Coming King, Coming Kingdom

Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone and I'm the pastor here at Shine Mountain Presbyterian Church and it's my joy to bring God's Word to you today.

A special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here and we're glad that you're here.

Not because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.

And as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced there's no one so good, they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it.

Which is why we come back week after week to hear what God has to say to us in His Word.

We're finishing this morning our series for Advent in the book of Genesis and we're jumping forward.

Last Sunday we were in Genesis chapter 22 and now we're going forward all the way to chapter 49.

Genesis 22 · chapter mention

So it means that we've skipped a large part of the story, but if you're familiar with the book of Genesis, you know that we've tracked the story of Abraham,

followed by Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.

And we're coming to this story now where Jacob, also called Israel, calls his sons to him to give them a blessing.

And so I'm going to invite you to turn there with me, Genesis chapter 49.

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

You can turn in your worship guide or in your Bible or in your phone.

No matter where you turn, remember that this is God's Word and God tells us that His Word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold.

And it's sweeter than honey, even honey that comes straight from the honeycomb.

And so that's why we read now Genesis chapter 49, starting at verse 1.

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

And now we're going to skip to verse 8.

Verse 9.

Verse 11.

I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's Word.

Our Father in heaven, we thank you again that you speak to us as you always do through your Word.

And we also confess that we come this morning with many distractions.

We come with the normal, everyday distractions that hit us week by week of work and family and emails and phone calls and text messages.

And we also come to you with the special distractions of this season.

As we rush from event to event, as we worry about what to buy and who to buy it for,

as we look forward and plan all the details of our celebrations later this week.

We ask that you would help us this morning.

That you would help us to reorient our minds and to fix our eyes on you.

That no matter the distractions that face us, we would see Jesus now as you show him to us in your Word.

That we wouldn't miss his glory and his beauty.

We ask that you would show us our desperate need for your grace.

And you'd also show us how you meet us at that very same point of need.

And we ask all these things in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.

Amen.

In October of 2019, feels like more than two years ago, but only about two years ago,

the national news broke with shock and curiosity and amusement

because the rapper and fashion designer, Kanye West, came out with his new album,

which he called Jesus is King.

Now, if you're familiar with Kanye, you know this was partially surprising

because most of his albums had been about him worshipping himself more than anyone else.

But this album got a lot of attention as people questioned

whether Kanye's conversion to Christianity was true and authentic.

Now, for many people, the surprising part was the fact that Kanye was the one

who had come out with this album.

I'm going to suggest for you this morning, though,

that there is at least one other very surprising element of this

that was overlooked, perhaps, by many, and that is this.

Kanye tells us that his album was meant to be an expression of the gospel.

And if his album was meant to be that, we would have expected a different title, right?

In America, we would have said, Jesus is Savior, right?

Or Jesus saves.

That's the phrase that we're familiar with.

That's the way that Christians in America talk.

If we saw a billboard or a bumper sticker, that's what it would read for us.

It would just say, Jesus saves.

Come to salvation in Jesus.

But in fact, Kanye is highlighting something for us that's important to remember,

which is that Jesus' salvation cannot be separated from his kingship.

Jesus as king is actually an essential part of the proclamation of the gospel.

And so as we've gone through the book of Genesis together,

we've seen a variety of categories.

Remember Genesis 3.

Genesis 3.

We see one of the most neglected aspects of Jesus today,

and that is Jesus as our king.

And in fact, that's something that we maybe overlook,

but we celebrate and sing about during Christmas.

It's one of the reasons, by the way, that we sing and why songs are important.

They shape our theology.

So this morning, we sang,

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel, which says this,

O Come, O King of Nations, find.

We also sang the first Noel, where we said over and over,

Born is the king of Israel.

If you come on Christmas Eve this Friday,

we're going to sing Joy to the World, which says this,

Let the earth receive her king.

We're also going to sing Joyful Joyful We Adore You,

which says, Praise resounds as earth rejoices in the birth of Christ the king.

And so we're going to do something simple this morning.

As we look at Genesis chapter 49,

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

we're simply going to dream together.

