chapter
19 verses 14 to 22
pilate says here is your king
they said
crucify him crucify him
that’s after they had laid out palm
branches on palm sunday and laid out
their coach and says hosanna
the king has arrived one week later
crucify him
unfortunately today
there are many people who come to church
and say hosanna
but leave and say crucify him
because
we don’t mind him being king by name as
long as he’s not king by authority
we don’t mind jesus carrying the title
as long as he’s not telling me what to
do
let me explain something about god’s
kingdom
it’s not a democracy
he’s not asking you for your vote
he is not seeking your permission
he wants to declare what he wants done
when you trusted jesus christ as your
personal savior
that guides you to the sweet by and by
when he becomes your king he joins you
in the nasty here and now
jesus wants to be your savior but he
also wants to be a ruler
he wants to be the one who has final
say-so over all matters in your life a
kingdom is a domain
over which a ruler sits
and over which he exercises authority
the kingdom of heaven refers to the
jurisdiction
over which god rules through christ the
kingdom of god refers to the person god
the kingdom of heaven refers to the
sphere when jesus says my kingdom is not
of this world he did not mean my kingdom
is not in this world he means that the
kingdom authority doesn’t come from this
world the kingdom authority i exercise
in this world comes from the world i
came from
i come from heaven down to earth to
answer the lord’s prayer thy kingdom
come thy will be done where on
earth
as it is in heaven jesus’s prayer was
that there would be a group of redeemed
people who would sit underneath his rule
as they live their lives on earth
as he gives instruction from
heaven
so when we say jesus’s name is
the king
you are declaring
that jesus christ has final say-so
over my decisions
now
this is where it gets a little tricky
we want jesus to have final say-so
over the decisions we agree with
we want jesus to have final say-so over
the decisions we like
the idea is not for the ruler to adjust
to the ruling
the idea is for the ruling
to adjust to the ruler
jesus christ wants to be your savior who
takes you to heaven and your king who
rules your life in history
which means that your question
on every subject in your life
should be one
what do you want me to do about this
when you begin asking that question to
your king
and answering that question in the
affirmative the only two words you’re
supposed to give to that question yes
lord
yes king
when you asked that question and
answered that question now you are
functioning as a citizen of his kingdom
and not as a benedict arnold in his
kingdom
you see god has to contend today with a
lot of benedict arnold’s
people who are in the kingdom working
for the other side
because what they seek to do
is bring up non-kingdom values into the
king’s house and wait for the king they
will not only wait for the king to
adjust they will even pray for him to
adjust
not understanding
this is his crib
this is his house
the whole creation is spoken of that way
and most certainly the people of god
this is no small issue
jesus says my kingdom is in this world
but it’s not from this world it comes
from heaven so god wants you to make
heaven’s decisions in your earthly
movement in your earthly
direction that’s why there’s so much
about kingdom in
our church the kingdom agenda the
visible demonstration of the
comprehensive rule of god over every
area of life
you don’t get to decide what a marriage
is you don’t get to decide what what
what how you should handle resources you
don’t get to decide how you act in the
workplace as a representative of the
king
he rules it all because he is king over
all so if he is not allowed to speak
into it that means that you have become
your own king
in another’s kingdom
when you come to christ you switch
kingdoms
and you pledge allegiance to another
flag
that’s why the bible says
seek ye first the kingdom of god
matthew 6 33 and his righteousness and
then he says and then all these things
will be added to you
in other words
seek my kingdom and the king got your
back
do your own kingdom and my kingdom and
you take care yourself
i like the way luke puts that same verse
because luke throws in something else
luke wants you to know that when you
seek first the kingdom of god when you
when you in luke chapter 12 verse 31-32
he says when you seek the kingdom of god
i love this he says it’s my father’s
pleasure to give you the kingdom
it’s my in other words i can’t wait
i can’t wait to show you what i can do i
can’t wait to let you see what happens
when the king takes over your life when
the king takes over your direction
because it’s the father’s pleasure to
give you the kingdom
so a lot of us are missing out on some
things god wants to do in our minds in
our hearts
in our circumstances
once he becomes king
once he gets the final
say so
once he determines
you know
one of the reasons that all of us to one
degree or another stay defeated so long
is jesus is not king
the bible says that the flesh will
always seek to nullify jesus’s authority
that’s why the scripture says
once you come into the kingdom
that you suffer violence
the scripture says that is
you suffer resistance you are going to
suffer
pushback
see when you get saved that part that’s
part of the easy part
because you go to jesus christ you