We're going to be reminded of what type of king Jesus is.

And we're going to dream together

and be reminded of what kind of kingdom it is that he brings.

What is it going to look like?

Why is this promise in prediction that we find here?

Why is it actually good news?

We're going to have something of a movie preview here.

We're going to get a taste.

We're going to get a small picture of what it is that we're looking forward to,

what it is that we're longing for and celebrating and singing about at Advent.

We're going to get a contour, a bit of an outline of what is to come.

And as we do this, it's important to remember that we,

as we live our lives in this world,

we look to all sorts of kings and places and people and experiences

to bring in a perfect world.

But what the Bible reminds us of is that it is Jesus

who is our only hope to bring a world without suffering and without pain.

And so it's tempting to walk around looking 20 feet ahead of us,

just seeing what's before our feet.

What we're going to do this morning is actually look up.

We're going to bring our eyes up and look up at the horizon.

That we would have a greater and broader perspective of this world

and Jesus' role in it.

That we would know the great hope that we have

as we look forward to the King who has come

and also the King who is coming.

And Genesis chapter 49 is going to help us with that.

Genesis 49 · chapter mention

So I'm going to jump right in.

We're given this prediction by Jacob, also known as Israel,

as what's going to happen with the tribe of Judah.

And you might be wondering what in the world this has to do with Jesus.

And in a sense, that's a fair question

because he's talking about something

that's going to have some fulfillment

in the near future rather than the far future.

But Judah is also the tribe from which Jesus comes.

And so there's multiple layers to this prophecy

that he gives us about his son Judah,

this tribe that's going to become great in Israel.

Some of it we're going to see fulfilled in King David,

the greatest king of Israel.

King David, however, points us forward to King Jesus.

And so when we see these things,

they are true in one sense of David,

true in an ultimate and fuller sense in Jesus.

And so we see first in chapter 8

that we are going to have this king

who is going to be ruling here over Judah.

He's going to be the greatest of all the tribes of Israel.

In fact, this is something that we know

as you read the genealogies around Advent.

If you read Matthew chapter 1, verse 1,

Matthew 1:1

what does it say about Jesus?

It says he's the son of David, the son of Abraham.

So we're meant to be reminded that Jesus is the one

who is pointing us back to these promises made to Judah.

Jesus is born in Bethlehem, also known as the city of David.

So he shares a birthplace with the great king.

He shares that origin of the tribe of Judah.

And so David for us is the proximate king of Israel.

He's the proximate fulfillment of this.

He is not the ultimate king from the tribe of Judah.

We're told who that is in the book of Revelation,

the very end of the Bible.

Revelation chapter 5, verse 5 tells us this,

Revelation 5:5

and one of the elders said to me,

weep no more.

Behold, the line of the tribe of Judah,

the root of David has conquered

so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.

In other words, Jesus is the lion from the tribe of Judah.

He comes as the tribe that's greatest

among all the tribes of Israel.

That's what we're told here in verse 8.

Your brothers shall praise you.

Your father's sons shall bow down before you.

We find out here, though, he's not just a leader over Judah.

He's also going to be victorious over many enemies.

So we see the first picture again in verse 8.

We're told your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies.

Now, if your hand is on the neck of your enemies,

this is a way of saying that the battle is over.

It is time for that person to tap out.

They are on the ground.

This is a picture that we're being given

of dominance and power and victory.

And if that weren't enough,

we see the same thing in verse 9.

We have this picture of this lion

who's going out and is successful in killing prey.

He's a wonderful predator.

Verse 9, Judah is a lion's cub.

From the prey, my son, you have gone up,

which is a way of saying this lion has killed another animal.

Now he's going to go on the hunt again.

He stooped down.

He crouched as a lion.

In other words, this lion has finished with one prey.

He's sitting and waiting for another.

No one wants to mess with him.

That's why we're told at the very end of verse 9,

who dares rouse him?

In other words, leave this lion alone.

He is not just the king of Israel.

He's also victorious in battle.

And so this gives us our first picture here

of what it is that we're longing for

as we lift our eyes up from 20 feet in front of us

and we look up at the horizon

to get a bigger picture of this world

and what is coming for it.

You know that if you've ever been in a foreign country

for any amount of time,

you begin to think about all the things

that you miss in your home country.

You begin to think about all the things

that you long for.

Maybe you even make a list

of what you can't wait to get back to.

Maybe it's Reese's peanut butter cups.

Maybe it's the large variety of soft drinks

that we have access to in America.

Maybe it's simply being back in a place

where the language of the country

is also your language.

As Christians, we want to have this same sort of longing

for our true home,

the home where Jesus reigns and rules as king.

And so if we're going to make a list

of what we long for,

what we learn about this lion

is he's going to rule a place that looks like this.

It's going to be a place

where bullies don't win anymore.

That's what his kingdom is going to look like.

It's going to look like a place

where the powerful don't oppress the weak.

Instead, they use their power to protect them.

One of my favorite definitions of authority is this.

Good and true authority is when the person

who has authority over you cares about you

more than you care about yourself.

They love you more than you love you.

That's what this king is going to be like.

This kingdom where this lion conquers all his enemies

is going to be the type of kingdom

where when you go to check on your relatives

in the nursing home,

you're not going to worry about

whether someone stole something from them

or took advantage of them.

In fact, there won't be nursing homes.

We'll have restored and full bodies.

This is going to be the kind of kingdom,

the kingdom ruled by this powerful lion

where when you walk to your car at night,

you don't worry about

who might be lurking in the dark.

This is the sort of kingdom

when you're driving around,

you don't wonder if you remember to lock your door.

This is the sort of kingdom

where you're not going to buy insurance

for identity theft.

LifeLock is going to be out of business.

You're not going to worry about

how secure your passwords are.

You're not going to worry about

changing them every three months,

and you're not going to be concerned

of whether they have the right number of letters

and symbols and exclamation marks.

You're not going to worry about

whether the police show up in time.

You're not going to feel any need

as you go through your life

to conceal carry.

That's going to be the type of kingdom

that Jesus rules over.

That's what we see in this lion.

Yes, he is gracious and kind,

and he is powerful and ferocious.

The king who comes from Judah,

verse 9, is a lion's cub.

He crouches down as a lion.

And so no one dares to rouse him.

This king, however,

is not just going to be powerful.

He's also going to be a worldwide king.

We see this expansion

from just ruling over tribes

to ruling over the entire world

in verse 10.

The scepter shall not depart from Judah

or the ruler's staff

from between his feet

until tribute comes to him.

And here's the key part.

And to him shall be the obedience

of the peoples.

Tribute comes to him.

This is something that's going to happen

for the worldwide king.

All the nations are going to come

and worship him.

The Davidic king,

the one who's meant to be

the great ruler over all of Israel,

is not just going to rule Israel.

He is going to rule the entire world.

This rule is going to expand.

It's going to grow.

And again, we see this

in Matthew's genealogy.

After we're told

where Jesus comes from,

that he's the descendant

of Abraham and David,

we see wise men

who come to visit him,

bringing gifts from afar,

which is the first fulfillment

of this king

receiving tribute

from the nations.

Okay?

Yes, Jesus is a man

come to earth

to die for our sins,

and he's also the king.

That's what the magi

know and understand.

They're bringing tribute

as people from other nations.

And so that's the beginning

of the fulfillment

of this promise.

We see it in a small part

in King David

from the tribe of Judah,

but of course,

he doesn't fulfill it, right?

David does not rule

over the entire world.

Instead, we look

to the great and glorious future

that only comes with Jesus,

often referred to

as David's greater son.

And so there's going to be

this worldwide kingdom.

In fact, we're told about it

in Revelation chapter 7.

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

There's a part

that we still look forward to,

right, as we're longing

and thinking about

what the kingdom will be.

Revelation chapter 7

Revelation 7 · chapter mention

says this,

This is this picture

of the entire world

coming to worship God.