acknowledge you’re a sinner that you
need a savior and you trust him for the
gift of eternal life and the forgiveness
of sins and based on his promise you’re
given eternal life and you come through
the door
i am the way the truth and the light i
am the door you go through jesus
and now you enter the kingdom
john 3 3 says
you cannot enter the kingdom unless
you’re born again
so that’s getting saved that’s being
converted that’s being justified that’s
being born again that’s when you trust
jesus christ that is entering the
kingdom but what a lot of us do is we
enter the kingdom and hang out at the
door
we enter the kingdom and say oh dora
thank you for letting me in the door
it’s so much it’s nice to know i’m no
longer outside i’m no longer under
judgment i am now saved and saved and
i’m at the door and we come to church
every sunday to celebrate the door god
says no i let you in the door so that
you can enter into a kingdom
so that you can enter into a whole new
realm of divine rule
of my
kingship
but when you do
and you bring your history with you
you bring your background with you
you bring your secular education with
you
you bring your secular viewpoints with
you you bring the media with you
you bring the pain that you had before
you came in and you dragging all of that
into god’s kingdom
and god is saying no no no no no no no
we gotta no no no you’re in my house
and i know that’s how you used to out
there
but you’re in my house now
and since you’re in my house
we’re going to have to deal with that
the moment that occurs then the kingdom
suffers violence in other words there’s
going to be a clash and there’s supposed
to be because the bible says the flesh
wars against the spirit and the spirit
wars against the flesh so wham there’s
going to be a clash
now what a lot of people say when they
hit the clash is
well i need to get closer to jesus
i need to get more spiritual and you do
you need to get closer to jesus you do
need to get more spiritual but the first
thing you need to establish is who’s in
charge
because
until you establish who’s in charge you
will use getting close as an excuse not
to deal with it
see some of this stuff don’t take that
long
it only takes long because he is not
king
the bible says in philippians 3 verse 20
you are now i am now we are now to view
ourselves as
citizens of heaven
let’s talk about that for a minute
citizens
of
heaven
a citizen is where
it’s your it’s your nation
it’s your official place
of residency
we are citizens of the united states of
america
this is our kingdom our kingdom is the
u.s of a
it’s our kingdom
because we belong to this kingdom we
belong to its constitution and its rules
now
if you travel you have a passport
that passport allows you to leave this
kingdom
and go to other kingdoms
you can go to
other countries
with your passport
that passport
will identify you
whether you’re in england or spain
or russia or china
that passport says
i’m visiting
i don’t belong here
and i may be visiting for a long time
but
i’m not a citizen here
i’m citizen of the united states of
america
when you accepted jesus christ you
became a citizen of heaven
he does not expect you to leave your
passport at home
when you go to work when you go to play
when you hang out with your friends when
you go to the bank he does not expect
you to leave your passport at home
pretending that you don’t belong to your
homeland
you are part of the kingdom of heaven
and the kingdom of heaven means when
you’re not in heaven because we’re not
in heaven right now that means that
right now we have to carry our passport
on the locations of earth that we happen
to be because this is not our kingdom
this is a foreign country we’re visiting
for a certain limited period of time
see what a lot of christians want to do
they want to be here without a passport
but if you lose your passport
you’ve lost your legitimacy
you’ve lost the official documentation
of where you really belong
jesus’s name is king
he is ruler he is the final authority
and therefore he says
repent for the kingdom of god is at hand
he’s not just talking about going to
heaven he’s talking about experiencing
god’s rule
which starts off with accepting his
savior but but the kingdom of heaven is
his sphere of authority and rulership
jesus says matthew 28 19 20 all
authority has been given to me
not only in heaven but he says on earth
i’m in charge of what finally happens at
work i’m in charge of what finally
happens in your house i’m in charge of
what finally happens in your
relationship i’m in charge of all that
so if i’m in charge of all that it it is
in your best interest to let me rule all
of that
[Applause]
and so he says your job is to repent for
the kingdom of god is at hand repentance
is
the internal determination
to turn
proven by fruit that is visible
demonstration you are serious god’s not
taking your word for it
you just could be in an emotional high
right now so he says no i want to see
some fruit on this tree
you got to show me something i’m from
missouri god says you got to show me
something
in other words let me see you’re serious
by your decision
not just by
your church attendance
you must now say
whatever you want me to do i’m going to
do it even though i don’t want to do it
that’s called faith because faith has to
operate against emotion sometimes
he is king
and i will give you the final
designation of his name
in revelation 17 14.