We get a similar vision

in Revelation chapter 21.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

We're told this,

The city, that is the New Jerusalem,

has no need of sun or moon

to shine on it,

for the glory of God

gives its light,

and its lamp is the Lamb.

By its light will the nations walk,

and the kings of the earth

will bring their glory into it.

It's another picture

of the tribute coming in.

And its gates will never be shut by day,

and there will be no night there.

They will bring into it

the glory and honor of the nations,

but nothing unclean

will ever enter it,

nor anyone who does

what is detestable or false,

but only those who are written

in the Lamb's book of life.

So John in Revelation

is giving us another picture

of all the nations coming

to worship this worldwide king.

He's helping us see

what we've already been told

in verse 10,

Until tribute comes to him,

and to him

shall be the obedience

of the peoples.

And so what do we dream about then

as we look at Jesus' kingdom?

Well, it's going to be

the end of wars.

It's going to be

the end of international politics.

When Jesus is king,

we're not going to worry

about problems

between Russia and the Ukraine.

When Jesus is king,

we're not going to worry

about the rise

of rogue states.

All the nations

are simply going to come

and bring their tribute to him.

He is going to be

the worldwide king.

This passage, though,

doesn't just tell us

about Jesus' glory

and his rule,

his power,

his dominion.

It also gives us

one final picture

of what this world

is going to look like,

what the kingdom

of the Lion of Judah

is going to offer to us.

And it's going to be

a place of great

and tremendous wealth.

And so look with me

at verses 11 and 12.

In verse 11,

we're told he's going

to bind his foal

to the vine

and his donkey's colt

to the choice vine,

which may seem

enigmatic at first,

but what the author

of Genesis is trying

to tell us is this.

There's going to be

an incredible grape harvest.

Okay?

This grape harvest

is going to be so great

that the man in charge of it

is not going to hesitate

to tie his donkey

to one of the grape vines.

In other words,

he has so many grapes

and so many grape vines,

he couldn't care less

if the donkey eats up

some of his best.

He has more of the best

than he knows

what to do with.

So he ties a donkey to it

and doesn't even think about it.

And it's shocking here, right?

Because we,

if we're people living

and receiving this message

for the first time,

we're thinking

as agricultural farmers,

what a reckless thing it is

to tie your donkey

to your grape vine.

There's so much wealth,

it just doesn't matter.

There's always going to be

more precious grapes.

So you can let the donkey

run free

and eat the finest things

you have.

It would be like this.

It would be like someone

in America,

me telling you,

you know what?

The kingdom is going to be

so great

that people are going to

cook up whole wagyu steaks

and give them to their dog.

Okay?

Not just the scraps.

No.

The dog is going to get

his own steak.

Okay?

That's how much abundance

and wealth is here.

People are going to buy

filet mignons,

they're going to cut them

in fine strips

and they're going to put them

in the cat bowl.

That's how much abundance

there is in this world.

Okay?

That's the image

we're given here

of the wine.

What would you know

about that person?

If that person was

cooking up whole wagyu steaks

and giving them to the dog

and cooking up a filet mignon

and putting it in the cat's bowl,

what would you say

about that person?

Yeah, you could say

they're crazy.

You could also say,

wow,

that person has

a lot of money.

Right?

In this kingdom,

there is going to be

an overabundance.

That's going to be

how much wealth

this kingdom has.

People are going to tie

their donkeys

to great grapevines.

They're going to let

their animals eat

their finest food.

That's the same image

we have here

in verses 11 and 12.

So verse 11,

at the end,

he's washed his garments

in wine

and his vesture

in the blood of grapes.

Now there's two ways

of taking this.

One is,

there's so much wine,

they're treating it like water.

So they're washing

their clothes

in $500 bottles of wine

because they just have

so many of them.

The other possibility

is that they're

threshing out this wine,

they're stomping on it

to make wine,

and there's so many grapes,

it's just squirting up

all over their clothes

and it's washing it.

That's how abundant it is.

Either way,

the point is the same.

There's this unprecedented wealth.

There's just everything

that you would need

and more, right?

Verse 12,

also some debate

over what this means.

The big point of verse 12

is that they are full

of health and vitality.

Okay?

They have this food

that is making them strong.

It's been pointed out

that the Bible

begins and ends

in this place

of great wealth.

Genesis chapter 1,

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

the Garden of Eden.

Adam and Eve

are given dominion

over the whole earth

and they're told

that every plant and tree

is theirs for food.

And then if we fast forward

to the last book

of the Bible,

Revelation chapter 21,

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

the New Jerusalem

as it's described

is a place

of incredible wealth.

Now one of the most

famous descriptions

comes from verse 21

which tells us this,

the street of the city

was pure gold

like transparent glass.

There's so much gold,

they're paving

the streets with it.

There's so much wine

and good grapes,

they're letting their animals

eat the very best food.

We want an age

of prosperity, right?

It's common for

there to be talk

about the end of poverty

or the end of hunger.

We want abundance

to be normalized.

We want to have enough

that we don't worry

about budgeting, right?

Bad news is this,

that's not going to happen

in this world.

No one who tells you

that they have a plan

to make it happen

understands the state

of humanity.

Good news,

it will happen.

It's just not going to happen

with an earthly king.

We can't have it

with a mere human.

And so again,

as we dream together,

as we work

our imagination,

I want you to think

about this.

This is what

the kingdom

that the lion

from the tribe of Judah

is going to look like.

People are going to work

simply for the joy of it.

You're not going to worry

about whether you've

worked enough

or whether you've

saved enough.

You're not going to worry

about whether you have

enough to retire.

couples will not argue

about finances.

In fact,

Matthew chapter 22

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

tells us there won't be

marriage in heaven.

You're not going to worry

about college funds.

There's going to be

plenty

and more than plenty.

You're not going to feel shame

about not having as much

as other people

in the community around you.

You're not going to feel shame

about not being able

to afford

the same experiences

or provide the same things

for your family.

There is not going to be

any more poverty.

Poverty is not an issue

when people are washing

their clothes

in fine wine, right?

Parents won't pressure

their kids

into lucrative careers.

People won't be chasing

their dreams

by trying to leverage assets

and generate passive income.

There's just going to be

this abundance.

There's going to be

this overflowing

in the kingdom.

There aren't going to be

arguments about

which money belongs

to who.

Lawyers will not be

helping resolve

inheritance disputes.

They're going to have

a lot less business.

There's just going to be

more than enough

in every category.

There's going to be

more than you can ask

or imagine.

As you know,

presidents love

to take credit

for economic growth.

Anything good

that happens

while they're in office?

Brag about a booming

economy, right?

This kingdom

is going to be

the pinnacle.

It's going to be

the most booming economy.

It's going to be

when we see

the greatest economy

of all time.

Now at this point

you might be wondering

what in the world

does any of this

have to do

with the gospel?

Gospel, right?

Our belief that Jesus

comes to die

and save sinners.

Well,

Jesus is the Savior

and he is saving you

from something.

He is saving you

from God's wrath

and his punishment.

However,

Jesus is not just

saving you

from something.

Jesus is saving you

into something.

Jesus is saving you

into a kingdom

where he is king.

He's saving you

into a kingdom

where he is king.

And so we get to see

this picture here

of how the story ends.

If you're a Christian,

you don't know

the future in one sense.

You don't know

what the rest of your life

is going to look like.

You do know

the future

in another sense.

You know,

no matter what happens

to you in this world,

how your story

is going to end.

Your story

is going to end

in this kingdom

that we've been

dreaming about.

Your story

is going to end

in a place

that is ruled

by this king.

And so that's

what we sang

right before

the sermon,

O Jerusalem.

Jerusalem.

It's a story

of longing.

It's a song

of longing.

It's a song

of looking forward

to the future

that we know

is coming.

And so we talked

about the wealth

together when we sang

this.

They have told us

of a table

where the poor

are honored guests,

where all the weary

wanderers

come in

to bless

and rest.

That's the place

where people

tie their donkeys

to the finest

grapevines.

that's the place

where people

serve steaks

to their pets.