where it says
there will these will wage war against
the lamb
and the lamb will overcome them
because he is lord of lords and king of
kings
and those who are with him
are the called and the chosen
and the faithful
and then in chapter 19 verse
16. and on his robe
and on his thigh
he has a name
a name written king of kings
and lord of lords
it says in verse 19 and i saw the beast
and the kings of the earth
and their armies assembled to make war
against him who set on the horse and
against his army
he’s not only king
he’s king of kings
okay don’t miss that
he’s not only king
he is king
but he’s also king of kings
when he talks about him being king of
kings
it says the kings of the earth go
against him
that means all the other chief people
who think they’re in charge
are going to come against him
jesus is going to show the kings
that he’s not only the king
he is the king of all the other kings
he doesn’t just boss the low-level folk
he doesn’t boss the middle you know the
mid-level management
the folk who think they’re in charge
who think they have the last word he’s
king over top of them
the folk you are afraid of
the folk who got more money than you the
folk who have more clout than you the
folk who have a higher position than you
jesus said i’m king over them i’m not
only king over you
i’m king over the folk who you think are
king over you so i can not only overrule
you i can overrule the people you think
can’t be overruled because i’m king of
kings and i am lord of lords that’s why
no human being has the last word over me
no human being has the last word over
you because no human being is king of
kings
they may be our king but they’re not the
king you know the king and the king is
king over all other folk who think
they’re kings because he’s king of kings
and in the book of revelation
when he comes then
he’s not just coming to be nice
he’s coming to show up and show off
it’s like the man who was in and saw the
wagon run away with a little boy in it
and he saw the wagon the horse was
dragging the wagon the boy would be
killed the young man ran over and he was
able to get to the horse and he stopped
the horse and he stopped the horse and
he saved the young man’s life the young
man grew up and the young man became a
very terrible boy he became a terrible
young adult and he began to commit all
kind of crimes he was finally found for
committing a dastardly crime crime he
was brought before the judge when the
young man looked up he noticed he
noticed that the judge was the same man
who had saved him when he was a boy it
was time for him to be sentenced that’s
when the the young man said to the judge
your honor i don’t know if you remember
but i’m the boy you saved when i was
young i’m the boy you delivered when i
was young what he was hoping was because
he reminded him of that that he would
get a less sentence that’s when the
judge said well back then i was your
savior but right now i am your judge
right now god is your savior when you
stand before him he’s going to be your
judge and he’s going to want to know
then what did you do with my salvation
in ruling your life as a member of my
kingdom when you stand before me at the
judgment seat of christ don’t let him
just be a king let him be the king don’t
just let him be our king or the king
make him the king of all kings so that
you can see what it looks like when the
king takes over the rule of all of your
life
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
jesus christ is king
if you king that means you have a
kingdom
he is king of the world he wants to be
king of your life in my life
which means we’re his subjects
and he rules over us as king
the whole world is his realm
the church represents
his kingdom influencers are you
representing am i representing the king
and what we say
how we act
how we relate and the impact we make
if he is king
let’s let him know that we are servicing
his kingdom
the only real kingdom that matters
[Music]
[Applause]
so
[Music]
you