It's going

to be a feast.

Now Jesus,

our Lord Jesus

also tells us

about a feast

in Matthew

Matthew 22 · chapter mention

chapter 22.

He tells this

parable

of the wedding

feast.

You're welcome

to turn there

with me now.

It's in Matthew

Matthew 22:1–14

chapter 22

verses 1

through 14.

And he tells

them this.

The kingdom

of heaven

may be compared

to a king

who gave a wedding

feast for his son

and sent his servants

to call those

who were invited

to the wedding feast,

but they would not

come.

Again,

he sent other

servants saying,

tell those

who are invited,

see,

I have prepared

my dinner,

my oxen,

and my fat calves

have been slaughtered

and everything is ready.

Come to the wedding feast.

So Jesus has a feast.

He's inviting people.

Many aren't listening.

Verse 5.

But they paid no attention

and went off,

one to his farm,

another to his business,

while the rest seized

his servants,

treated them shamefully,

and killed them.

The king was angry,

and he sent his troops

and destroyed those

murderers and burned

their city.

Then he said to his

servants,

the wedding feast

is ready,

but those invited

are not worthy.

Go therefore

to the main roads

and invite to the wedding

feast as many

as you find.

And those servants

went out into the roads

and gathered all

whom they found,

both bad and good.

So the wedding hall

was filled with guests.

In other words,

Jesus is telling us this.

There is a feast

and a kingdom

that he has prepared.

And it is for those

who accept his invitation

to the wedding.

This kingdom

is for

and is only for

those who have faith

and hope

in Jesus Christ.

It is for

and only for

those who have

looked to Christ

and seen

that he is the one

who lived the perfect life

that they should have lived.

He is the one

who died the death

that they should have died

accepting

his sacrifice

on their behalf,

knowing that

when he died,

he took

the wrath of God

that we deserve.

For anyone

and everyone

who has faith

in Jesus Christ,

this is the feast

that is waiting for them.

This is the wedding feast.

This is the picture

that we're given

about the kingdom

that is ruled

by the lion

from the tribe

of Judah.

And so the final question

for us this morning

is this,

will you be

at the feast?

Will you come

when the king

invites you?

If you have more questions

about that,

one of the things

that we've done recently

in our worship guide,

you'll see

near the end,

we have a long

explanation

of what it means

to be someone

who follows

after the king

on page 10.

And so,

not necessarily now,

but I invite you

to take your worship guide

home with you

to review it.

If you have more questions

about this king

or this kingdom,

of course,

we're happy to talk

with you.

And I invite you

to look through

that page

and think about

whether Jesus

is your king,

what it means

for you to follow him

and to trust him

so that you can be

someone who shows up

to the wedding feast.

Now,

earlier,

I gave you

a list

of Christmas hymns

that we sang

this morning

that pointed

to Jesus

as our king.

And there's one hymn

that I didn't mention

on page 6

because we haven't

sung it yet.

But we're about

to sing it.

It's called

What Child Is This?

And first,

it tells us

in the chorus,

this is Christ,

the king

whom shepherds guard

and angels sing.

And then we're told

this in the final verse.

So bring him incense,

gold, and myrrh.

Come, peasant king,

to own him.

The king of kings

salvation brings.

Let loving hearts

enthrone him.

And so that's the hope

and command for us

as well,

that our hearts

would enthrone

this baby

who comes

into the world

not just as one

to die,

but one who comes

to rule and reign

as the king.

As the lion

from the tribe

of Judah.

Let's pray.

Our Father in heaven,

we praise you

and thank you

this morning

that you give us hope

that no matter

what happens

in this world,

you are a king

who's bringing a kingdom.

We ask that you would

use that truth

in our lives

to keep us

from despair

and to grow our hope.

We ask that you

would remind us

of that,

that it would be

for the front

of our minds,

Father,

in the many distractions

that come against us

this week

and this coming year

that we would never forget

that you are our great savior

and our great king.

We ask all these things

in the mighty name

of our king,

Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

I invite you to stand

for our closing hymn.

Amen.